Mariette

“In matters concerning God, you have to believe, not reason,” Herbert would say. “If you reason, God vanishes like a mouthful of smoke.” Roger”
― Mario Vargas Llosa, The Dream of the Celt

“I discovered that the predisposition for languages is as mysterious as the inclination of certain people for mathematics or music and has nothing to do with intelligence or knowledge. It is something separate, a gift that some possess and others don’t.”
― Mario Vargas Llosa, The Bad Girl

“If in this address I were to summon all the writers to whom I owe a few things or a great deal, their shadows would plunge us into darkness. They are innumerable. In addition to revealing the secrets of the storytelling craft, they obliged me to explore the bottomless depths of humanity, admire its heroic deeds and feel horror at its savagery.”
― Mario Vargas Llosa, In Praise of Reading and Fiction: The Nobel Lecture

“patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.”
― Mario Vargas Llosa, The Dream of the Celt