Camilo Jose Cela Quotes & Sayings

Perhaps there is to be found in Pastrana the key to something which happens in Spain more frequently than is necessary. Past splendor overwhelms and in the end exhausts the people's will; and without force of will, as can be seen in so many cases, by being exclusively occupied with the contemplation of the glories of the past, they leave current problems unsolved. When the belly is empty and the mind filled with golden memories, the golden memories continually retreat and at last, though no one goes so far as to admit it, there is even doubt whether they ever existed and there is nothing left of them but a benevolent and useless cultural residue. — Camilo Jose Cela

On the hinder slope of the hill two little goatherds are tending a flock of goats; one of them is sitting on a rock whittling a crook out of ash, while the other is trying to coax a few tweets out of a reed flute. — Camilo Jose Cela

Literature is the denunciation of the times in which one lives. — Camilo Jose Cela

When debts are not paid because they cannot be paid, the best thing to do is not talk about them, and shuffle the cards again. — Camilo Jose Cela

Ideas? My head is full of them, one after the other, but they serve no purpose there. They must be put down on paper, one after the other. — Camilo Jose Cela

There are two kinds of man: the ones who make history and the ones who endure it. — Camilo Jose Cela

I'm not made to philosophize, I don't have the heart for it. My heart is more like a machine for making blood to be spilled in a knife fight... — Camilo Jose Cela

I am not, sir, a bad person, though in truth I am not lacking in reasons for being one.
[Sp., Yo, senor, no soy malo, aunque no me faltarian motivos para serlo.] — Camilo Jose Cela