I read the Odyssey because it was the story of a man who returned home after being absent for more than twenty years and was recognized only by his dog.

A good smoker, like a good lover, always takes his time with a cigar.

I was never a true journalist, I was a movie critic.

I think writers rush in where everybody is very frightened to tread

I think that I've tried many times to get Cuba in my writings, especially Havana, which was once a great and fascinating city.

When I write, the first blank page, or any blank page, means nothing to me. What means something is a page that has been filled with words.

Cigars must be smoked one at a time, peaceably, with all the leisure in the world. Cigarettes are of the instant, Cigars are for eternity.

I was an avid radio fan when I was a boy, as well as a great lover of comic strips

So I do not consider myself a chronicler of my fatherland or even a chronicler of Havana

What I do believe is that there is always a relationship between writing and reading, a constant interplay between the writer on the one hand and the reader on the other

Writing for me, even what you call serious writing, is play.

The one thing which seems to me quite impossible is to take into consideration the kind of book one is expected to

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by

If it weren't for the animals waiting for her, she wouldn't bother getting out of bed. Then, room service was a little lacking when you lived alone.

Myth: USDollar is money. Fact: Gold & Silver are money. USDollar is legal tender/debt brought down to low parcels for spending purposes.

The quest for certainty blocks the search for meaning. Uncertainty is the very condition to impel man to unfold his powers.

It is not for us to calculate our victory or fear our defeat, but to do our duty and leave the rest in God's hands.

The only justification for writing a novel is that it should be wonderful. Adequate is inadequate.

It is difficult to walk at one and the same time many paths of life.

Trees are, after all, our largest and oldest living things. They are Australia's natural, national treasures - the true Elders of our vast continent.

Too old to plant trees for my own gratification, I shall do it for my posterity.