Insecurity twists meanings and poisons trust. In a closely beleaguered city every sentry is a potential traitor.
Graham GreeneRead
Eternity is said not to be an extension of time but an absence of time.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Eternity transcends the concept of time and is understood as a state beyond temporal existence.
In this quote, Graham Greene suggests that eternity should not be viewed as an infinite stretch of time, but rather as a realm where time does not exist at all. This perspective challenges our conventional understanding of time and invites us to consider a more profound state of existence where the past, present, and future converge into a singular experience of being.
Themes
EternityTimePhilosophyExistenceNow
In practice
Example use cases
This quote is perfect for a philosophical discussion about the nature of existence at a book club.
More from Graham Greene
All quotes →It seemed to Scobie that life was immeasurably long. Couldn’t the test of man have been carried out in fewer years? Couldn’t we have committed our first major sin at seven, have ruined ourselves for love or hate at ten, have clutched at redemption on a fifteen-year-old deathbed?
Graham GreeneRead
God is love. I don't say the heart doesn't feel a taste of it, but what a taste. The smallest glass of love mixed with a pint pot of ditch-water. We wouldn't recognize that love. It might even look like hate. It would be enough to scare us - God's love.
Graham GreeneRead
Of two hearts one is always warm and one is always cold: the cold heart is more precious than diamonds: the warm heart has no value and is thrown away.
Graham GreeneRead
Writing is a form of therapy; sometimes I wonder how all those who do not write, compose or paint can manage to escape the madness, melancholia, the panic and fear which is inherent in a human situation.
Graham GreeneRead
Champagne, if you are seeking the truth, is better than a lie detector. It encourages a man to be expansive, even reckless, while lie detectors are only a challenge to tell lies successfully.
Graham GreeneRead
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