I think it's very pretty. Can it be pretty if no one thinks it's pretty? I think it's pretty. If you're the only one? That's pretty pretty. And what about the boys? Don't you want them to think you're pretty? I wouldn't want a boy to think I was pretty unless he was the kind of boy who thought I was pretty.
Jonathan Safran FoerTo remember my values, I need to lose certain tastes and find other handles for the memories that they once helped me carry.
Jonathan Safran FoerIt is unrealistic to think you can have an inflexible identity that never has to give or take or make compromises.
Jonathan Safran FoerIn the morning, when the nothing vase casts a something shadow, like the memory of someone you've lost, what can you say about that?
Jonathan Safran FoerShe wants to know if I love her, that's all anyone wants from anyone else, not love itself but the knowledge that love is there, like new batteries in the flashlight in the emergency kit in the hall closet.
Jonathan Safran FoerSuddenly Yankel was overcome with a fear of dying, stronger than he felt when his parents passed of natural causes, stronger than when his only brother was killed in the flour mill or when his children died, stronger even than when he was a child and it first occurred to him that he must try to understand what it could mean not to be alive -- to be not in darkness, not in unfeeling -- to be not being, not to be.
Jonathan Safran Foer