26/07/2023
"You know it's interesting," he leaned forward again, "children learn much more than adults. Do you know why that is?"
Elizabeth assumed there was some specific explanation for it but shook her head.
"Because they're open-minded. Because they want to know and they want to learn. Adults," he shook his head sadly, "think they know it all. They grow up and forget so easily and instead of opening their minds and developing it they choose what to believe and what not to believe. You can't make a choice on things like that: you either believe or you don't. That's why learning is slower. They are more cynical, they lose faith and they only demand to know things that will help them get by day by day. They've no interest in extras. But, Elizabeth," he said, his voice a loud whisper, eyes wide and sparkling, and Elizabeth shivered as goose pimples rose on her arms. She felt as if he was sharing the world's greatest secret with her. She moved her head closer. "It's the extras that make life."
"That make life what?" She whispered.
He smiled. "That make life. "
Elizabeth swallowed the lump in her throat. "That's it?"
Ivan smiled. "What do you mean, that's it? How much more can you get in life, how much more can you ask for than life? That's the gift. Life is everything, and you haven't lived it properly until you believe."
