The Promise Quotes

“The couple had only lived a short while in that village, and they were poor as rats. Leonarda's husband bought damaged cigarettes, personally extracted his own teeth, ate meat and polenta twice a week, drank mate from an earthenware mug, never took his wife to the movies, and when she was ill he took her to a veterinarian.”
― Silvina Ocampo, The Promise

“Children are like that, Irene often thought, for every small dose of happiness they give us, we have to swallow all the bitterness in the world. Men are like that too. That's how the world is.”
― Silvina Ocampo, The Promise

“In a way, like Scheherazade to King Shahryar, I told stories to death so that it would spare my life and my images, stories that seemed to never end.”
― Silvina Ocampo, The Promise

“I don't have a life of my own; I have only feelings. My experiences were never important -- not during the course of my life nor even on the threshold of death. Instead, the lives of others have become mine.”
― Silvina Ocampo, The Promise

“Gabriela has been dreaming about her and about a pair of shoes for quite some time.”
― Silvina Ocampo, The Promise

“Mr. Arevalo was very tall and stooped when he walked, He had a woman's voice and a dog's face.”
― Silvina Ocampo, The Promise

“Have you ever eaten flies?" Mendiondo asked.
"Yes, when I was a kid, on a dare. Of course, I tore off the wings and tiny legs before I ate it.”
― Silvina Ocampo, The Promise

“It was a fruit relationship, perhaps symbolizing sex.”
― Silvina Ocampo, The Promise