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Julian Barnes Quotes

Poets don't run out of material the way novelists do because they don't depend on material in the same way Picture Quote #1

I suppose the truth is that, yes, I'm not odd enough not to have done the things I've ended up doing with my life Picture Quote #1

Whisky, I find, helps clarity of thought. And reduces pain. It has the additional virtue of making you drunk or, if taken in sufficient quantity, very drunk Picture Quote #1

And mental states may be inferred from actions. The tyrant rarely sends a handwritten note requesting the elimination of an enemy Picture Quote #1

Why do you think this great nation of ours loves the Royal Family? Gun Law. If we didn't have it, you'd be asking the opposite question Picture Quote #1

What was the point of scientific advance without moral advance? The railway would merely permit more people to move about, meet and be stupid together Picture Quote #1

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What was the point of having a situation worthy of fiction if the protagonist didn't behave as he would have done in a book? Picture Quote #1

What is taken away is greater than the sum of what was there. This may not be mathematically possible; but it is emotionally possible Picture Quote #1

Nature is so exact, it hurts exactly as much as it is worth, so in a way one relishes the pain, I think. If it didn't matter, it wouldn't matter Picture Quote #1

How weird it would be to have around you only as many books as you have time to read in the rest of your life. And I remain deeply attached to the physical book and the physical bookshop Picture Quote #1

Look, writers aren't perfect, I want to cry, any more than husbands and wives are perfect. The only unfailing rule is, If they seem so, they can't be Picture Quote #1

To look at ourselves from afar, to make the subjective suddenly objective: this gives us a psychic shock Picture Quote #1

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This was another of our fears: that Life wouldn't turn out to be like Literature. Look at our parents - were they the stuff of Literature? Picture Quote #1

Next to not living with those one loves, the worst torture is living with those one doesn't love Picture Quote #1

Lovers are like Siamese twins, two bodies with a single soul; but if one dies before the other, the survivor has a corpse to lug around Picture Quote #1

When you read a great book, you don’t escape from life, you plunge deeper into it Picture Quote #1

You grew old first not in your own eyes, but in other people’s eyes; then, slowly, you agreed with their opinion of you Picture Quote #1

His air of failure had nothing desperate about it; rather, it seemed to stem from an unresented realisation that he was not cut out for success, and his duty was therefore to ensure only that he failed in the correct and acceptable fashion Picture Quote #1

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The best life for a writer is the life which helps him write the best books he can Picture Quote #1

How rarely do our emotions meet the object they seem to deserve? How hopelessly we signal; how dark the sky; how big the waves. We are all lost at sea, washed between hope and despair, hailing something that may never come to rescue us Picture Quote #1

When I was still quite young I had a complete presentiment of life. It was like the nauseating smell of cooking escaping from a ventilator: you don’t have to have eaten it to know that it would make you throw up Picture Quote #1

And yet it takes only the smallest pleasure or pain to teach us time’s malleability Picture Quote #1

That’s one of the central problems of history, isn’t it, sir? The question of subjective versus objective interpretation, the fact that we need to know the history of the historian in order to understand the version that is being put in front of us Picture Quote #1

I have at times tried to imagine the despair which leads to suicide, attempted to conjure up the slew and slop of darkness in which only death appears as a pinprick of light: in other words, the exact opposite of the normal condition of life Picture Quote #1

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I know this much: that there is objective time, but also subjective time, the kind you wear on the inside of your wrist, next to where the pulse lies. And this personal time, which is the true time, is measured in your relationship to memory Picture Quote #1

Though why should we expect age to mellow us? If it isn’t life’s business to reward merit, why should it be life’s business to give us warm comfortable feelings towards its end? What possible evolutionary purpose could nostalgia serve? Picture Quote #1

What you end up remembering isn’t always the same as what you have witnessed Picture Quote #1

We thought we were being mature when we were only being safe. We imagined we were being responsible but were only being cowardly. What we called realism turned out to be a way of avoiding things rather than facing them Picture Quote #1

You put together two things that have not been put together before. And the world is changed Picture Quote #1

When you are writing fiction your task is to reflect the fullest complications of the world Picture Quote #1

