Quotes from Amelie Nothomb

It's while writing that suddenly a point of view appears: 'So, that's what I really thought about this thing'. Then it feels part of me.

God isn't chocolate, he's the encounter between chocolate and the palate capable of appreciating it.

There is only one key to knowledge, and that is desire.

Le propre des grands livres est que chaque lecteur en est l'auteur.

Nadie es la víctima de nadie, sino de sí mismo

On n'est pas le même selon qu'on a mangé du boudin ou du caviar; on n'est pas le même non plus selon qu'on vient de lire du Kant […] ou du Queneau.

The nature of the epistolary genre was revealed to me: a form of writing devoted to another person. Novels, poems, and so on, were texts into which others were free to enter, or not. Letters, on the other hand, did not exist without the other person, and their very mission, their significance, was the epiphany of the recipient.

Peu glorieuse, la fuite ? C'est pourtant mieux que de se laisser attraper. Le seul déshonneur, c'est de ne pas être libre.

In fond, oamenii nu citesc; daca citesc, nu pricep; daca pricep, uita.

Para bailar, hay que merecerlo. Bailar sobre un escenario y delante de público constituye la mayor de las felicidades. A decir verdad, incluso sin público, incluso sin escenario, bailar es el colmo de la embriaguez. Una alegría tan profunda justifica los sacrificios más crueles. La educación que os damos aquí tiende a presentar la danza como lo que es: no un medio sino una recompensa.

Si me obstino, significa que tengo razón, piensen lo que piensen los demás.

Language is accurate: you run for your life. If you are dying, leave. If you are suffering, move. There is no other law, only movement.

Look around you and look at yourself: the world is swarming with assassins, that is, people who allow themselves to forget those they claimed to love. To forget someone: have you really thought about what that means? Forgetfulness is a gigantic ocean where only one ship sails, the ship of memory. For most human beings, that ship is no more than a miserable tub which takes on water at the slightest opportunity.

C'était justement parce qu'il n'y avait pas de mal en lui que je l'aimais beaucoup. C'était à cause de son étrangeté au mal que je n'avais pas d'amour pour lui. Pourtant, le mal ne me plaît pas . Mais un plat n'est sublime que s'il contient une touche de vinaigre.

My mind was not that of a conqueror, but that of a cow that spends its life chewing contentedly in the meadow of invoices, waiting for the train of eternal grace to pass by. How good it felt to exist without pride of ambition. To live in hibernation.

Eso es el heroísmo: a cambio de nada.

Japanese women live in fear of making the least sound in a bathroom stall. Japanese men pay no attention to the subject whatsoever.

La Pascua me satisface tanto como me deprime la Navidad. Un Dios que se convierte en bebé produce consternación. Un pobre tipo que se convierte en Dios es otra cosa

People with menial jobs conjure up what Nietzsche calls a background world, forcing themselves to believe in an earthly or heavenly paradise. Their mental Eden is as seductive as their job is repugnant.

If I knew what I was thinking [...] I would never have become a writer.

uno siempre es más hermoso cuando hay un término para designarlo, cuando posee una palabra sólo para él. El lenguaje es menos práctico que la estética.

Pourquoi est-il impossible de faire du bien à quelqu'un sans lui faire de mal ? Pourquoi est-il impossible d'aimer quelqu'un sans le détruire ?

Il faut admirer les gens capables d'être heureux.

How good it felt to exist without pride or ambition. To live in hibernation.