“Then his friend said, 'If you fly you will save a day.' He nodded, he agreed, he would sacrifice his ticket, he would save a day. I ask you what does a day saved matter to him or to you? A day saved from what? for what? Instead of spending the day traveling, you will see your friend a day earlier, but you cannot stay indefinitely, you will travel home twenty-four hours sooner, that is all. But you will fly home and again save a day? Save it form what, for what? You will begin work a day earlier, but you cannot work on indefinitely. It only means that you will cease work a day earlier. And then, what? You cannot die a day earlier. So you will realize perhaps how rash it was of you to save a day, when you discover how you cannot escape those twenty-four hours you have so carefully preserved; you may push them forward and push them forward, but some time they must be spend, and then you may wish you had spent them as innocently as in the train from Ostend.”

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About Graham Greene

English writer and journalist

Graham Greene was an English writer and journalist. He lived in the 20th century and is widely regarded as one of the leading novelists of that era. He wrote across journalism and fiction, but it is as a novelist that he is best known. His work helped define 20th-century English literature, and he remains closely associated with that tradition.

More from Graham Greene (169 quotes) →

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Books by Graham Greene

The Quiet American

1955

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Brighton Rock

2000

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The Power and the Glory

1991

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The End of the Affair

1991

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The heart of the matter

2013

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