How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
I went around from painting to painting asking each to eat me and each did. How my skin fit the whole time, didn't once bunch up at my ankles or squeeze my head into a pin. (1.150)
Noah feels awkward most of the time. At the museum, though, he feels right at home. Even if other people would think asking paintings to eat you would be, um, on the awkward side.
Quote #2
When he found out I got in and he didn't, he destroyed everything he'd never made. Not even a doodle remains. He hasn't picked up a pencil, pastel, stick of charcoal, or paintbrush since. (2.78)
When Noah thinks he's rejected by the art school of his dreams, he gives up all his artistic pursuits. It's super sad.
Quote #3
This time it was a big round woman, done bas relief, like always, except she was halfway turned into a bird—so incredible it made my head vibrate. (3.6)
Jude is a talented artist, but for some reason she keeps it a secret. Even when it causes the elusive head-vibrating form of art appreciation.
Quote #4
A few times I try to form a question so that it sounds casual and normal, but each time the words get caught somewhere in my throat and never make it out. Finally, I give up and take out my invisible brushes and just start painting in my head." (3.72)
Art is a refuge for Noah when he can't deal with real life. Which is pretty much all the time, in case you're wondering.
Quote #5
He points to my pad. "So I guess you just talk in there, is that it?" (3.79)
Right away, Brian recognizes that Noah speaks through his work instead of through his mouth. Aw. Soulmates.
Quote #6
"I paint in my head," I tell him.…I have no idea why I'm telling him. I've never let anyone into the invisible museum before. (3.81)
Noah thinks of his brain as an invisible museum, which is pretty cool. Incidentally, that phrase is also the subtitle of all his chapters.
Quote #7
"It's okay to be addicted to beauty," Mom says, all dreamy.…"I'm addicted to it, too," she whispers. "Most artists are." (3.525)
For some reason, Dianna Sweetwine keeps the fact that she's an artist a secret from her kids. Who does that remind you of? (Jude. The answer is Jude.)
Quote #8
All that matters is the worlds I can make, not this toilet-licking one I have to live in. In the worlds I make, anything can happen. (5.31)
Why does Noah find so much solace in the world of art? And why does he always use "toilet-licking" as an adjective?
Quote #9
"C'mon, what is bad for the heart is good for art. The terrible irony of our lives as artists." (6.54)
Guillermo's heartache seems to serve him well enough with regard to his artwork. He'd probably prefer to be happy, though. (He was a decent enough artist when he wasn't constantly drunk and weepy, after all.)
Quote #10
Fifteen minutes later, we're on an abandoned construction site looking at a crumbling cement wall. On it, in a rage of colors, is…everything. There is the world, remade. (8.58 & 8.60)
Noah has been painting a mural that he finally shows to Jude towards the end of the book. She's blown away.