Mom said, "His spirit is there," and that made me really angry. I told her, "Dad didn't have a spirit! He had cells!" "His memory is there." "His memory is here," I said, pointing at my head. "Dad had a spirit," she said, like she was rewinding a bit in our conversation. I told her, "He had cells, and now they're on rooftops, and in the river, and in the lungs of millions of people around New York, who breathe him every time they speak!
Jonathan Safran FoerIf Iโd been someone else in a different world Iโd've done something different, but I was myself and the world was the world, so I was silent.
Jonathan Safran FoerThe only thing more painful than being an active forgetter is to be an inert rememberer.
Jonathan Safran FoerBecause it was starting to get dark, and because the streets were crowded, I bumped into a googolplex people. Who were they? Where were they going? What were they looking for? I wanted to hear their heartbeats, and I wanted them to hear mine.
Jonathan Safran FoerCanโt you even tell me if Iโm on the right track?" Buckminster purred, and Dad shrugged his shoulders again. "But if you donโt tell me anything, how can I ever be right?" He circled something in an article and said, "Another way of looking at it would be, how could you ever be wrong?
Jonathan Safran Foer