How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Douglas sprawled back on the dry porch planks, completely contented and reassured by these voices, which would speak on through eternity, flow in a stream of murmurings over his body, over his eyelids, into his drowsy ears, for all time. (7.12)
Doug's a guy comforted by ritual, we got that. But here we see him being comforted by a ritual he doesn't write down, which is, in a way, even more poignant: We're building memories, becoming time machines, even when we're not actively recording.
Quote #2
"So two things you did you should never have. You made quick things go slow and stay around. You brought things faraway to our backyard where they don't belong, where they just tell you, 'No, you'll never travel, Lena Auffmann, Paris you'll never see! Rome you'll never visit.' But I always knew that, so why tell me? Better to forget and make do, Leo, make do, eh?" (13.111)
Do you think it's better to visit places virtually than not at all? Or is it better to be content with a life confined by geography, so long as you get to experience everything for real?
Quote #3
"I see all the things happened in that house in all those years right here!" Bang! "All the past, sure, but I can see the future, too. Just squinch up my eyes and peek around at the patterns, there, to see where we'll be walking, running around, tomorrow." (14.24)
Tom prefers to philosophize as he beats the rugs. We hear that's how Plato cleaned, too.