“This short book, where joy and sadness are twins, like the ears of Platero, was written for … I have no idea for whom! … For whomever lyric poets write …”

“Great books write themselves, only bad books have to be written.”

“I have written a few short stories for different venues, but I don’t see a big market in writing collections of short stories—at least not enough to sustain a living. Short stories are great for writing, but this is how I earn a living.”

“I do not like to write - I like to have written.”

“If a book is well written, I always find it too short.”

“I don't write a book so that it will be the final word; I write a book so that other books are possible, not necessarily written by me.”

“I like reading Ball Tongue lyrics and all that stuff. And they published a book, and I wouldn't give my lyrics, and it's all wrong in the book, and I giggle. It's funny.”

“In the end all books are written for your friends. The problem after writing One Hundred Years of Solitude was that now I no longer know whom of the millions of readers I am writing for; this upsets and inhibits me. It's like a million eyes are looking at you and you don't really know what they think.”

“I learned to write by reading the kind of books I wished I'd written.”

“Make no mistake, those who write long books have nothing to say.
Of course those who write short books have even less to say.”