Reading and life are not separate but symbiotic. And for this serious task of imaginative discovery and self-discovery, there is and remains one perfect symbol: the printed book. Julian Barnes Read Quote
There will always be non-readers, bad readers, lazy readers – there always were. Julian Barnes Read Quote
Very few of my characters are based on people I’ve known. It is too constricting. Julian Barnes Read Quote
In an oppressive society the truth-telling nature of literature is of a different order, and sometimes valued more highly than other elements in a work of art. Julian Barnes Read Quote
In Britain I’m sometimes regarded as a suspiciously Europeanized writer, who has this rather dubious French influence. Julian Barnes Read Quote
What is taken away is greater than the sum of what was there. This may not be mathematically possible; but it is emotionally possible. Julian Barnes Read Quote
To look at ourselves from afar, to make the subjective suddenly objective: this gives us a psychic shock. Julian Barnes Read Quote
Grief seems at first to destroy not just all patterns, but also to destroy a belief that a pattern exists. Julian Barnes Read Quote
I hate the way the English have of not being serious about being serious, I really hate it. Julian Barnes Read Quote