How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
The thing is, before they pulled me out, everything had seemed made of magic. Like I really believed in this crazy dream. But the minute I came to on the hard, glittery, spray-painted, fake snow and saw that marionette boy pulling the same plastic fish out of the hole again and again, I realized it was all a big fake. The realest thing I'd ever experienced was that moment under the water when I almost died. And in a way, I've been dying ever since. (1.33)
Just because a ride in Disney World is revealed to be phony, Cameron decides the rest of life is false as well. That's a pretty big leap. He's allowing a moment of disillusionment to ruin the rest of his life, which is pretty bold.
Quote #2
"To him that s***'s sacred, you feel me? He's writing about pain, about the loss of love, the injustice of life. About hope. I'm not gonna sell you this if you're just gonna make fun of it. That's not what music's about, my man." (4.40)
Eubie is full of life lessons, and it would have saved Cameron a lot of time and trouble if he'd taken the time to listen to them. He doesn't start to understand what Eubie is talking about, though, until he also starts to grasp these concepts for himself—and then suddenly the Great Tremolo isn't so funny anymore.
Quote #3
"Hey, Cam-run!" Eubie says when I walk in the door. "Where you been?"
"Nowhere."
"Still? That's not right." He takes a good look at me. "You look worn, my friend. Zombified."
"Yeah. Thanks."
"Got no color. You need to get out. Experience things. Play music. Fall in love."
[…]
"Life is short, my friend." (10.3-9)
Cam brushes Eubie's good advice off like he always does, but did you notice that when he's on his quest he does all of these things? He even plays music with Eubie's favorite musician, Junior Webster. The subconscious is an interesting place, indeed.
Quote #4
The song makes me want to run and shout, kiss girls and ride motorcycles through the desert. It makes me feel really alive, the way Eubie says music should. (19.61)
If only Cam hadn't spent so much time trying to be numb, he could have experienced this before he's actually dying.
Quote #5
"Ain't that a sight? With all the things we know and learn, we still ain't touched the big mysteries—where we come from, where we go next, why we even here. And when something truly miraculous happens, we run and hide in our caves. We deny." (19.107)
There's nothing like looking at the vastness of the night sky to make you ponder your place in the universe. While they look at it together, Junior Webster manages to touch on the exact things that Cameron has been struggling with.
Quote #6
"I feel great. No symptoms. No weird dreams. No sign of the fire giants. Gonzo, I think this might be the cure. There's no need to save the universe, because nothing bad can happen to me at CESSNAB."
"Bad things can happen anywhere. That's life, amigo."
"Well, I've got a new life now, friend, and I'd appreciate it if you'd stop messing with it." (25.13-15)
Life isn't about avoiding everything that's bad; it is about embracing the fact that terrible things happen all the time. If you try to block out all of the bad, you avoid the wonderful as well. It takes both sides, man.
Quote #7
"What if those so-called negative feelings are useful?"
[…]
"I mean, suppose you take your anger and you channel it into a painting. Pretty soon, you don't care about getting back at that idiot who pissed you off anymore because you're totally into your painting. And then maybe that painting hangs in a gallery someday and it inspires other people to find their thing, whatever it is. You've influenced the world not because you wanted to hug it and cuddle it and call it sweet thing but because one day you wanted to beat the crap out of somebody but you didn't. You made a painting instead. And you couldn't have made that painting without that feeling, without something to push off against. We human beings can't evolve without the pain." (25.86-88)
This is a life lesson that Cam needs to learn so badly. Instead of going around trying to be numb to the pain, he should be embracing it and turning it into something else.
Quote #8
As a kid, I imagined lots of different scenarios for my life. I would be an astronaut. Maybe a cartoonist. A famous explorer or rock star. Never once did I see myself standing under the window of a house belonging to some druggie named Carbine, waiting for his yard gnome to steal his stash so I could get a cab back to a cheap motel where my friend, a neurotic, death-obsessed dwarf, was waiting for me so we could get on the road to an undefined place and a mysterious Dr. X, who would cure me of mad cow disease and stop a band of dark energy from destroying the universe. (28.166)
Does anyone ever end up being what he or she thought they would be when they were kids? Life takes us on unexpected paths, and we can't all be princesses and firemen. Not all of us befriend a cursed Viking god either, though, so we see Cam's point.
Quote #9
"I just wanted to know what's next," I say.
"You people slay me," she says with a laugh, and there's an edge to it. "Always worrying, 'What will happen? What's next?' Always everywhere but where you actually are. You just don't get it."
"Get what?"
"Here. Now. This." She gestures wide, turns around. "This is it, cowboy. The whole ride. Pay attention." (33.15-18)
This is one of the book's central themes. It is important, especially today when people seem to be busier than ever, to learn how to simply be present.
Quote #10
"Did you live these past two weeks?"
"I live every week!" I argue.
"No. You exist. The question is, did you live?"
For a second, I stop fighting and think about what he's asking me. Did I live? I made a best friend. Lost another. Cried. Laughed. Lost my virginity. Gained a piece of magic, gave it away. Possibly changed a man's destiny. Drank beer. Slept in cheap motels. Got pissed off. Laughed some more. Escaped from the police and bounty hunters. Watched the sun set over the ocean. Had a soda with my sister. Saw my mom and dad as they are. Understood music. Had sex again, and it was pretty mind-blowing. Not that I'm keeping score. Okay, I'm keeping score. Played the bass. Went to a concert. Wandered around New Orleans. Freed the snow globes. Saved the universe. (50.67-70)
The distinction between living and existing is crucial. It's really such a shame that Cameron had to die in order to learn to appreciate the difference.