Arturo Pérez-Reverte > Quotes

“Never trust a man who reads only one book. - from Purity of Blood”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte

“You don't choose your friends, they choose you, and you either reject them or you accept them without reservations.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte, The Flanders Panel

“Actually loneliness has a kind of fascination; it's a state of egotistical, inner grace that you can achieve only by standing guard on old, forgotten roads that no one travels anymore.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte, The Fencing Master

“One is never alone with a book nearby, don't you agree? Every page reminds us of a day that has passed and makes us relive the emotions that filled it. Happy hours underlined in red pencil, dark ones in black...”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte, The Club Dumas

“Nadie debería irse sin dejar una Troya ardiendo a sus espaldas.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte, El pintor de batallas

“You’ve just mentioned the price that has to be paid…Pride, freedom…Knowledge. Whether at the beginning or at the end, you have to pay for everything. Even courage, don’t you think? And don’t you think a lot of courage is needed to fight God?”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte, El Club Dumas

“I once wrestled with an angel. He won, but I learned a few things.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte

“Lo malo de estas cosas es que, hasta que el rabo no pasa, todo es toro.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte, La sombra del águila

“Chess is all about getting the king into check, you see. It's about killing the father. I would say that chess has more to do with the art of murder than it does with the art of war.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte, The Flanders Panel

“...the miser is counting his gold pieces, unaware of Death, who holds two clear symbols: an hourglass and a pitchfork."
"Why a pitchfork and not a scythe?"
"Because Death reaps but the Devil harvests”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte

“Mientras hay muerte - apuntó- hay esperanza.
- ¿Es otra cita?
- Es un chiste malo.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte, El Pintor de Batallas

“Because God and the devil could be one and the same thing, and everybody understood it in his own way.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte, El Club Dumas

“The pistol is not a weapon, it is an impertinence.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte

“El hombre..., cree ser el amante de una mujer, cuando en realidad es sólo su testigo.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte

“No era el hombre más honesto ni el más piadoso, pero era un hombre valiente.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Captain Alatriste

“Later, with time, I learned that although all men are capable of good and evil, the worst among them are those who, when they commit evil, do so by shielding themselves in the authority of others, in their subordination, or in the excuse of following orders. And even worse are those who believe they are justified by their God.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Purity of Blood

“She loves you, loathes you, treats you well, then ill. Like a leech or a surgeon's knife, she's double-edged: sometimes she'll cure, but sometimes she will kill.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte

“En cuestiones de arte, el trabajo original del yo tiene más importancia social que la filantropía.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte, El pintor de batallas

“Gracias a usted ya no puedo creer en las certidumbres de los que tienen una casa, una familia, unos amigos.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte, El pintor de batallas

“En un mundo donde el horror se vende como arte, donde el arte nace ya con la pretensión de ser fotografiado, donde convivir con las imágenes del sufrimiento no tiene relación con la conciencia ni con la compasión, las fotos de guerra no sirven para nada.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte, El pintor de batallas

“he looked around at the books on the walls, at their dark, worn spines, and he seemed to hear a strange, distant murmur coming from them. each of the closed books was a door, and behind it stirred shadows, voices, sounds, heading toward him from a deep, dark place.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte

“...despite my youth I already suspected that it did no harm to keep my ears open. Just the opposite. In life, danger lies not in not knowing, but in revealing that you do: It is always good to have a sense of the music before the dance begins.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Purity of Blood

“But one never knows how the dice will fall, and they are always cast before anyone even notices.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Purity of Blood

“The world is full of banks and rivers running between them, of men and women crossing bridges and fords, unaware of the consequences, not looking back or beneath their feet, and with no loose change for the boatman.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte, El Club Dumas

“...the problem with words is that once spoken, they cannot find their way back to the speaker alone.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Purity of Blood

“He was laughing under his breath, like a cruel wolf, as he leaned over to light his last cigarette. Books play that kind of trick, he thought. And everyone gets the devil he deserves.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte

“-¿Alguien puede decirme qué diantre es eso?
Y señaló hacia el valle con un dedo imperioso e imperial, el que había utilizado para señalar las Pirámides cuando aquello de los cuarenta siglos o -en otro orden de cosas- el catre a María Valewska.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte, La sombra del águila

“El heroísmo ajeno siempre conmueve una barbaridad.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte, La sombra del águila

“Déjennos volver a España y que cada chucho se lama su propio órgano, mesié, dicho en fino, o sea.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte, La sombra del águila

“El 326 tenía por delante menos futuro que María Antonieta la mañana que le cortaron el pelo en la Conciergerie.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte, La sombra del águila

“He was not the most honest or pious of men, but he was courageous”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte

