You lose the world for a glance? Of course you do. That is what the world is for: to lose under the right circunstances.
Interpretation
This quote suggests that experiencing fleeting moments is part of the purpose of life, even if they come at a cost.
Julian Barnes expresses the idea that the transient nature of experiences, such as a quick glance or fleeting connection, is inherently valuable and vital to our existence. To lose oneself in the moment, even when it means sacrificing something larger, can be a worthwhile endeavor if the circumstances evoke profound emotions or insights. In essence, the quote encapsulates the philosophy that life is about embracing the ephemeral experiences that define our human condition.
In practice
During a speech on the importance of seizing opportunities, one might use this quote to emphasize the value of living in the moment.
(on grief) And you do come out of it, that’s true. After a year, after five. But you don’t come out of it like a train coming out of a tunnel, bursting through the downs into sunshine and that swift, rattling descent to the Channel; you come out of it as a gull comes out of an oil-slick. You are tarred and feathered for life.
Is despair wrong? Isn’t it the natural condition of life after a certain age? … After a number of events, what is there left but repetition and diminishment? Who wants to go on living? The eccentric, the religious, the artistic (sometimes); those with a false sense of their own worth. Soft cheeses collapse; firm cheeses endurate. Both go mouldy.
It took me some years to clear my head of what Paris wanted me to admire about it, and to notice what I preferred instead. Not power-ridden monuments, but individual buildings which tell a quieter story: the artist's studio, or the Belle Epoque house built by a forgotten financier for a just-remembered courtesan.
But I’ve been turning over in my mind the question of nostalgia, and whether I suffer from it. I certainly don’t get soggy at the memory of some childhood knickknack; nor do I want to deceive myself sentimentally about something that wasn’t even true at the time—love of the old school, and so on. But if nostalgia means the powerful recollection of strong emotions—and a regret that such feelings are no longer present in our lives—then I plead guilty.
And that's a life, isn't it? Some achievements and some disappointments. It's been interesting to me, though I wouldn't complain or be amazed if others found it less so. Maybe, in a way, Adrian knew what he was doing. Not that I would have missed my own life for anything, you understand. [pp.60-61]
Every love story is a potential grief story.
Sometimes breaking the rules is extending the rules.
Who knows their own story? It certainly makes no sense when you’re in the middle of it
What a frightening thing is the human, a mass of gauges and dials and registers, and we can only read a few and those perhaps not accurately.
If [people] place such things as friendship and family ties above their own productive work, yes, then they are immoral. Friendship, family life and human relationships are not primary in a man's life. A man who places others first, above his own creative work, is an emotional parasite.
A life that partakes even a little of friendship, love, irony, humor, parenthood, literature, and music, and the chance to take part in battles for the liberation of others cannot be called 'meaningless'.
The human race is in the best condition when it has the greatest degree of liberty.
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