“She would disappear
folded like origami
into her own dreams”
“There are only so many plots in the world. It's how they unfold that makes them interesting.”
“The problem with snapshots is that they replace actual memories. You lock down the moment and it becomes all there is of it.”
“There are patterns because we try to find them. A desperate attempt at order because we can't face the terror that it might all be random.”
“The future is not as loud as war, but it is relentless. It has a terrible fury all its own.”
“Next time, can you ask him to bring cookies? I don't like to put up with that level of insane unless there's some kind of high-calorie compensation.”
“Only other people can make you feel real.”
“Memory is curated. All this paraphernalia you collect to ward off forgetting”
“Can't reinvent the wheel. But you can put your own spin on it.”
“But she was the kind of girl you couldn't keep down. Unless you cut her up and caved in her skull.”
“Being her friend was like going to a tropical island for a little fun in the sun, only to be kidnapped by terrorists.”
“She's even been practicing making out with the back of her hand. Which was about as effective as tickling yourself. It's why you needed other fingers, other tongues. Only other people can make you feel real.”
“Grown-up relationships are complicated. We got what we needed from each other. Passion. A safety net. Some kind of solace. It's lonely out there. But it ran its course. It was lovely while it lasted. But everything is finite. Life. Love. All this. Sadness too. Although that's harder to let go of than happiness. - Rachel Mazrachi”
“I'm scared, Mom." ... "It's okay, honey. It's all right. That's the big secret, don't you know? Everyone is. All the time.”
“Dope don't have no sympathy, not for love or family, definitely not for fear. Put dope and the devil up against each other in the ring, and dope will win out. Every single time.”
“Oh, but fine isn't everything!' Rachel exclaims and grabs her hands and pulls her into a stepping foxtrot over the paintings, twirling her round. 'Fine is the very definition of mediocrity. It's what's polite. It's what's socially acceptable. We need to live brighter and deeper than just fine, my darling!”
“We do this to ourselves. Society is a poisonous hamster wheel.”
“If you want to kiss me again, then shut the fuck up and stop bleeding to death”
“Affectionate violence. For when a hug just won't do. That's a Hallmark card for you.”
“Time heals. Crushes let up. Splinters work their way out. Doesn't mean they don't leave scars that itch.”
“Nothing is infinitely reducible. You can split an atom but you can't vaporize it. Stuff sticks around. It clings to you, even when it's broken.”
“Six foot eight and all asshole.”
“He adds, wistfully, "I don't suppose you have syphilis, do you?"
"No."
"Pity. There's a study starting in Alabama that would have paid for all your medical care if you did. Although you'd have to be a Negro."
"I'm not that, either."
"Too bad." The doctor shrugs.”
“(…) everything is finite. Life. Love. All this.' (…) 'Sadness too. Although that's harder to let go of than happiness.”
“You can bury your radical magazines and tear up your sexually perverse sketches and burn your sheets. But how do you erase who you are?”
“Fear festers in the imagination. It’s not fear’s fault. That’s just the way it’s made. Nightmares breed. Allies become enemies. Subversives are everywhere. Paranoia justifies any persecution, and privacy is a luxury when the Reds have the bomb.”
“It doesn't escape him that the rock holding it up is the perfect fit for his fist. Or how easily one of those needle spokes would slide right through the girl's eye like Jell-O.”
“And he's sorry he ever doubted the House. She's the one. One of the ones. His shining girls.”
“A gut wound will drop a man in his tracks every time. Harper always found it more personal than bullets, getting right up into someone. It made the war bearable.”
“It's why you need other fingers, other tongues. Only other people can make you feel real.”
“I pass to the Stationery Department. I buy several fountain and stylographic pens - it being my experience that, though a fountain pen in England behaves in an exemplary manner, the moment it is let loose in desert surroundings, it perceives that it is at liberty to go on strike and behaves accordingly, either spouting ink indiscriminately over me, my clothes, my notebook and anything else handy, or else coyly refusing to do anything but scratch invisibly across the surface of the paper. I also buy a modest two pencils. Pencils are, fortunately, not temperamental, and though given to a knack of quiet disappearance, I have always a resource at hand. After all, what is the use of an architect if not to borrow pencils from.”
“Speaking of shabby looks, we're going to have to give you a haircut soon.
...WHAT?
These feathers are getting messy.
LET ME UNDERSTAND THIS CORRECTLY. YOU WISH TO CUT MY MANE?
Thunder tigers grow manes?
OF COURSE! HOW ELSE WOULD YOU TELL MALES FROM FEMALES?
This is a trick question, right?
A MANE IS A SIGN A MALE ARASHITORA HAS REACHED MATURITY.
Her laughter rang out in his mind.
So it's going to be a few more decades growing, then?
HMPH. I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW MOST FEMALES FIND IT FETCHING.”
“He abhorred not the virgin’s womb.” The writer thought about this and said, “Wait a minute here. The womb of the creature? How could the everlasting, eternal, infinite God, whom space cannot contain, confine Himself inside one of His creatures? Wouldn’t it be a humiliation?” Then he smiled and said, “No, He abhorred not the virgin’s womb,”
“Bir dakika bekle, " dedi Naturelle. Mutfağa gidince Monty de gözleri kapalı bir halde, ağırlığını bir ayağından diğerine aktararak beklemeye koyuldu. Mutfaktaki musluktan sanki uzaklardan bir yerlerden bir alkış sesi geliyormuşçasına su damlıyordu. Naturelle elinde bir torba dolusu buzla gelip, torbayı Monty'nin yanağına bastırmasını işaret etti. Bir süre hiç kıpırdamadılar. Naturelle elini Monty'ninkinin üzerine koyup, bir süre bekledi.
Monty kadının kendisine sımsıkı sarılmasını, kulağına kimsenin kendilerini bulamayacağı bir yer bildiğini fısıldamasını diliyordu. Ona arkasından geleceğine, Otisville' de bir iş bulup her hafta onu ziyaret edeceğine söz vermesini istiyordu. Yedi senenin kötü bir rüya gibi geçeceğini sonra yeniden birbirlerine kavuşacaklarını, önlerinde daha upuzun bir ömür olduğunu, filan söylemesini bekliyordu.
Naturelle hiçbir şey söylemedi Monty de öyle. Sonunda Monty baş sallayıp, dönerek kapıyı arkasından kapattı. Poşeti ters çevirip içindeki buzların üç kat aşağı düşüşünü izledi. Sonra poşeti cebine koydu.”
“Love is more than an emotion. It’s a choice. Feeling love is one thing. Showing love is quite another.”
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