I've been a story-teller all my life but I realized it only recently. — Isabel Allende Copy Share Image
I get up every morning early, when the sky is red, and write for 10 hours. — Isabel Allende Copy Share Image
The library is inhabited by spirits that come out of the pages at night. — Isabel Allende Copy Share Image
I don't read thrillers, romance or mystery, and I don't read self-help books because I don't believe in shortcuts and loopholes. — Isabel Allende Copy Share Image
Only in romance novels or in thrillers people live outside of a social and political context. — Isabel Allende Copy Share Image
What happens in the world affects me. Sometimes, that's part of the writing. — Isabel Allende Copy Share Image
I'm aware of the mystery around us, so I write about coincidences, premonitions, emotions, dreams, the power of nature, magic. — Isabel Allende Copy Share Image
I don't think of literature as an end in itself. It's just a way of communicating something. — Isabel Allende Copy Share Image
Fiction happens in the womb. It doesn't get processed in the mind until you do the editing. — Isabel Allende Copy Share Image
“The house was a vast labyrinth of books. Volumes were stacked from floor to ceiling on every wall, dark, crackling, redolent of… — Isabel Allende Copy Share Image
The fact people think that when you sell a lot of books you are not a serious writer is a great insult… — Isabel Allende Copy Share Image
I try to let go of the intellect and just tell the story. I only read the page I have in front… — Isabel Allende Copy Share Image
The fact that I am a writer comes from the experience of being cut away from my roots and living in Venezuela,… — Isabel Allende Copy Share Image
And the truth is that if a writer is successful, you gain readers. It benefits all the writers. It's important for all… — Isabel Allende Copy Share Image
I write a letter to my mother every day, because in that letter, I write down my day. And if I don't… — Isabel Allende Copy Share Image
When you tell a story in the kitchen to a friend, it's full of mistakes and repetitions. It's good to avoid that… — Isabel Allende Copy Share Image
I never try to convey a message, I just want to tell a story. Why that story in particular? I have no… — Isabel Allende Copy Share Image
January 8 has been a lucky day for me. I have started all my books on that day, and all of them… — Isabel Allende Copy Share Image
“Writing, when all is said and done, is an attempt to understand one's own circumstance and to clarify the confusion of existence,… — Isabel Allende Copy Share Image
A memoir forces me to stop and remember carefully. It is an exercise in truth. In a memoir, I look at myself,… — Isabel Allende Copy Share Image
In 2011, I announced that I was going to retire, and my agent panicked. So she says: 'No, no, no. You have… — Isabel Allende Copy Share Image
I confess that I am a messy, disorganized and impatient reader: if the book doesn't grab me in the first 40 pages,… — Isabel Allende Copy Share Image
In the books I have written, I have created in my mind a universe. My kids say I have a village in… — Isabel Allende Copy Share Image
A novel is achieved with hard work, the short story with inspiration. — Isabel Allende Copy Share Image
My writing comes not from the happy moments, but from struggle and grief. — Isabel Allende Copy Share Image
The connection that I have with my readers makes me very happy, and gives meaning to the strange profession of writing — Isabel Allende Copy Share Image
“The writer and the dreamer have so much in common: They can't control the plot, they are always part of the story… — Isabel Allende Copy Share Image
All stories interest me, and some haunt me until I end up writing them. — Isabel Allende Copy Share Image
Having a point to start is important. You know that when you decide to write something it's like a commitment. It's like… — Isabel Allende Copy Share Image
“Writing is like riding a bicycle: you don’t forget how, even if you go for years without doing it.” — Isabel Allende Copy Share Image
“I am happier when I love than when I am loved. I adore my husband, my son, and my grandchildren, my mother, my dog,… — Isabel Allende Copy Share
Having a point to start is important. You know that when you decide to write something it's like a commitment. It's like falling in… — Isabel Allende Copy Share
Music is a wind that blows away the years, memories, and fear, that crouching animal I carry inside me. — Isabel Allende Copy Share
Everybody has losses - it's unavoidable in life. Sharing our pain is very healing. — Isabel Allende Copy Share
“The writer and the dreamer have so much in common: They can't control the plot, they are always part of the story or the… — Isabel Allende Copy Share
People think that they will sit down and produce the great American novel in one sitting. It doesn't work that way. This is a… — Isabel Allende Copy Share
“He had a principle: if you lend money and never see the person again, that's money well spent.” — Isabel Allende Copy Share
“Catholics form a majority in Chile, although there are more and more Evangelicals and Pentacostals who irritate everyone because they have a direct understanding… — Isabel Allende Copy Share
“At times I feel as if I had lived all this before and that I have already written these very words, but I know… — Isabel Allende Copy Share
In 2011, I announced that I was going to retire, and my agent panicked. So she says: 'No, no, no. You have to write… — Isabel Allende Copy Share
I have lived with passion and in a hurry, trying to accomplish too many things. I never had time to think about my beliefs… — Isabel Allende Copy Share
I'm surrounded by the scene of aging. I myself am in my 70s and not getting any younger. Although I'm very healthy, and I… — Isabel Allende Copy Share
“Intimacy needs time to mature—a shared history, tears shed, obstacles overcome, photographs in an album. It’s a slow-growing plant.” — Isabel Allende Copy Share
The idea of the book ["The Japanese Lover"] came in a conversation that I had with a friend walking in the streets of New… — Isabel Allende Copy Share
