Sunday, December 9, 2018 at 12:19PM
Drew Wolfe

Bernhard Schlink

There's no need to talk about it, because the truth of what one says lies in what one does.

I'm not frightened. I'm not frightened of anything. The more I suffer, the more I love. Danger will only increase my love. It will sharpen it, forgive its vice. I will be the only angel you need. You will leave life even more beautiful than you entered it. Heaven will take you back and look at you and say: Only one thing can make a soul complete and that thing is love.”

Now to escape involves not just running away, but arriving somewhere.

Is this what sadness is all about? Is it what comes over us when beautiful memories shatter in hindsight because the remembered happiness fed not just on actual circumstances but on a promise that was not kept?

I thought that if the right time gets missed, if one has refused or been refused something for too long, it's too late, even if it is finally tackled with energy and received with joy. Or is there no such thing as "too late"? Is there only "late," and is "late" always better than "never"? I don't know.


Article originally appeared on WorldWideWolfe II (http://drewhwolfe.com/).
See website for complete article licensing information.