Death was the only absolute value in my world. Lose life and one would lose nothing again forever. I envied those who could believe in a God and I distrusted them. I felt they were keeping their courage up with a fable of the changeless and the permanent. Death was far more certain than God, and with death there would be no longer the daily possibility of love dying. The nightmare of a future of boredom and indifference would lift. I could never have been a pacifist. To kill a man was surely to grant him an immeasurable benefit. Oh yes, people always, everywhere, loved their enemies. It was their friends they preserved for pain and vacuity.

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About Graham Greene

Graham Greene was a 20th-century British writer and playwright. Henry Graham Greene was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading novelists of the 20th century. Read more on Wikipedia →

Themes

  • Love — Quotes exploring romantic love, compassion, and human connection
  • War — Reflections on conflict, peace, and the human cost of war

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