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There Is No Long Distance Now
Naomi Shihab Nye
Top 10 Best Quotes
“It was terrible when a single conversation with someone determined your whole future relationship.”
“Maybe when your mother died young, you became instantly old.”
“What would it be like to be a turtle inside a shell hit by hailstones?”
“Most days weren't clear when you were in them.”
“Apparently people commonly died when their loved ones were out of the room. Bathroom break. Quick trip down to the cafeteria for a grilled cheese. It was easier to die if you didn't have family members to worry about at that exact moment. Easier for the one who was dying, maybe.”
“Remembering your mistakes more acutely than any minor success. This was the worst. The things that kept you up at night. Tip a waiter that was too small. The words that didn't fit the moment. Words that didn't come till to late. You could kill yourself in increments, punishing your spirit day after day-regret. Guilt. Not the guilt of the little girl who woke in the night embarrassed God was mad at her because she had ticked balls under her shirt, pretending to have breasts. "I even felt sexy." That was sweet, and pure, no crime at all. But the crime of obsessive replay-get rid of it, get rid of it. Who could ever have known that hardest punishments would be the ones you gave yourself?”
“You're just setting yourself up for pain and anguish if you do something like that." But pain and anguish were everywhere anyway. Might as well put them to good use.”
“Amal, you look stunned," said Mrs. Melchor. "Have you been struck by lightning between classes?" "Yes," she said. "The lightning of ignorance." Mrs. Melchor raised her eyebrows.”
“When allowed to return to the class, your feelings of humility and lonesomeness will render you a much finer student and person.”
“Or maybe his reclusiveness was a decisive marketing strategy-if you disappear, people are more interested in your work. You become a legend while you're still alive. Crouching behind a stonewall, or the post under a house...people are kneeling down to find you.”
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Book Keywords:
action, actions, anguish, death, family, hospitals, pain, presence, absence, dying