“One can't fight with oneself, for this battle has only one loser.”
Author detail
Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa (Arequipa, 28 de marzo de 1936-Lima, 13 de abril de 2025), conocido como Mario Vargas Llosa, fue un escritor peruano con nacionalidad española desde 1993 y nacionalidad dominicana desde junio de 2022. Considerado uno de los más importantes novelistas y ensayistas contemporáneos, sus obras cosecharon numerosos premios, entre los que destacan el Nobel de Literatura 2010, el Cervantes 1994 —considerado como el más importante en lengua española—, el Príncipe de Asturias de las Letras 1986, el Biblioteca Breve 1962, el Rómulo Gallegos 1967 y el Planeta 1993, entre otros. Como escritor, alcanzó la fama en la década de 1960 con novelas como *La ciudad y los perros* (1963), *La casa verde* (1966) y *Conversación en La Catedral* (1969). Continuó escribiendo prolíficamente en varios géneros literarios, como el ensayo, el artículo y el teatro. Entre sus novelas destacan asimismo *La guerra del fin del mundo* (1981), o *La fiesta del Chivo* (2000). ---------- Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa (Arequipa, March 28, 1936 - Lima, April 13, 2025), known as Mario Vargas Llosa, was a Peruvian writer with Spanish nationality since 1993 and Dominican nationality since June 2022. Considered one of the most important contemporary novelists and essayists, his works have garnered numerous awards, including the 2010 Nobel Prize for Literature, the 1994 Cervantes Prize - considered the most important in the Spanish language -, the 1986 Prince of Asturias Prize for Literature, the 1962 Biblioteca Breve Prize, the 1967 Rómulo Gallegos Prize and the 1993 Planeta Prize, among others. As a writer, he rose to fame in the 1960s with novels such as *The City and the Dogs* (1963), *The Green House* (1966), and *Conversation in the Cathedral* (1969). He continued to write prolifically in various literary genres, including essays, articles, and plays. Other notable novels include *The War at the End of the World* (1981) and *The Feast of the Goat* (2000).
Quotes
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“One can't fight with oneself, for this battle has only one loser.”
“Le raccontai tutta la mia vita, non quella passata ma quella che avrei vissuto in futuro.”
“El secreto de la felicidad, o, por lo menos, de la tranquilidad, es saber separar el sexo del amor. Y, si es posible, eliminar el amor romántico de tu vida, que es el que hace sufrir. Así se...”
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“I was absolutely convinced that I wouldn't win the Nobel Prize. My impression was that the Nobel Prize in Literature was given to people more or less affiliated with, let's say, socialist id...”
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“Reality is the richest thing there is, the most important thing there is. Our imagination allows us to live an artificial life that is wonderful, extremely rich, but I don't believe any arti...”
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“Literature is dangerous: it awakens a rebellious attitude in us.”
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“The novels that have fascinated me most are the ones that have reached me less through the channels of the intellect or reason than bewitched me.”
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“When I was growing up, the Spanish-speaking world was Balkanized. We were isolated. We didn't know what was happening in cultural terms in Ecuador, Colombia and Chile. Nowadays, this has cha...”
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“If you live in a country where there is nothing comparable to free information, often literature becomes the only way to be more or less informed about what's going on.”
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“Good novel is a conjunction of many factors, the main of which is, without a doubt, hard work. There are many things behind a good novel, but in particular, there is a lot of work - a lot of...”
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“It isn't true that convicts live like animals: animals have more room to move around.”
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“Couldn't imagine any other way of living, outside of books, outside my work. Which doesn't mean I am not interested in other things, of course - I am interested in many things. But the cente...”
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“In fiction, you are not limited by real facts. You can manipulate reality; you can invent without being disloyal to the essence of history.”
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“In 1975, I went to the Dominican Republic for eight months during the shooting of a film based on my novel 'Captain Pantoja and the Special Service.' It was during this period I heard and re...”
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“I am in favor of economic freedom, but I am not a conservative.”
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“No matter how ephemeral it is, a novel is something, while despair is nothing.”
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“When I was at university in the Fifties, Latin America was full of dictators. Trujillo was the emblematic figure because, of course, of his cruelty, corruption, extravagance, and theatricali...”
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“The Nobel prize is a fairytale for a week and a nightmare for a year. You can't imagine the pressure to give interviews, to go to book fairs.”
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“Each book, for me, has been an adventure, a period of time dedicated to study, to document certain facts, to traveling, and also to fantasize and to invent.”
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“When I was young, I was a passionate reader of Sartre. I've read the American novelists, in particular the lost generation - Faulkner, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Dos Passos - especially Faulkner...”
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