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Quote by Julian Barnes

“Would you rather love the more, and suffer the more; or love the less, and suffer the less? That is, I think, finally, the only real question.”

Book:The Only Story

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The Only Story

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Julian Barnes

Julian Barnes, born on January 19, 1946, is a distinguished British writer. His works span across various genres including novels, essays, and criticism, known for their unique literary style and profound insights into human nature. more

“Sometimes when you get older—and I'm not talking about you, I'm talking generally, because everyone ages differently—things you think on and wish on start to seem real. And then you believe them, and before you know it they're a part of your history, and if someone challenges you on them and says they're not true—why, then you get offended.”

Life Truth Belief History Aging Offended Challenge

Book:Water for Elephants

Source: Water for Elephants

“We have a choice. We can spend our whole life suffering because we can't relax with how things really are, or we can relax and embrace the open-endedness of the human situation, which is fresh, unfixated, unbiased.”

Life Suffering Acceptance Choice Relaxing

Book:Living Beautifully with Uncertainty and Change

Source: Living Beautifully with Uncertainty and Change

“And St. Francis said: 'My dear son, be patient, because the weaknesses of the body are given to us in this world by God for the salvation of the soul. So they are of great merit when they are borne patiently.”

Suffering Patience Endurance

Book:The Little Flowers of St. Francis of Assisi

Source: The Little Flowers of St. Francis of Assisi

“Delaying gratification is a process of scheduling the pain and pleasure of life in such a way as to enhance the pleasure of life in such a way as to enhance the pleasure by meeting and experiencing the pain first and getting it over with. It is the only decent way to live.”

Suffering Delayed Gratification

Book:The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth

Source: The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth

“in my cowardice I became at once a man, and did what all we grown men do when face to face with suffering and injustice; I preferred not to see them”

Suffering Cowrdice

Book:Swann’s Way

Source: Swann’s Way

“How do you listen? Do you listen with your projections, through your projection, through your ambitions, desires, fears, anxieties, through hearing only what you want to hear, only what will be satisfactory, what will gratify, what will give comfort, what will for the moment alleviate your suffering? If you listen through the screen of your desires, then you obviously listen to your own voice; you are listening to your own desires. And is there any other form of listening? Is it not important to find out how to listen not only to what is being said but to everything – to the noise in the streets, to the chatter of birds, to the noise of the tramcar, to the restless sea, to the voice of your husband, to your wife, to your friends, to the cry of a baby? Listening has importance only when on is not projecting one’s own desires through which one listens. Can one put aside all these screens through which we listen, and really listen?”

Suffering Listening Hearing Desires Projection Ambitions

Book:The Book of Life

Source: The Book of Life

“The truth is in the heart; out there is true darkness.”

Life Heart Truth Secret Darkness True

Book:My Ancestor Was an Ancient Astronaut

Source: My Ancestor Was an Ancient Astronaut

“In the quiet of his cell, Anderson began to relive moments from his past, hoping in vain to find answers. He remembered many of the events in detail.”

Suffering Mystery Crime Adventure Murder Secrets

Book:Murder on the Naval Base

Source: Murder on the Naval Base

“Emotions clouded his judgment and made the tightrope of deception more dangerous.”

Love Suffering Fiction Adventure Drama

Book:Westwind Secrets

Source: Westwind Secrets

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