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Text Quotes

Poets don't run out of material the way novelists do because they don't depend on material in the same way (Julian Barnes Quotes) I suppose the truth is that, yes, I'm not odd enough not to have done the things I've ended up doing with my life (Julian Barnes Quotes) Whisky, I find, helps clarity of thought. And reduces pain. It has the additional virtue of making you drunk or, if taken in sufficient quantity, very drunk (Julian Barnes Quotes) And mental states may be inferred from actions. The tyrant rarely sends a handwritten note requesting the elimination of an enemy (Julian Barnes Quotes) Why do you think this great nation of ours loves the Royal Family? Gun Law. If we didn't have it, you'd be asking the opposite question (Julian Barnes Quotes) What was the point of scientific advance without moral advance? The railway would merely permit more people to move about, meet and be stupid together (Julian Barnes Quotes) What was the point of having a situation worthy of fiction if the protagonist didn't behave as he would have done in a book? (Julian Barnes Quotes) What is taken away is greater than the sum of what was there. This may not be mathematically possible; but it is emotionally possible (Julian Barnes Quotes) Nature is so exact, it hurts exactly as much as it is worth, so in a way one relishes the pain, I think. If it didn't matter, it wouldn't matter (Julian Barnes Quotes) How weird it would be to have around you only as many books as you have time to read in the rest of your life. And I remain deeply attached to the physical book and the physical bookshop (Julian Barnes Quotes) Look, writers aren't perfect, I want to cry, any more than husbands and wives are perfect. The only unfailing rule is, If they seem so, they can't be (Julian Barnes Quotes) To look at ourselves from afar, to make the subjective suddenly objective: this gives us a psychic shock (Julian Barnes Quotes) This was another of our fears: that Life wouldn't turn out to be like Literature. Look at our parents - were they the stuff of Literature? (Julian Barnes Quotes) Next to not living with those one loves, the worst torture is living with those one doesn't love (Julian Barnes Quotes) Lovers are like Siamese twins, two bodies with a single soul; but if one dies before the other, the survivor has a corpse to lug around (Julian Barnes Quotes) When you read a great book, you don’t escape from life, you plunge deeper into it (Julian Barnes Quotes) You grew old first not in your own eyes, but in other people’s eyes; then, slowly, you agreed with their opinion of you (Julian Barnes Quotes) His air of failure had nothing desperate about it; rather, it seemed to stem from an unresented realisation that he was not cut out for success, and his duty was therefore to ensure only that he failed in the correct and acceptable fashion (Julian Barnes Quotes) The best life for a writer is the life which helps him write the best books he can (Julian Barnes Quotes) How rarely do our emotions meet the object they seem to deserve? How hopelessly we signal; how dark the sky; how big the waves. We are all lost at sea, washed between hope and despair, hailing something that may never come to rescue us (Julian Barnes Quotes) When I was still quite young I had a complete presentiment of life. It was like the nauseating smell of cooking escaping from a ventilator: you don’t have to have eaten it to know that it would make you throw up (Julian Barnes Quotes) And yet it takes only the smallest pleasure or pain to teach us time’s malleability (Julian Barnes Quotes) That’s one of the central problems of history, isn’t it, sir? The question of subjective versus objective interpretation, the fact that we need to know the history of the historian in order to understand the version that is being put in front of us (Julian Barnes Quotes) I have at times tried to imagine the despair which leads to suicide, attempted to conjure up the slew and slop of darkness in which only death appears as a pinprick of light: in other words, the exact opposite of the normal condition of life (Julian Barnes Quotes) I know this much: that there is objective time, but also subjective time, the kind you wear on the inside of your wrist, next to where the pulse lies. And this personal time, which is the true time, is measured in your relationship to memory (Julian Barnes Quotes) Though why should we expect age to mellow us? If it isn’t life’s business to reward merit, why should it be life’s business to give us warm comfortable feelings towards its end? What possible evolutionary purpose could nostalgia serve? (Julian Barnes Quotes) What you end up remembering isn’t always the same as what you have witnessed (Julian Barnes Quotes) We thought we were being mature when we were only being safe. We imagined we were being responsible but were only being cowardly. What we called realism turned out to be a way of avoiding things rather than facing them (Julian Barnes Quotes) You put together two things that have not been put together before. And the world is changed (Julian Barnes Quotes) When you are writing fiction your task is to reflect the fullest complications of the world (Julian Barnes Quotes)

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