"A Girl I Knew" Quotes
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Source: "A Girl I Knew"
Author: J.D. Salinger
She wasn't doing a thing that I could see, except standing there leaning on the balcony railing, holding the universe together.
Context
This line is from the short story "A Girl I Knew" by J.D. Salinger (1948).
This one's plucked from a Salinger short story originally published in the magazine Good Housekeeping. (Yeah, it used to be literary and stuff.) In "A Girl I Knew," the narrator, an American, totally falls in love with a Jewish girl from Vienna. Later, when he returns to work in intelligence during WWII, he learns that she's been killed by the Nazis.
There goes the universe.
Where you've heard it
Are you a fan of Dr. Who fanfiction? If so, then maybe you read "Holding the Universe Together," which alludes to Salinger's quote. Okay, we know the chances are slim that you've read that gem. Otherwise, you either read this quote during your post-Catcher Salinger obsession, or on some meme.
Pretentious Factor
If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.
Hey, don't look at us like that. No one's going to tell you that quoting Salinger isn't pretentious.