“ Nothing could have been more imprudent or more natural than this reply. It reflected the ecstasy inspired by great crises. Machado de Assis
“ A man's eye serves as a photography to the invisible, as well as his ear serves as echo to the silence. Machado de Assis
“ Lovers' language, give me an exact and poetic comparison to say what those eyes of Capitu were like. No image comes to mind that doesn't offend against the rules of good style, to say what they were a… Machado de Assis
“ To him the stars seemed like so many musical notes affixed to the sky, just waiting for somebody to unfasten them. Someday the sky would be emptied, but by then the earth would be a constellation of m… Machado de Assis
“ Till now, madness has been thought a small island in an ocean of sanity. I am beginning to suspect that it is not an island at all but a continent. Machado de Assis
“ ...one of the roles of man is to shut his eyes and keep them shut to see if he can continue into the night of his old age the dream curtailed in the night of his youth. Machado de Assis
“ In ordinary life, the action of a third party does not free the contractor from an obligation; but the advantage of making a contract with heaven is that intentions are valid currency. Machado de Assis
“ He felt that there is a loose balance of good and evil, and that the art of living consists in getting the greatest good out of the greatest evil. Machado de Assis
“ I considered the case and realized that if something can exist in opinion without existing in reality, or exist in reality without existing in opinion, the conclusion is that of the two parallel lives… Machado de Assis
“ Dreams disdain fine lines and finishing touches on landscapes – they content themselves with thick but representative brushstrokes. Machado de Assis
“ He best thing to do is to loosen my grip on my pen and let it go wandering about until it finds an entrance. There must be one – everything depends on the circumstances, a rule applicable as much to l… Machado de Assis
“ The best thing to do is to loosen my grip on my pen and let it go wandering about until it finds an entrance. There must be one – everything depends on the circumstances, a rule applicable as much to… Machado de Assis
“ I am beginning to be sorry that I ever undertook to write this book. Not that it bores me; I have nothing else to do; indeed, it is a welcome distraction from eternity. But the book is tedious, it sme… Machado de Assis
