Ciao Gabo

A myth for the literary world, a figure that has inspired generations of readers. The author of One Hundred Years of Solitude and Nobel prize winner Gabriel Garcia Marquez died in Mexico City at the age of 87.

A man, Gabo (this was how people called him), who lived his life between literature and civil committment.

Born in Aracataca, Colombia, in 1928, he was a child of turbulent periods in South America. Through his powerful words he embodied the values of the revolution that would soon change the destiny of his homeland.

Considered the most famous and influential writer in Spanish after Miguel De Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, Marquez achieved an incredible success with his masterpiece One Hundred Years of Solitude, written in 1967. His magical realism and passion for civil issues became a symbol of Latin America’s popular culture and tradition.

Through his works, which are the reflection of the history of Latin America, Marquez was able to mark an era in which South American literature could establish its identity all over the globe.

His prose, considerations and teachings will cross the ends of the earths and will be on the lips of many other authors whom he inspired. Other famous novels by Marquez are Love in the Time of Cholera, Chronicle of a Death Foretold and Autumn of the Patriarch.

“He was a writer who changed the life of his readers,” said President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos declaring 3 days of national grief for the death of the author. On Twitter,  Santos wrote: “One hundred years of solitude and sadness for the death of one of the greatest Colombians that ever existed.” Moreover, the President of Colombia thanked Marquez for reminding the world that “Colombia and Latin America aren’t and will never be condemned again to one hundred years of solitude and that we’ll have a second chance.” “For Colombians,” continued the President, “Gabo did not invent magical realism, but he is the best representative of a country that is itself a magical realism.”

Gabo is not with us anymore but his words will last forever and we want to remember him like this:

“It is not true that people stop pursuing dreams because they grow old, they grow old because they stop pursuing dreams.”

“There is always something left to love.”

“Nobody deserves your tears, but whoever deserves them will not make you cry.”

“What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it.”

“A true friend is the one who holds your hand and touches your heart.”

“A lie is more comfortable than doubt, more useful than love, more lasting than truth.”

“Age isn’t how old you are but how old you feel.”

“The problem with marriage is that it ends every night after making love, and it must be rebuilt every morning before breakfast.”

“Crazy people are not crazy if one accepts their reasoning.”

“I became aware that the invincible power that has moved the world is unrequited, not happy, love.”

Ciao Gabo. You will be dearly missed...