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
Oskar Schell: If the sun were to explode, you wouldn't even know about it for 8 minutes because thats how long it takes for light to travel to us. For eight minutes the world would still be bright and it would still feel warm. It was a year since my dad died and I could feel my eight minutes with him... were running out.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the delay between an event and its realization, emphasizing the lingering warmth of memories despite loss.
In this quote, Oskar Schell contemplates the concept of time and perception in relation to significant life events, especially the feelings tied to losing a loved one. The idea that the sun's light takes eight minutes to reach Earth serves as a poignant metaphor for how we might remain unaware of a loss until it fully registers in our hearts, while still feeling the warmth of past memories. This connection between the natural world and personal grief highlights the enduring impact of relationships, prompting reflection on how we carry our loved ones with us, even in their absence.
Themes
LightTimeMemoryGriefLoss
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about overcoming loss during a memorial service.
More from Jonathan Safran Foer
All quotes →Memory 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.
Jonathan Safran FoerRead
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
Jonathan Safran FoerRead
What do babies dream of? She must be dreaming of the before-life, just as I dream of the afterlife.
Jonathan Safran FoerRead
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.
Jonathan Safran FoerRead
What is being awake if not interpreting our dreams, or dreaming if not interpreting our wake?
Jonathan Safran FoerRead
Similar quotes
So that's what I'm here to become. And suddenly, this word fills me with a brand of sadness I haven't felt since childhood. The kind of sadness you feel at the end of summer. When the fireflies are gone, the ponds have dried up and the plants are wilted, weary from being so green.
Augusten BurroughsRead
Opposition is a natural part of life. Just as we develop our physical muscles through overcoming opposition - such as lifting weights - we develop our character muscles by overcoming challenges and adversity.
Stephen CoveyRead
This isn't life in the fast lane, it's life in the oncoming traffic.
Terry PratchettRead
You will walk differently alone, dear, through a thicker atmosphere, forcing your way through the shadows of chairs, through the dripping smoke of the funnels. You will feel your own reflection sliding along the eyes of those who look at you. You are no longer insulated; but I suppose you must touch life in order to spring from it.
F. Scott FitzgeraldRead
You live long enough, you lose enough people, you learn to appreciate the memories you have and stop begrudging the ones you never got to make.
Blythe DannerRead
Would you not be happier if you tried to forget her severity, together with the passionate emotions it excited? Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity, or registering wrongs.
Charlotte BronteRead