You would think, wouldnโt you, that if you were the child of a happy marriage, then you ought to have a better than average marriage yourself โ either through some genetic inheritance or because youโd learnt from example? But it doesnโt seem to work like that. So perhaps you need the opposite example โ to see mistakes in order not to make them yourself. Except this would mean that the best way for parents to ensure their children have happy marriages would be to have unhappy ones themselves. So whatโs the answer?
Julian BarnesYou grew old first not in your own eyes, but in other people's eyes; then, slowly, you agreed with their opinion of you.
Julian BarnesI 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