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All of them, all except Phineas, constructed at infinite cost to themselves these Maginot Lines against this enemy they thought they saw across the frontier, this enemy who never attacked that way-if he ever attacked at all; if he was indeed the enemy.

— John Knowles A Separate Peace (1959)

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Notes from Wikiquote

P. 196

More quotes by John Knowles

Nothing endures, not a tree, not love, not even a death by violence.

A Separate Peace (1959)

Stranded in this mill town railroad yard while the whole world was converging elsewhere, we seemed to be nothing but children playing among heroic men.

A Separate Peace (1959)

I lost part of myself to him then, and a soaring sense of freedom revealed that this must have been my purpose from the first: to become a part of Phineas.

A Separate Peace (1959)

It seemed clear that wars were not made by generations and their special stupidities, but that wars were made instead by something ignorant in the human heart.

A Separate Peace (1959)

Naturally I don't believe books and I don't believe teachers, but I do believe-it's important for me to believe you [Gene]. Christ, I've got to believe you, at least. I know you better than anybody.

A Separate Peace (1959)

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: John Knowles (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.