How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
This was Colin's first memory: his dad slowly lowering the paper and smiling at him. His dad's eyes were wide with surprise and pleasure, and his smile was uncontainable. "CINDY! THE BOY IS READING THE PAPER!" he shouted. (3.30)
It's important for us to hear where it all began: the very first memory that Colin has. For most of us it's something silly we did as a kid, but for Colin it's a significant moment in forming who he is today. His whole identity can be traced back to this moment when he became a child prodigy.
Quote #2
He felt the thrill of it surge through him, his eyes blinking fast as he fought to remember the idea in its completeness. Lying there on his back in the sticky, thick air, the Eureka moment felt like a thousand orgasms all at once, except not as messy. (6.2)
This is one of the new memories that Colin forms throughout the book. We're so used to seeing him look back on his life that we're excited when he finally wants to join us in the present. But his thoughts are still on remembering—it's just the process instead of the past memories that excite him this time.
Quote #3
He would use his past—and the Archduke's past, and the whole endless past—to inform the future. He would impress Katherine XIX—she had always loved the idea of him being a genius—and he would make the world safer to Dumpees everywhere. He would matter. (7.7)
Sure the past and the future are always connected, but Colin wants to highlight that connection by creating his theorem. It's partly that he wants a eureka moment, but it's also that he wants his past to amount to something.