"A writer never forgets the first time he accepted a few coins or a word of praise in exchange for a story. He will never forget the sweet poison of vanity in his blood and the belief that, if he succeeds in not letting anyone discover his lack of talent, the dream of literature will provide him with a roof over his head, a hot meal at the end of the day, and what he covets the most: his name printed on a miserable piece of paper that surely will outlive him. A writer is condemned to remember that moment, because from then on he is doomed and his soul has a price."

The first lines of the book telegraph much of what will happen to David over the course of the narrative. The quote describes his vanity—shared, he suggests, by all writers—which turns out to be his tragic flaw, leading him down the path to ruin. It tells the reader of the eternal life he seeks through establishing a legacy through his writing. Finally, the quote indicates that David's soul has a price, a fact Corelli will later manipulate.

"Those were years in which bloodshed and violence were beginning to be everyday occurrences in Barcelona. Days of pamphlets and bombs that left strewn bodies shaking and smoking in the streets of the Raval quarter, of gangs of black figures who prowled about at night maiming and killing, of processions and parades of saints and generals who reeked of death and deceit, of inflammatory speeches in which everyone lied and everyone was right. The anger and hatred that years later would lead such people to murder one another in the name of grandiose slogans and colored rags could already be smelled in the poisoned air." 

Here, the author describes the political conditions in the years prior to the Spanish Civil War, which breaks out shortly after the completion of David's manuscript for Corelli. This quote also implicates both ideology and narrative as sources of the violence, signifying a recurring theme that words can inspire people to commit atrocities.

"Never underestimate a writer's vanity, especially that of a mediocre writer." 

The idea of vanity as a driving force in David's life and the lives of other writers is frequently revisited. Though in this quote David refers to Pedro, the narrator could be talking about himself. While the reader is told on multiple occasions that David is considered a great writer by his peers, David is also a notoriously unreliable narrator.