The writer has little control over personal temperament, none over historical moment, and is only partly in charge of his or her own aesthetic.
Julian BarnesThe more you learn, the less you fear. "Learn" not in the sense of academic study, but in the practical understanding of life.
Julian BarnesWe 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...life is a gift bestowed without anyone asking for it; that the thinking person has a philosophical duty to examine both the nature of life and the conditions it comes with; and that if this person decides to renounce the gift no one asks for, it is the moral and human duty to act on the consequences of that decision.
Julian Barnes