We burned with love for ourselves, all of us, starters of the fire we suffered- our love was the affliction for which only our love was the cure.
Jonathan Safran FoerRead
One hundred years of joy can be erased in one second
Interpretation
What this quote means
Joy can be fleeting and its loss can occur suddenly, no matter how long it was enjoyed.
This quote by Jonathan Safran Foer reflects on the transient nature of happiness and joy in life. It suggests that despite experiencing a century of happiness, a moment of tragedy or loss can overshadow and erase that joy in an instant, emphasizing the fragility of human emotions and the stark reality of life's unpredictability.
Themes
JoyLossTransienceHappinessLife
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be shared during a memorial service to highlight the impact of loss.
More from Jonathan Safran Foer
All quotes βMemory was supposed to fill the time, but it made time a hole to be filled. Each second was two hundred yards, to be walked, crawled. You couldn't see the next hour, it was so far in the distance. Tomorrow was over the horizon, and would take an entire day to reach.
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She was not crying Which surprised me very much But I understand now That she had found places For her melancholy That were behind more masks Than only her eyes
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What do babies dream of? She must be dreaming of the before-life, just as I dream of the afterlife.
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A few weeks after the worst day, I started writing lots of letters. I don't know why, but it was one of the only things that made my boots lighter.
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What is being awake if not interpreting our dreams, or dreaming if not interpreting our wake?
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