Metroland Quotes

“At times, I suspect that the concept of maturity is maintained by a conspiracy of niceness.”
― Julian Barnes, Metroland

“Until I met Annick I’d always been certain that the edgy cynicism and disbelief in which I dealt, plus a cowed trust in the word of any imaginative writer, were the only tools for the painful, wrenching extraction of truths from the surrounding quartz of hypocrisy and deceit. The pursuit of truth had always seemed something combative. Now, not exactly in a flash, but over a few weeks, I wondered if it weren’t something both higher – above the supposed conflict – and simpler, attainable not through striving but a simple inward glance.”
― Julian Barnes, Metroland

“Бесполезное это занятие - придавать вещам смысл и значение, которых в них нет.”
― Julian Barnes, Metroland

“Why does anything left-wing have to be trendy before it’s read, and by the time it’s trendy it’s already a force for conservatism?”
― Julian Barnes, Metroland

“The heap of dirty dishes was normal for Arthur, who had applied for a reduction in his water rate on the grounds that he washed up only every fortnight, and then used the leftover liquid for watering his roses.”
― Julian Barnes, Metroland

“Cut privet still smells of sour apples, as it did when I was sixteen; but this is a rare, lingering exception. At that age, everything seemed more open to analogy, to metaphor, than it does now. There were more meanings, more interpretations, a greater variety of available truths. There was more symbolism, Things contained more.”
― Julian Barnes, Metroland

“...poetry’s packaged as a late-night slot, a quote minority taste unquote, like water-skiing or goat-fucking or something.”
― Julian Barnes, Metroland

“The orthodoxy runs, that if a marriage is founded on less than perfect truth it will always come to light. I don’t believe that. Marriage moves you further away from the examination of truth, not nearer to it.”
― Julian Barnes, Metroland

“While Nigel chattered away about the ghoulish features of dying which interested him, I grew melancholy at the half-finished things which a death persuades you to focus on.”
― Julian Barnes, Metroland

“I as supply teaching in Wandsworth at the time: twenty-five quid a week for the privilege of having your bicycle tyres let down each week by different kids at different schools, and of being asked by muscled fifteen-year-olds if you were queer.”
― Julian Barnes, Metroland

“I considered ducking the appointment, but eventually decided to let the heart speak, and rolled up. I had, after all, spent three days wondering what it would be like to be married to her.
In fact, I'd thought about Annick so much that I couldn't remember what she looked like. It was like putting layer after layer of papier mâché over an object and gradually seeing the original shape disappear. How terrible if I failed to recognise the woman I'd already been married to for three days.”
― Julian Barnes, Metroland

“I stuck out a hand and tried to make up for lost ground. 'What did you say her name was, this chippy of yours?' I asked; but somehow it didn't come out as witty and ironic; just gawky and ill-bred.”
― Julian Barnes, Metroland

“I often wondered about Nigel, and why things seemed so much clearer to him. Was it more, or less, intelligence; more, or less, imagination; or simply a more stable personality?”
― Julian Barnes, Metroland

“...большинство людей женятся потому, что им не хочется признаваться себе, что они никогда не любили настолько сильно, чтобы решиться связать свою жизнь с другим человеком. Это своего рода извращённый идеализм, желание доказать себе, что ты способен на наивысшие переживания.”
― Джулиан Барнс, Metroland

“Где проходит граница между любовью и нелюбовью? В какой момент je t’aime bien превращается в je t’aime? Самый простой ответ: ты знаешь, когда ты влюблён, потому что когда ты влюблен, у тебя не сомнений, любишь ты или нет, - точно так же, как если у тебя дома пожар, ты точно знаешь, что это пожар.”
― Джулиан Барнс, Metroland

“Оставайся в движении или - что тоже неплохо - сиди на месте, но в разных местах, чтобы не успеть заскучать.”
― Джулиан Барнс, Metroland

“Happiness depends necessarily on the unreality of one plane of your life: in one area ( emotional, financial, professional ), you should be living beyond your resources.”
― Julian Barnes, Metroland