Cristiane Serruya

“There is no real light but just small sparks of happiness we should photograph to contain. But if we stop to photograph, we can’t enjoy them, the flash overexposes them and they disappear.”

“Sometimes, silence speaks louder than words. Just because it is peaceful, it doesn’t mean it is still and void, as a few may think. It is insightful, powerful and full of meaning. It is when one can’t lie to oneself. You have to learn to listen to what she is not saying. Listen to her silence. And listen to yours, too.”

“We had everything: love, attention, the best money could buy, but we were taught that we had to first give to then receive.”

“War comes home— invades it, literally— and every day is another combat. Only, there’s nothing available, nothing real to fight. And you never know when the next attack will come, only from whom it will come.”

“Apparently rational justifications will never explain all sorts of the different feelings and raw emotions art invoke in people.”

“You know what I’ve learned? Most people are like a leaf, letting themselves drift and turn in the air. Eventually, they fall to the ground. But, others— very few others— are like stars. They have light within themselves to be their own guide. Sometimes, we look at the sky and don’t see the stars, because there is too much light bedimming them. To find the stars again, we have to go to a dark place.”

“This is the Modern Man. The man who seeks himself without ever seeking, because he does not want to find;The man who does not hesitate to criticize the other, although he behaves in the same way;”

“Sometimes, meu amor, we lose too much time asking ourselves questions that we can’t answer and forgetting that the answer is just beside us. You have to learn to ask and to listen. If one does not listen, the other does not exist. When the other does not exist, one is alone. I don’t want to be alone, do you?”

“It was all about money. Dirty, bloody money. It can come and go so easily. They don't see that life is what's important. Love, friendship, trust, respect, a daily routine, someone to grow old with, siblings to cherish, family, a home; things people don't give a damn about until they lose them, things money can't bring back.”

“We have an obligation to feel guilty." The words came out of her lips as if she were reciting an elegy. "Guilty. Because we kill the ones we love.”

“We humans are such complicated and confused beings that we call the animals beasts.”

“Don't cry. She wouldn't like it. When I missed my father, I used to cry. Mama taught me when I cry, he is sad and will cry, too. I don't want my daddy sad. I'm sure you don't want your daughter sad, too.”