Abraham responds "Here I am" when God asks him to sacrifice his son, and he answers "Here I am" when his son asks him about what is happening. It's a paradoxical moment. He can't be fully present for his God or his son.
Jonathan Safran FoerWhen I looked at you, my life made sense. Even the bad things made sense. They were necessary to make you possible.
Jonathan Safran FoerI have no need for the past, I thought, like a child. I did not consider that the past might have a need for me.
Jonathan Safran FoerEveryone performs bad actions... A bad person is someone who does not lament his bad actions.
Jonathan Safran FoerThe disgraced Usurer Yankel D took the baby girl home that evening... He made a bed of crumpled newspaper in a deep baking pan and gently tucked it in the oven, so that she wouldn't be disturbed by the noise of the small falls outside... When he pulled her out to feed her or just hold her, her body was tattooed with the newsprint... Sometimes he would rock her to sleep in his arms, and read her left to right, and know everything he needed to know about the world. If it wasn't written on her, it wasn't important to him.
Jonathan Safran Foer