Breakfast at Tiffany's Transience Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #1

"I'm very scared, Buster. Yes, at last. Because it could go on forever. Not knowing what's yours until you've thrown it away" (18.18).

Holly has spent her life avoiding anything permanent, but as she heads to the airport she finally admits that this impermanence scares her because she sees no end to it. The idea of transience stretches before her indefinitely.

Quote #2

"I don't. I'll never get used to anything. Anybody that does, they might as well be dead" (3.12).

The idea of staying put feels like a death sentence for Holly. To her, life is about continuing to move and to experience new things. She doesn't believe in staying in one place long enough to get used to it.

Quote #3

I wondered if she'd often stolen. "I used to," she said. "I mean I had to. If I wanted anything. But I still do it every now and then, sort of to keep my hand in" (7.5).

A part of Holly knows that she might have to pick up and go at any moment, and she expects that she might have to struggle to survive. Living her life on the fly permanently affects her day-to-day actions.