“Os livros são portas que te levam para a rua (...). Com eles aprendes, educas-te, viajas, sonhas, imaginas, vives outras vidas e multiplicas a tua por mil. Quem te oferece mais por menos (...)? E também servem para manter à distância muitas coisas negativas (...) Às vezes interrogo-me como conseguem superar as coisas, aquelas [pessoas] que não lêem.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte, A Rainha do Sul

“E agora tinha a certeza de uma coisa vislumbrada ao princípio (...) que não há dois livros iguais porque nunca houve dois leitores iguais. E que cada livro lido é, como cada ser humano, um livro singular, uma história única e um mundo à parte.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte, A Rainha do Sul

“He did not want to think, but it was inevitable that he would.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Purity of Blood

“It was one of Diego Alatriste's virtues that he could make friends in Hell.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Captain Alatriste

“El problema de las palabras es que, una vez echadas, no pueden volverse solas a su dueño. De modo que a veces te las vuelven en la punta de un acero.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Purity of Blood

“Los filósofos griegos tenían razón al decir que la guerra era la madre de todas las cosas.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte

“Pero el tiempo pasa, y dura. Y hay un momento en que todo se estanca. Los días dejan de contarse, la esperanza se desvanece... Es entonces cuando te conviertes en prisionero real. Profesional, por decirlo de algún modo. Un prisionero paciente.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte

“El hombre tortura y mata porque es lo suyo. Le gusta.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte

“El mundo nunca supo tanto de sí mismo y de su naturaleza como ahora, pero no le sirve de nada. Siempre hubo maremotos, fíjese. Lo que pasa es que antes no pretendíamos tener hoteles de lujo en primera línea de playa... El hombre crea eufemismos y cortinas de huo para negar las leyes de la naturaleza. También para negar la infame condición que le es propia. Y cada despertar le cesta los doscientos muertos de un avión que se cae, los doscientos mil de un tsunami o el millón de una guerra civil.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte, El pintor de batallas

“...conocía de sobra... los motivos simples por los que un hombre con las dosis adecuadas de fanatismo, rencor o ánimo de lucro mercenario podía matar indiscriminadamente.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte, El pintor de batallas

“Bien mirado, el mundo ha dejado de pensar en la muerte. Creer que no vamos a morir nos hace débiles, y peores.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte, El Pintor de Batallas

“He who kills from afar knows nothing at all about act of killing. He who kills from afar derives no lesson from life or from death; he neither risks nor stains his hands with blood, nor hears the breathing of his adversary, nor reads the fear, courage, or indifference in his eyes. He who kills from afar tests neither his arm, his heart, nor his conscience, nor does he create ghosts that will later haunt him every single night for the rest of his life. He who kills from afar is a knave who commends to others the dirty and terrible task that is his own.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte, The Sun Over Breda

“Esos hijoputas ya son difíciles como aliados, así que cuando sepan que estamos fusilando a los paisanos para que los pinte al óleo ese tipo, Goya, figúrese la que nos pueden organizar.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte, La sombra del águila

“Llegamos a la costa con el resto del regimiento y los daneses y los mondieus pegados a los talones, bang-bang y todo el mundo corriendo, maricón el último.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte, La sombra del águila

“Imaginad el cuadro: sería vuestra merced tan amable de venir a la luz y destocarse, caballero, gracias, veo que sois el más rubio, permitid que os introduzca una cuarta de acero toledano en los higadillos.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Captain Alatriste

“Yo me refería al último combate en el umbral de una oscuridad eterna, sin más testigo que uno mismo”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte, The Fencing Master

“He'd have given a rare incunabulum, in good condition, to punch the face of whoever was writing this ridiculus script.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte

“En aquella ciudad, donde a menudo lo ilegal es convención social y forma de vida --es herencia de familia, dice un corrido famoso, trabajar contra la ley--, Teresa Mendoza fue durante algún tiempo una de esas jóvenes, hasta que cierta ranchera Bronco negra se detuvo a su lado, y Raimundo Dávila Parra bajó el cristal tintado de la ventanilla y se la quedo mirando desde el asiento del conductor. (p. 26 en LA REINA DEL SUR)”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte

“Sabe qual é o problema? Encontramo-nos na última de três gerações que a História tem o capricho de repetir de quando em quando. A primeira precisa de um Deus, e inventa-o. A segunda ergue templos a esse Deus e tenta imitá-lo. E a terceira utiliza o mármore desses templos para construir prostíbulos onde adorar a sua própria cobiça, a sua luxúria e a sua baixeza. E é assim que aos deuses e aos heróis sucedem sempre, inevitavelmente, os medíocres, os cobardes e os imbecis.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte, The Fencing Master