We had yet to learn that the Devil created youth so that we could make our mistakes, and that God established maturity and old age so that we could pay for them.
Carlos Ruiz ZafonRead
The words with which a child's heart is poisoned, whether through malice or through ignorance, remain branded in his memory, and sooner or later they burn his soul.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Negative words can have a lasting impact on a child's emotional well-being.
This quote highlights the profound effect that words can have on a child's development and emotional state. It suggests that both intentional and unintentional harmful comments can leave deep scars, impacting the child's psyche and shaping their future experiences and relationships.
Themes
ChildrenWordsImpactMemoryEmotions
In practice
Example use cases
A teacher sharing this quote during a discussion on the importance of nurturing language around children.
More from Carlos Ruiz Zafon
All quotes βThe haunting of history is ever present in Barcelona. I see cities as organisms, as living creatures. To me, Madrid is a man and Barcelona is a woman. And it's a woman who's extremely vain.
Carlos Ruiz ZafonRead
I think today will be the day. Today our luck will change,' I proclaimed on the wings of the first coffee of the day, pure optimism in a liquid state.
Carlos Ruiz ZafonRead
We spend a good part of our lives dreaming, especially when we're awake.
Carlos Ruiz ZafonRead
Destiny is usually just around the corner. Like a thief, a hooker, or a lottery vendor: its three most common personifications. But what destiny does not do is home visits. You have to go for it.
Carlos Ruiz ZafonRead
Destiny doesn't do home visits... you have to go for it yourself.
Carlos Ruiz ZafonRead
Similar quotes
Women of color have always been kind of boxed in by the idea that the more you talk about the misogyny of your own community, the more you make that community look bad.
Mona EltahawyRead
Perhaps the great renewal of the world will consist of this, that man and woman, freed of all confused feelings and desires, shall no longer seek each other as opposites, but simply as members of a family and neighbors, and will unite as human beings, in order to simply, earnestly, patiently, and jointly bear the heavy responsibility of sexuality that has been entrusted to them.
Rainer Maria RilkeRead
Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father's passin'.
Harper LeeRead
When a marriage founders, this may well be cause for tremendous sadness, but it's not a failure of spirit or character. People change, their goals and dreams alter, their ideas of themselves grow, or they just meet someone they like better.
Naomi AldermanRead
I could never learn to like her, except on a raft at sea with no other provisions in sight.
Mark TwainRead
Those of us who are locked into ineffective expressions of anger suffer as deeply as those of us who dare not get angry at all.
Harriet LernerRead