“does character develop over time? in novels, of course it does: otherwise there wouldn't be much of a story. but in life? i sometimes wonder. our attitudes and opinions change, we develop new habits and eccentricities; but that's something different, more like decoration. perhaps character resembles intelligence, except that character peaks a little later: between twenty and thirty, say. and after that, we're just stuck with what we've got. we're on our own.”
julian barnes - the sense of an ending