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Bernhard Schlink

Bernhard Schlink Quotes

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Famous Bernhard Schlink Quotes

“Why? Why does what was beautiful suddenly shatter in hindsight because it concealed dark truths? Why does the memory of years of happy marriage turn to gall when our partner is revealed to have had a lover all those years? Because such a situation makes it impossible to be happy? But we were happy! Sometimes the memory of happiness cannot stay true because it ended unhappily. Because happiness is only real if it lasts forever? Because things always end painfully if they contained pain, conscious or unconscious, all along? But what is unconscious, unrecognized pain?”

IfsYearsDoeRealEndsSometimesPainLastsBeautifulTurnsMemoriesDarkSituationForeverImpossibleLoversConsciousPartnersUnconsciousConcealedHindsightStay TrueHappy Marriage
Author:Bernhard Schlink
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“I took all the blame. I admitted mistakes I hadn't made, intentions I'd never had. Whenever she turned cold and hard, I begged her to be good to me again, to forgive me and love me. Sometimes I had the feeling that she hurt herself when she turned cold and rigid. As if what she was yearning for was the warmth of my apologies, protestations, and entreaties. Sometimes I thought she just bullied me. But either way, I had no choice.”

IfsWayMadeSometimesHardFeelingsChoicesHurtMistakeColdAnd LoveBlameForgivingIntentionBe GoodWarmthYearningApologyBulliedForgive Me
Book:The Reader
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“Sometimes I had the feeling that all of us in his family were like pets to him. The dog you take for a walk, the cat you play with and that curls up in your lap, purring, to be stroked - you can be fond of them, you can even need them to a certain extent, and nonetheless the whole thing - buying pet food, cleaning up the cat box, and trips to the vet - is really too much. Your life is elsewhere.”

NeedsSometimesPlayWholeFeelingsLife IsCertainWalksToo MuchDogCatBoxesBuyingPetElsewhereCleaningLapCurlsVetsCleaning UpPurringPet Food
Book:The Reader
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“It is hard for me to imagine that I felt good about behaving like that. I also remember that the smallest gesture of affection would bring a lump to my throat, whether it was directed at me or at someone else. Sometimes all it took was a scene in a movie. This juxtaposition of callousness and extreme sensitivity seemed suspicious even to me.”

SometimesHardRememberFeltImagineSceneAffectionExtremesThroatGesturesImagine ThatSmallestSensitivitySuspiciousLumpsJuxtapositionCallousness
Book:The Reader
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“I didn't like the way I looked, the way I dressed and moved, what I achieved and what I felt I was worth. But there was so much energy in me, such belief that one day I'd be handsome and clever and superior and admired, such anticipation when I met new people and new situations. Is that what makes me sad? The eagerness and belief that filled me then and exacted a pledge from life that life could never fulfill? Sometimes I see the same eagerness and belief in the faces of children and teenagers and the sight brings back the same sadness I feel in remembering myself.”

PeopleWayFeelsChildrenSometimesRememberFacesBeliefEnergyFeltSituationSadnessMetsOne DaySightMovedFilledCleverSuperiorsTeenagerAnticipationHandsomePledgeEagernessNew Situations
Book:The Reader
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