And none of these people, not one of them, had loved any of the others well enough. Failures, he thought, we're all failures... He wanted his love to be the wine and bread, and the blood and flesh. He reached for her, a dangerous stranger in a city of dangerous strangers, but she turned away from him and walked unsteadily through the crowd. How many loveless people walk among the barely loved?
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the inadequacies of love among people, portraying a sense of loneliness and yearning for deeper connection.
In this poignant observation, Sherman Alexie highlights the emptiness many individuals experience due to a lack of genuine love and emotional connection. The protagonist's desire for profound love is juxtaposed against the failures of others to fully embrace or reciprocate that love, illustrating a painful reality of living among people who are emotionally distant and unfulfilled. The metaphor of love as essential sustenance—comparable to wine and bread—emphasizes the idea that true love is vital for a meaningful existence.
In practice
This quote could be shared during a discussion on the importance of deep relationships at a community meeting.
Gordie, the white boy genius, gave me this book by a Russian dude named Tolstoy, who wrote, 'Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.' Well, I hate to argue with a Russian genius, but Tolstoy didn't know Indians, and he didn't know that all Indian families are unhappy for the same exact reasons: the frikkin' booze.
My wife was the first romantic partner who understood both American and native parts of me - not so much the positive stuff, but the damage.
I draw because words are too unpredictable. I draw because words are too limited. If you speak and write in English, or Spanish, or Chinese, or any other language, then only a certain percentage of human beings will get your meaning. But when you draw a picture everybody can understand it. If I draw a cartoon of a flower, then every man, woman, and child in the world can look at it and say, "That's a flower.
We all have to find our own ways to say good-bye.
I write books for teenagers because I vividly remember what it felt like to be a teen facing everyday and epic dangers. I don't write to protect them. It's far too late for that. I write to give them weapons-in the form of words and ideas-that will help them fight their monsters. I write in blood because I remember what it felt like to bleed.
A lot of people have no idea that right now Y.A. (young adult). is the Garden of Eden of literature.
You shall be my roots and I will be your shade, though the sun burns my leaves. You shall quench my thirst and I will feed you fruit, though time takes my seed. And when I'm lost and can tell nothing of this earth you will give me hope. And my voice you will always hear. And my hand you will always have. For I will shelter you. And I will comfort you. And even when we are nothing left, not even in death, I will remember you.
I long for You so much_x000D_ _x000D_ I follow barefoot Your frozen tracks_x000D_ _x000D_ That are high in the mountains_x000D_ _x000D_ That I know are years old._x000D_ _x000D_ I long for You so much_x000D_ _x000D_ I have even begun to travel_x000D_ _x000D_ Where I have never been before.
I'll be looking at the moon, but I'll be seeing you.
Man is in love and loves_x000D_ what vanishes,_x000D_ What more is there to say?
There are two kind of men,' said Ka, in a didatic voice. 'The first kind does not fall in love until he's seen how the girls eats a sandwich, how she combs her hair, what sort of nonsense she cares about, why she's angry at her father, and what sort of stories people tell about her. The second type of man -- and I am in this category -- can fall in love with a woman only if he knows next to nothing about her.
In Hawaii, we greet friends, loved ones or strangers with Aloha, which means love. Aloha is the key word to the universal spirit of real hospitality, which makes Hawaii renowned as the world's center of understanding and fellowship. Try meeting or leaving people with Aloha. You'll be surprised by their reaction. I believe it and it is my creed. Aloha to you.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.