The Remains of the Day

she were cautious in her life, she could avoid compromising in her work.

Et c'est vrai, il pensait qu'il avait été, la plupart du temps, un policier honorable, un policier obstiné en tout cas, et l'obstination est peut-être en fin de compte la seule qualité humaine qui vaille non seulement dans la profession de policier mais dans beaucoup de professions, dans toutes celles au moins qui ont à voir avec la notion de vérit

show them those qualities that are entirely up to you: sincerity, dignity, endurance of hardship; not pleasure-seeking, not complaining of your lot, needing little; kindness and generosity; being modest, not chattering idly, but high-minded. Don’t you see how many you could display immediately – having no excuse on account of lack of natural capaci

panics when fruitless hours were passing. He got me to understand that, if you kept at it, material would always emerge: a bad day would be followed by a decent one, and somehow an acceptable average would be forthcoming. I took a leap of faith, and my experience started to confirm this mysterious principle.