Quotes from Julian Barnes

I tried to save her, I failed. I tried to stop her drinking, I failed. I don't blame her, it's way beyond that. And I remember what you told me back then—that she was more likely to get hurt than me. But I can't take it anymore. I can't face another ten days of it, let alone another ten years. So Martha's going to look after her.

Most of us have only one story to tell. I don't mean that only one thing happens to us in our lives: there are countless events, which we turn into countless stories. But there's only one that matters, only one finally worth telling. This is mine.

Most of us have only one story to tell. I don't mean that only one thing happens to us in our lives: there are countless events, which we turn into countless stories. But there's only one that matters, only one finally worth telling. This is mine.

Šeimynin?s laim?s paslapt? sudaro ne jos pilnumas ar bent jau ne gyvenimas kartu su visais jos nariais

But here's the first problem. If this is your only story, then it's the one you have most often told and retold, even if—as is the case here—mainly to yourself. The question then is: Do all these retellings bring you closer to the truth of what happened, or move you further away? I'm not sure.

You're still in it. You'll always be in it. No, not literally. But in your heart. Nothing ever ends, not if it's gone that deep. You'll always be walking wounded. That's the only choice, after a while. Walking wounded, or dead. Don't you agree?

Due altre cose ha detto nel corso degli anni: che certe donne non sono affatto misteriose ma vengono rese tali dall'incapacità degli uomini di capirle. da Il senso di una fine

This intrigued me much more. Simple, plangent words. What had I said about the voyeur inside me?

Those who survive, or excel, or overmaster are merely those who are better organised and wave bigger guns; those who are better at killing.

What he didn't—or couldn't—tell Joan was his terrifying discovery that love, by some ruthless, almost chemical process, could resolve itself into pity and anger. The anger wasn't at Susan, but at whatever it was that had obliterated her. But even so, anger. And anger in a man caused him disgust. So now, along with pity and anger, he had self-disgust to deal with as well. And this was part of his shame.

I think that in life you have to discover what you're good at, recognise what you can't do, decide what you want, aim for it, and try not to regret things afterwards.

I keep alive our lost private language.

Dovrebbe apparirci ovvio come il tempo per noi non agisca affatto da fissativo, ma piuttosto da solvente. Solo che credere questo non conviene, non serve; non aiuta a tirare avanti; perciò fingiamo di non saperlo.

One had turned gay, after all these years, having suddenly started noticing the napes of young men's necks.

Don't think ill of me, remember me well. Tell people you were fond of me, that you loved me, that I wasn't a bad guy. Even if, perhaps, none of this was the case.

Sex as civic duty? I thought, somehow, this was very Dutch. Also, sort of adorable.

Ás veces penso que o sentido da vida é desgastarnos para reconciliarnos coa súa perda final, demostrándonos que, á marxe do tempo que lle leve, a vida non está en absoluto á altura da súa propia fama.

now some were keeping themselves at bay, having reached the age when illness arrives. There were emails about prostate cancer, and back operations, and that little bit of heart trouble which maybe wasn't such good news. Vitamin pills and statins were consumed, while the World Service kept them company in their sleeplessness. And soon, no doubt, the funeral years would begin.

You still don't get it. You never did, and you never will. So stop even trying.

she wonders whether the Holy Ghost, conventionally represented as a dove, would not be better portrayed as a parrot. Logic is certainly on her side: parrots and Holy Ghosts can speak, whereas doves cannot.

pustular berk with the charisma of a plimsole

He took his own life' is the phrase; but Adrian also took charge of his own life, he took command of it, he took it in his hands—and then out of them. How few of us—we that remain—can say that we have done the same?

the happiest people on earth were said to be the Danes. Not because of their supposed hedonism, but because of the modesty of their expressed hopes. Instead of aiming for the stars and the moon, their ambition was only to reach the next streetlamp and, being pleased when they did so, were the happier for it. He

The more you learn, the less you fear. 'Learn' not in the sense of academic study, but in the practical understanding of life.