A Man Called Ove

by Fredrik Backman

But we are always optimists when it comes to time; we think there will be time to do things with other people. And time to say things to them.

We fear it, yet most of us fear more than anything that it may take someone other than ourselves.

One of the most painful moments in a person’s life probably comes with the insight that an age has been reached when there is more to look back on than ahead.

And when time no longer lies ahead of one, other things have to be lived for. Memories, perhaps. Afternoons in the sun with someone’s hand clutched in one’s own. The fragrance of flower beds in fresh bloom. Sundays in a café. Grandchildren, perhaps. One finds a way of living for the sake of someone else’s future.