The History of the Siege of Lisbon Quotes

“يا إلهنا العزيز، ارحم رجالاً أنفقوا أعمارهم في تخيل الأشياء!!”
― José Saramago, The History of the Siege of Lisbon

“Every novel is like this, desperation, a frustrated attempt to save something of the past. Except that it still has not been established whether it is the novel that prevents man from forgetting himself or the impossibility of forgetfulness that makes him write novels.”
― José Saramago, The History of the Siege of Lisbon

“Claro que estamos em guerra, e é guerra de sítio, cada um de nós cerca o outro e é cercado por ele, queremos deitar abaixo os muros do outro e continuar com os nossos, o amor será não haver mais barreiras, o amor é o fim do cerco.”
― José Saramago, The History of the Siege of Lisbon

“...everything that is not literature is life.”
― José Saramago, The History of the Siege of Lisbon

“أن الجنون في الإنسان ناجم عن اصطدام الإنسان بذكائه ذاته”
― José Saramago, The History of the Siege of Lisbon

“Switch on the light, she said, I want to know if this is real.”
― José Saramago, The History of the Siege of Lisbon

“Certaines relations harmonieuses se créent et durent grâce à un système complexe de menues contre-vérités, de renoncements, une espèce de ballet complice d'attitudes et de postures qui peut se résumer dans un proverbe jamais assez cité, ou plutôt une sentence, cette désignation lui convenant beaucoup mieux, Toi et moi nous savons, mais tais-toi et je me tairai. (ch. 5)”
― José Saramago, The History of the Siege of Lisbon

“Raimundo Silva pensou, pessoanamente, Se eu fumasse, acenderia agora um cigarro, a olhar o rio, pensando como tudo é vago e vário, assim, não fumando, apenas pensarei que tudo é vário e vago, realmente, mas sem cigarro, ainda que o cigarro, se o fumasse, por si mesmo exprimisse a variedade e a vaguidade das coisas, como o fumo, se fumasse.”
― José Saramago, The History of the Siege of Lisbon

“We can be only too grateful that an Archbishop of Braga should have immersed himself so deeply in theological speculation, armed and equipped as he was for war, with his coat of mail, his broadsword dangling from the”
― José Saramago, The History of the Siege of Lisbon

“pommel of his saddle and his helmet with a nose-piece, arms which might well prevent him from reaching any conclusions based on humanitarian logic,”
― José Saramago, The History of the Siege of Lisbon

“You're quite right, but there are some people, the dreamers, who prefer doubt to certainty, who are much less interested in the object than in its traces, in the footprints in the sand rather than in the animal that left them behind.”
― José Saramago, The History of the Siege of Lisbon

“To look, see and observe are different ways of using the organ of sight, each with its own intensity, even when there is some deterioration, for example, to look without seeing, when someone is distracted, a common situation in traditional novels, or to see and not notice, when the eyes out of weariness and boredom avoid anything likely to tax them. Only by observing can we achieve full vision, when at a given moment or successively, our attention becomes concentrated,”
― José Saramago, The History of the Siege of Lisbon

“الفضيلة ليست شديدة السهولة مثل الرذيلة، لكن يمكن أن يستعان عليها”
― José Saramago, The History of the Siege of Lisbon

“...la experiencia nos muestra diariamente que cada palabra es un peligroso aprendiz de brujo.”
― José Saramago, The History of the Siege of Lisbon

“[...] de tudo isso se podendo concluir que os homens são incapazes de dizer quem são se não puderem alegar que são outra coisa.”
― José Saramago, The History of the Siege of Lisbon

“Devemos é reparar nas diferenças entre aquele tempo e este tempo, para falar, como para matar, é preciso chegar perto”
― José Saramago, The History of the Siege of Lisbon

“Mas há pessoas a quem atrai mais o duvidoso que o certo, menos o objecto do que o vestígio dele, mais a pegada na areia do que o animal que o deixou, são os sonhadores.”
― José Saramago, The History of the Siege of Lisbon

“As palavras, senhor, estão por aí, no ar, qualquer as pode aprender.”
― José Saramago, The History of the Siege of Lisbon

“Não vim de tão longe para morrer diante dos muros de Lisboa”
― José Saramago, The History of the Siege of Lisbon

“Raimundo Silva entered, said good morning to no one in particular, and sat at a table behind the showcase where the usual tempting delicacies were on display, sponges, mille feuilles, cream cornets, tartlets, rice cakes, mokatines and, those inevitable croissants, in the shape dictated by the French word, a pastry that has risen only to collapse at the first bite and disintegrate until there are nothing but crumbs left on the plate, tiny celestial bodies which the huge wet finger of Allah is lifting to his mouth, then all that remains will be a terrible cosmic void, if being and nothingness are compatible.”
― José Saramago, The History of the Siege of Lisbon

“[...] porque nadie sabe lo que el beso es verdaderamente, tal vez la devoración imposible, tal vez una comunión demoníaca, tal vez el principio de la muerte.”
― José Saramago, The History of the Siege of Lisbon

“[...] la gran prueba de la sabiduría es tener presente que hasta los sentimientos deben saber administrar el tiempo.”
― José Saramago, The History of the Siege of Lisbon

“[...] el universo murmura bajo la lluvia, Dios mío, qué dulce y suave tristeza, y que no nos falte nunca, ni siquiera en las horas de alegría.”
― José Saramago, The History of the Siege of Lisbon