Not a visible enthusiasm but a hidden one, an excitement burning with a cold flame.

...talent means nothing, while experience, acquired in humility and with hard work, means everything.

He succeeded in being considered totally uninteresting. People left him alone. And that was all he wanted.

He had preserved the best part of her and made it his own: the principle of her scent.

He realized that all his life he had been a nobody to everyone. What he now felt was the fear of his own oblivion. It was as though he did not exist.

People left him alone. And that was all he wanted.

She was indeed a girl of exquisite beauty. She was one of those languid women made of dark honey smooth and sweet and terribly sticky.

...he came to the conclusion that you cannot depend on people, and that you can live in peace only if you keep them at arm's length.

He who ruled scent ruled the hearts of men.

He was not bound. No one led him by the arm. He got out of the carriage as if he were a free man.

He decided in favor of life out of sheer spite and malice.

Don’t be discouraged by life’s difficulties. With hope and determination, you can triumph over any difficulties.

…the world was a vale of tears—it always had been.

Don’t waste you energy to compare your life with others.

Begin somewhere you cannot build a reputation on what you intend to do.

The first part of planning is to believe that you can put that plan into practise.

[Louis Armstrong] was the only musician who ever lived, who can't be replaced by someone.

Our civilization depends critically on software, and we have a dangerously low degree of professionalism in the computer fields

I was born to be a remarkable woman; it matters little in what way or how. ... I shall be famous or I will die.

How could you look more stupid than to be the guy accepting a bronze medal in gold shoes?

I grew up in a big ol' Latin family, so that's all the music we used to play - salsa music. We'd always dance and have fun. You know how families get down, man! We just had fun with it.