Mariette

“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

“What about order? Stability? Security? I’ve tried to keep you away from unpleasant things. But don’t tell me you don’t know how peace is achieved. With how much sacrifice and how much blood. Be grateful that I’ve allowed you to see the other side and devote yourself to the good, while I, Abbes, Lieutenant Peña Rivera, and others kept the country in order so you could write your poems and your speeches. I’m sure that with your acute intelligence, you understand me perfectly.”
― Mario Vargas Llosa, The Feast of the Goat

“Il n'y a rien de mieux qu'un roman pour faire comprendre que la réalité est mal faite, qu’elle n’est pas suffisante pour satisfaire les désirs, les appétits, les rêves humains.”
― Mario Vargas Llosa

“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