213 Quotes by Mario Vargas Llosa

Whether religious or racial, anti-Semitism is always repugnant, one of the most destructive manifestations of human stupidity and evil. What is profoundly expressed in it is man’s traditional mistrust of the man who is not part of his tribe, that ‘other’ who speaks a different language, whose skin is a different color, and who participates in mysterious rites and rituals.

We were trained as writers with the idea that literature is something that can change reality, that it’s not just a very sophisticated entertainment, but a way to act.

When you start looking for purity in politics, you eventually get to unreality.

There are many things behind a good novel, but in particular there is a lot of work – a lot of patience, a lot of stubbornness, and a critical spirit.

Borges’s ethnocentric limitation does not detract from his many other admirable qualities, but it is best not to sidestep it when giving a comprehensive appraisal of his work. Certainly, it is a limitation that offers further proof of his humanity because, as has been said over and over again, there is no such thing as absolute perfection in this world, not even in the world of a creative artist like Borges, who comes as close as anyone to achieving it.

One can’t fight with oneself, for this battle has only one loser.

Because in the civilization of the spectacle, intellectuals are of interest only if they play the fashion game and become clowns.

I convinced her that her first loyalty isn’t to other people, but to her own feelings.

Their curses were not aimed at any definite target: they swore at such abstractions as God, the Officers, the Mothers of Others, with more music than meaning.