I had no books at home. I started to frequent a public library in Lisbon. It was there, with no help except curiosity and the will to learn, that my taste for reading developed and was refined. – Jose Saramago

Abstention means you stayed at home or went to the beach. By casting a blank vote, youre saying you have a political conscience but you dont agree with any of the existing parties. – Jose Saramago
I never appreciated positive heroes in literature. They are almost always cliches, copies of copies, until the model is exhausted. I prefer perplexity, doubt, uncertainty, not just because it provides a more productive literary raw material, but because that is the way we humans really are. – Jose Saramago
Im from a small town so, like, everyones married with children or about to have children. So its a little hard when you go home and people are like – and thats why people think Im gay – because theyre like Why arent you married? And Im like, it doesnt happen for everyone right off the bat. – Kelly Clarkson
