"We humans are willing to believe anything rather than the truth." More Shadow of the Wind Quotes

Here are some more quotes from Carlos Ruiz Zafón's The Shadow of the Wind, which I wrote about yesterday.

But since it's December 25, I should wish readers who celebrate Christmas a good holiday.  Rather than argue about politics with your errant relatives, you can debate these quotes.  I think they can be seen as truths across political divides.  

Or maybe not.  This is a description of a sociopathic (he even tortured small animals as a kid) police officer in Barcelona about 1965.  

"Francisco Javier Fumero had joined the Crime Squad. There was always work there for qualified personnel capable of confronting the most awkward situations, the sorts of situations that needed to be solved discreetly so that respectable citizens could continue living in blissful ignorance. Words to that effect had been said to him by Lieutenant Durán, a man given to solemn pronouncements, under whose command Fumero had joined the police force. “Being a policeman isn’t a job, it’s a mission,” Durán would proclaim."

You know anyone like this?

"It was a smile full of disdain, typical of self-important jerks who hang like stuffed sausages from the top of all corporate ladders."

This seems timely.  But I guess it always is.  

"There are no coincidences, Daniel. We are puppets of our subconscious desires. For years I had wanted to believe that Julián was still the man I had fallen in love with, or what was left of him. I had wanted to believe that we would manage to keep going with sporadic bursts of misery and hope. I had wanted to believe that Laín Coubert had died and returned to the pages of a book. We humans are willing to believe anything rather than the truth. "(emphasis added)

I'll offer this one with no comment.  

“'This city is a sorceress, you know, Daniel? It gets under your skin and steals your soul without you knowing it.' 'You sound like Rociíto, Fermín.' 'Don’t laugh, it’s people like her who make this lousy world a place worth visiting.'  'Whores?'  'No. We’re all whores, sooner or later. I mean good-hearted people.'"