Born in Ukraine in 1920 and naturalized Brazilian as a child, Clarice Lispector became one of the most important voices in national literature. Journalist, chronicler and novelist, the author built a career marked by works that broke narrative patterns and won over readers inside and outside Brazil.

His texts span generations because they present deep insights into universal experiences, stimulating different interpretations with each reading. Due to this ability to capture nuances of the human experience, many of his phrases continue to inspire readers and spark reflections on love, life and self-knowledge.

Below, check out the best phrases by Clarice Lispector about love, life and self-knowledge!

1. The search for truths beyond logic

“I don’t want to have the terrible limitation of those who live only on what can make sense. I don’t: what I want is an invented truth.”

Excerpt taken from the book “Água Viva”, Rio de Janeiro: Rocco, 1998.

2. The challenge of living completely free

“Freedom? It’s my last refuge, I forced myself to freedom and I bear it not as a gift but with heroism: I am heroically free. And I want the flow.”

Excerpt taken from the book “Água Viva”, Rio de Janeiro: Rocco, 1998.

3. The importance of thinking for yourself

“Once I discovered in myself how to think, I could never believe in other people’s thoughts again.”

Excerpt taken from the book “To Not Forget”, edition commemorative celebration, Rio de Janeiro: Rocco, 2020.

4. When fear points the way

“Fear has always guided me to what I want. And because I want, I fear. Many times it was fear that took me by the hand and led me. Fear leads me to danger. And everything that I love it is risky.”

Excerpt taken from the book “Para não forget”, commemorative edition, Rio de Janeiro: Rocco, 2020.

5. Facing your own limits

“But there is a big, biggest obstacle for me to move forward: myself. I have been the biggest obstacle in my path. It is with enormous effort that I manage to overcome myself.”

Taken from the book “Uma Aprendizagem ou O Livro dos Prazeres”, commemorative edition, Rio de Janeiro: Rocco, 2020.

6. The strength found in solitude

“Yes, my strength is in solitude. I am not afraid of stormy rains or great gales, because I am also the dark of the night.”.

Excerpt taken from the book “A hora da Estrela”, Rio de Janeiro: Rocco, 1998.

7. Appreciating the now

“We live exclusively in the present, because always and eternally today is today, and tomorrow will be today, eternity is the state of things at this moment.”

Excerpt taken from the book “A hora da Estrela”, Rio de Janeiro: Rocco, 1998.

8. About the intensity of love

“I get scared. But the heart beats. Inexplicable love makes the heart beat faster. The only guarantee is that I was born. You are a way of being me, and I am a way of being you: these are the limits of my possibility.”

Excerpt taken from book “Água Viva”, Rio de Janeiro: Rocco, 1998.

9. The beauty of what is true

“It would be more attractive if I made it more attractive. Using, for example, some of the things that frame a life or a thing or a novel or a character. It is perfectly legal to make it attractive, but there is the danger of a picture becoming a picture because the frame made it a picture. For reading, of course, I prefer the attractive, it tires me less, drags me more, delimits me and contours me. To write, however, I have to do without it. The experience is worth it, even if it is only for those who wrote.”

Excerpt taken from the book “Para não forget”, commemorative edition, Rio de Janeiro: Rocco, 2020.

10. Move forward despite difficulties

“One of the things I learned is that you must live despite. Despite, you must eat. Despite, you must love. Despite, you must die. In fact, it is often the despite itself that pushes us forward.”

Taken from the book “Uma Aprendizagem ou O Livro dos Prazeres”, edition commemorativeRio de Janeiro: Rocco, 2020.