why does what was beautiful shatter in hindsight because it concealed dark truths?
Bernhard SchlinkRead
It wasn't that I forgot Hanna. But at a certain point the memory of her stopped accompanying me wherever I went. She stayed behind, the way a city stays behind as a train pulls out of the station. It's there, somewhere behind you, and you could go back and make sure of it. But why should you?
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the fading of a memory and the choice to not dwell on the past.
In this quote, Bernhard Schlink explores the idea of how memories, particularly of a person we once cherished, can linger in our minds but eventually fade as we move forward in life. The comparison of Hanna's memory to a city left behind emphasizes the notion that while we can revisit these memories if we choose to, there is also a sense of liberation in allowing them to remain in the past and not letting them define our present path.
Themes
MemoryPastLetting GoRelationshipsMoving On
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about personal growth, one could quote this to emphasize the importance of moving forward.
More from Bernhard Schlink
All quotes →The tectonic layers of our lives rest so tightly one on top of the other that we always come up against earlier events in later ones, not as matter that has been fully formed and pushed aside, but absolutely present and alive. I understand this. Nonetheless, I sometimes find it hard to bear.
Bernhard SchlinkRead
She was struggling, as she always had struggled, not to show what she could do but to hide what she couldn't do. A life made up of advances that were actually frantic retreats and victories that were concealed defeats.
Bernhard SchlinkRead
Desires, memories, fears, passions form labyrinths in which we lose and find and then lose ourselves again.
Bernhard SchlinkRead
...I had to point at Hanna. But the finger I pointed at her turned back to me. I had loved her. I tried to tell myself that I had known nothing of what she had done when I chose her. I tried to talk myself into the state of innocence in which children love their parents. But love of our parents is the only love for which we are not responsible. ...And perhaps we are responsible even for the love we feel for our parents.
Bernhard SchlinkRead
I took all the blame. I admitted mistakes I hadn't made, intentions I'd never had. Whenever she turned cold and hard, I begged her to be good to me again, to forgive me and love me. Sometimes I had the feeling that she hurt herself when she turned cold and rigid. As if what she was yearning for was the warmth of my apologies, protestations, and entreaties. Sometimes I thought she just bullied me. But either way, I had no choice.
Bernhard SchlinkRead
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