I love the Middle East. My earliest childhood memories are of Jerusalem. I love the colors and smells and cadence of Arabic spoken in the streets of Cairo or Beirut. I also love the modernity and verve of Tel Aviv.

An idealist is one who, on noticing that a rose smells better than a cabbage, concludes that it makes a better soup.

Santiago Nasar had often told me that the smell of closed-in flowers had an immediate relation to death for him.

As I kissed her the heat of her body increased, and it exhaled a wild, untamed fragrance.

Love is like a beautiful flower which I may not touch, but whose fragrance makes the garden a place of delight just the same.

The best and most beautiful thing in life is friendship that springs out of the heart, as fragrances out of the flower.

I really wanted to do my own perfume because I mix my own oils, so it just made sense.

When you’re creating a fragrance, you’re always thinking about what you want that first smell to be, that first reaction. It’s a sensation, like a symphony with all of those layers and notes. I love the way it changes and the way it dries down. The fun thing about scent is that it’s unique to everyone; pheromones take on a new scent.

A clever man without wisdom is like a beautiful flower without fragrance.