Lisbon Quotes

“By day Lisbon has a naive theatrical quality that enchants and captivates, but by night it is a fairy-tale city, descending over lighted terraces to the sea, like a woman in festive garments going down to meet her dark lover.”
― Erich Maria Remarque, The Night in Lisbon

“Lisbon, to me,
is the Lisbon of Pessoa.
Just like London is Woolf’s,
or rather, Mrs. Dalloway’s.
Barcelona is Gaudí's
and Rome is da Vinci’s.
You see them in every crevice
and hear their echoes
in every cathedral.
I’d like to be the child,
or rather, the mother of a city
but I neither have a home
nor a resting place.
My race is humankind.
My religion is kindness.
My work is love
and, well, my city
is the walls of your heart.”
― Kamand Kojouri

“I never told you about the trip to Portugal 3 years ago when I read Fernando Pessoa at 1 a.m. outside a small family-run restaurant by the harbour. If I close my eyes I can still smell the salt water and the fish, some sort of cleaning powder scent from the kitchen, can still feel the heat, a soft wind and me sitting with wide open eyes on my own at 1 a.m. writing what I thought was profound and excellent. I felt like a writer then. I was not a girlfriend or a daughter or a songwriter who never got signed—I was a writer in the truest sense and I lived in my own flames.”
― Charlotte Eriksson, He loved me some days. I'm sure he did: 99 essays on growth through loss

“O mundo agora é uma sala cheia de fumo.”
― Rafael Loureiro, Cinzas de um Novo Mundo

“A História dita que, quando se eleva um mal, gera-se no mesmo instante algo de bom. O equilíbrio desperta soldados que, com chamas nos corações, o querem derrotar. Eles vêm ao mundo apenas com essa missão, erguendo-se mesmo da morte, se assim o destino o ditar.”
― Rafael Loureiro, Cinzas de um Novo Mundo

“A long time ago I lived in Lisbon,' she said, in softly slurred Portuguese that made the name of the city Leesh-boa. 'But before that, meus neto, my tribe was in the mountains where there are only old things, like the trees and the rocks and the streams. There are truths to be learned from the old things -' She hesitated, and her brown, shrunken claw closed over Pete's hand. 'Do you know the truth, Pedrinho?'

("Before I Wake...")”
― Henry Kuttner, Masters of Horror

“Blessed are all of God's self-portraits.”
― Richard Zimler, The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon

“Once, in Lisbon, I tried my best to work the phone book in a way that would assuage a longing [Alice and I] had for certain Chinese dishes . . . .”
― Calvin Trillin, The Tummy Trilogy: American Fried; Alice, Let's Eat; Third Helpings

“Lišboa. Grad koji se strmoglavljuje u široku, nepreglednu deltu reke Težo. Vrtoglavi usponi uzanih uličica Alafame. Sa rive iz donjeg rakursa grad izgleda kao dečiji crtež, bez perspektive; kuće naređane poput kocki, jedna na drugu. Ponegde, kupola ili zvonik koji štrči. LIšboa je čista melanholija, zov duše da se otisne na pučinu.”
― Marija Jovanović

“Odessa è insieme Istanbul e Lisbona, Pietroburgo e Trieste.”
― Paolo Rumiz, The Fault Line: Traveling the Other Europe, From Finland to Ukraine

“The next morning having we had the Continental Breakfast with French croissants and the usual strong Turkish coffee. Mia seemed strangely distant from me now sat next to Aleixo who had come to join us. I had a KLM flight to catch that afternoon and there was little left to say. Later Mia came with me to the row of taxies and told the driver in Portuguese to take me to the airport. As I got into the cab her last words to me were a mocking “Poor boy, poor, poor boy…” My place is here with Aleixo, but I was yours for a lovely day.”
― Hank Bracker

“When I return to Almada at midnight after the film, the Tagus is like a still pond. The river's glassy surface reflects Cacilhas dock through a soft mist.”
― David Kintore, Silver Screen Cities Lisbon