“[T]he concern of man is not his future but his present, not the world but his soul. We must be just, we… — Iain Pears Copy Share Image
“Odd, don't you think? I have seen war, and invasions and riots. I have heard of massacres and brutalities beyond imagining, and I have… — Iain Pears Copy Share Image
“The next day was a dream of such perfection that I have never approached the like again. It was, of course, all illusion, but… — Iain Pears Copy Share Image
And a more foolish notion can scarcely be imagined, it being obvious that the reader is only informed of what the writer wishes him… — Iain Pears Copy Share Image
I learned that I' have to be detached if I was ever to achieve anything at all. — Iain Pears Copy Share Image
“And here was the moment. The end of it all, for civilization was merely another name for friendship, and friendship was coming to an… — Iain Pears Copy Share Image
When all this is over, people will try to blame the Germans alone, and the Germans will try to blame the Nazis alone, and… — Iain Pears Copy Share Image
“Considering he was neither priest nor scholar, the young man gave sensible, thoughtful replies -- the more so, perhaps, for being untrained, for he… — Iain Pears Copy Share Image
“Felix had gone to live in a lotus land of his imagination. Where what is desired is dreamed of as already happened, where obstacles… — Iain Pears Copy Share Image
In my small way, I preserved and catalogued, and dipped into the vast ocean of learning that awaited, knowing all the time that the… — Iain Pears Copy Share Image
“Aunt Gertie could not tell the difference between 1928 and now. Uncle Joseph was dead and alive. In other words, she grasped the essential… — Iain Pears Copy Share Image
“I cannot remember a single painting, although I do remember trying hard to be deeply impressed by them at the time.” — Iain Pears Copy Share Image
“It was, for the time being, an empty threat, and he must have sensed it also, for he laughed easily and with contempt. “You… — Iain Pears Copy Share Image
![“[T]he concern of man is not his future but his present, not the world but his soul. We must be just, we must strive, we must engage ourselves with the business of the world for our own sake, because through that, and through contemplation in equal measure, our soul is purified and brought closer to the divine. ... Thought and deed conjoined are crucial. ... The attempt must be made; the outcome is irrelevant. Right action is a pale material reflection of the divine, but reflection it is, nonetheless. Define your goal and exert reason to accomplish it by virtuous action; successs or failure is secondary.” quote by Iain Pears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/428/iain-pears-9652_action_t-he-concern-of-man-is-not-his-future-bu_1687578.jpg)
![“Odd, don't you think? I have seen war, and invasions and riots. I have heard of massacres and brutalities beyond imagining, and I have kept my faith in the power of civilization to bring men back from the brink. And yet one women writes a letter, and my whole world falls to pieces. You see, she is an ordinary woman. A good one, even. That's the point ... Nothing [a recognizably bad person does] can surprise or shock me, or worry me. But she denounced Julia and sent her to her death because she resented her, and because Julia is a Jew. I thought in this simple contrast between the civilized and the barbaric, but I was wrong. It is the civilized who are the truly barbaric, and the [Nazi] Germans are merely the supreme expression of it.” quote by Iain Pears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f94/iain-pears-9652_bad-person_odd-don-t-you-think-i-have-seen-war-and_35346.jpg)
