{
  "type": "quote",
  "site": {
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    "language": "en",
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  "formats": "Every page has two versions with the same data: JSON (the page address + .json) and markdown (the page address + .md). Append .json or .md to any `url` in this document.",
  "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ian-mcewan/the-child-in-time/he-had-once",
  "json": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ian-mcewan/the-child-in-time/he-had-once.json",
  "markdown": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ian-mcewan/the-child-in-time/he-had-once.md",
  "id": "db730e79-b269-4370-9269-6953140d4c2d",
  "slug": "he-had-once",
  "text": "He had once felt light on the ground. He used to think his life was an open-ended adventure, he used to give things away, it amused him when the unexpected happened, benevolent coincidences used to bear him along. When had all that stopped?",
  "language": "en",
  "author": {
    "name": "Ian McEwan",
    "slug": "ian-mcewan",
    "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ian-mcewan"
  },
  "book": {
    "title": "The Child in Time",
    "slug": "the-child-in-time",
    "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ian-mcewan/the-child-in-time"
  },
  "character": null,
  "chapter": null,
  "chapter_parent": null,
  "page": 103,
  "verified": false,
  "original": null,
  "other_languages": [],
  "topics": [
    {
      "name": "youth",
      "slug": "youth",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/youth"
    },
    {
      "name": "transience",
      "slug": "transience",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/transience"
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  ],
  "source": {
    "name": "Wikiquote",
    "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ian_McEwan#The_Child_in_Time_(1987)",
    "license": {
      "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
      "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
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  },
  "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:52:58",
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}