# Quote — John Updike, Couples

> It is not difficult to deceive the first time, for the deceived possesses no antibodies; unvaccinated by suspicion, she overlooks latenesses, accepts absurd excuses, permits the flimsiest patchings to repair great rents in the quotidian.

- Author: [John Updike](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-updike.md)
- Book: [Couples](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-updike/couples.md)
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Updike#Couples_(1968)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-updike/couples/it-is-not

## More from this book

> The first breath of adultery is the freest; after it, constraints aping marriage develop.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-updike/couples/the-first-breath.md)

> By the time a partnership dissolves, it has dissolved.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-updike/couples/by-the-time.md)

> Sex is like money; only too much is enough.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-updike/couples/sex-is-like.md)