Grandfather informs me that is not possible. Jonathan Safran Foer More Quotes by Jonathan Safran Foer More Quotes From Jonathan Safran Foer I think and think and think, I‘ve thought myself out of happiness one million times, but never once into it. Jonathan Safran Foer positivity happiness thinking I like to see people reunited, I like to see people run to each other, I like the kissing and the crying, I like the impatience, the stories that the mouth can't tell fast enough, the ears that aren't big enough, the eyes that can't take in all of the change, I like the hugging, the bringing together, the end of missing someone. Jonathan Safran Foer missing-someone eye running We were trying to make our lives easier, trying, with all our rules, to make life effortless. But a friction began to arise between Nothing and Something, in the morning the Nothing vase cast a Something shadow, like the memory of someone you've lost, what can you say about that, at night the Nothing light spilled from the guest room spilled under the Nothing door and stained the Something hallway, there's nothing to say. Jonathan Safran Foer morning night memories What is suffering? I'm not sure what it is, but I know that suffering is the name we give to the origin of all the sighs, screams, and groans — small and large, crude and multifaceted — that concern us. The word defines our gaze even more than what we are looking at. Jonathan Safran Foer suffering names giving I brought the birdcages to the windows. I opened the windows, and opened the birdcages. I poured the fish down the drain. I took the dogs and cats downstairs and removed their collars. I released the insects onto the street. And the reptiles. And the mice. I told them, Go. All of you. Go. And they went. And they didn’t come back Jonathan Safran Foer reptiles cat dog Highs and lows make you feel that things matter, but they're nothing." "So what's something?" "Being reliable is something. Being good. Jonathan Safran Foer be-good matter lows My point is that there are a lot of forces, like the media and the general political rhetoric tells us we should have more. That we should do better than our parents and have a bigger house or a better car. Jonathan Safran Foer car media should-have Not responding is a response - we are equally responsible for what we don't do. Jonathan Safran Foer responsible safety food I can forgive you for leaving, but not for coming back. Jonathan Safran Foer coming-back forgiving leaving It will never be the case that people won't eat meat. I think it could conceivably be the case one day that people eat very small amounts of it. That it's a special thing, rather than reach for it because it's cheap or reach for it because it's convenient, that it becomes something festive or something celebratory, once a week, and that could actually be achieved on small farms if we really changed our habits. Jonathan Safran Foer one-day people thinking I felt shame for living in a nation of unprecedented prosperity-a nation that spends a smaller percentage of income on food than any other civilization has in human history-but in the name of affordability treats the animals it eats with cruelty so extreme it would be illegal if inflicted on a dog. Jonathan Safran Foer dog animal civilization There's nothing good about being certain about things. And I don't think there's any real talent in using language in a manipulative way, with phrases like "tax relief" or "Social Security reform." It's politically clever, but it's also completely disingenuous, and it's not something to aspire to. Jonathan Safran Foer real clever thinking No matter how much I feel, I’m not going to let it out. If I have to cry, I’m gonna cry on the inside. If I have to bleed, I’ll bruise. If my heart starts going crazy, I’m not gonna tell everyone in the world about it. It doesn’t help anything. It just makes everyone’s life worse. Jonathan Safran Foer bruises crazy heart She wanted more, more slang, more figures of speech, the bee's knees, the cats pajamas, horse of a different color, dog-tired, she wanted to talk like she was born here, like she never came from anywhere else Jonathan Safran Foer horse tired dog When I was a girl, my life was music that was always getting louder. Everything moved me. A dog following a stranger. That made me feel so much. Jonathan Safran Foer girl stranger dog I do think ordinariness is, in a way, the enemy, but not ordinariness as the opposite of flamboyance. Jonathan Safran Foer ordinariness enemy thinking We had everything to say to each other, but no ways to say it Jonathan Safran Foer way I missed you even when I was with you. That’s been my problem. I miss what I already have, and I surround myself with things that are missing. Jonathan Safran Foer i-missed-you problem missing Sometimes people who seem good end up being not as good as you might have hoped, you know? Jonathan Safran Foer might sometimes people We spent our lives making livings. Jonathan Safran Foer making-a-living our-lives