“What do you mean by meant? Given the final futility of our struggle, is the fleeting jolt of meaning that art gives us valuable? Or is the only value in passing the time as comfortably as possible? What should a story seek to emulate, Augusts? A ringing alarm? A call to arms? A morphine drip? Of course, like all interrogation of the universe, this line of inquiry inevitably reduces us to asking what it means to be human and whether – to borrow a phrase from the angst-encumbered sixteen-year-olds you no doubt revile – there is a point to it all.
Category Archives: Quotes
The Fault In Our Stars, by John Green
The Fault In Our Stars, by John Green
I think my school friends wanted to help me through my cancer, but they eventually found out that they couldn’t. For one thing, there was no through.
The Fault In Our Stars, by John Green
I told Augusts the broad outline of my miracle: diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer when i was thirteen. (i didn’t tell him that the diagnosis came three months after i got my first period. Like: Congratulations! You are a woman. Now die.)
The Lethality of Loneliness
“As expected, he found the students with bodily symptoms of distress (poor sleep, high cortisol) were not the ones with too few acquaintances, but the ones who were unhappy about not having made close friends. These students also had higher than normal vascular resistance, which is caused by the arteries narrowing as their tissue becomes inflamed. High vascular resistance contributes to high blood pressure; it makes the heart work harder to pump blood and wears out the blood vessels. If it goes on for a long time, it can morph into heart disease. While Cole discovered that loneliness could hasten death in sick people, Cacioppo showed that it could make well people sick—and through the same method: by putting the body in fight-or-flight mode.”
The Fault In Our Stars, by John Green
Cancer Perks are the little things cancer kids get that regular kids don’t; basketballs signed by sports heroes, free passes on late homework, unearned driver’s licenses, etc.
Only the Lonely
“I used to think it utterly normal that I suffered from “suicidal ideation” on an almost daily basis. In other words, for as long as I can remember, the thought of ending my life came to me frequently and obsessively. But then it’s the thought behind the most famous speech in all history. To be, or not to be.”
Kafka on the Shore, by Haruki Murakami
“Writing things was important, wasn’t it?” Nakata asked.
“Yes, it was. The process of writing was important. Even though the finished product is meaningless.”
Kafka on the Shore, by Haruki Murakami
“Kafka, what can you see outside?”
I look out of the window behind her. “I see trees, the sky and some clouds. Some birds on tree branches.”
“Nothing out of the ordinary. Right?”
That’s right.”
“But if you knew you might not be able to see it again tomorrow, everything would suddenly become special and precious, wouldn’t it?
“I suppose so.”
“Have you ever thought about that?”
“I have.”
A surprised look comes over her face. “When?”
“When I’m in love.”
Kafka on the Shore, by Haruki Murakami
“I assume you’re aware of this, but cats are creatures of habit. Usually they live very ordered lives, and unless something extraordinary happens they generally try to keep their routine. What might disrupt this is either sex or an accident – one of the two.”
Kafka on the Shore, by Haruki Murakami
“According to Aristophanes in Plato’s The Banquet, in the ancient world of legend there were three types of people,” Oshima says. “Have you heard about this?”
“No.”
“In ancient times people weren’t simply male or female, but one of three types: male/male, male/female or female/female. In other words each person was made out of the components of two people. Everyone was happy with this arrangements and never really gave it much thought. But then God took a knife and cut everyone in half, right down the middle. So after that the world was divided just into male and female, the upshot being that people spend their time running around trying to locate their missing other half.”
Incoherent Thoughts 