How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
His thoughts, His ultimate designs are mysteries. Except to—maybe—the Unfallen. I've never been sure about that, because the Unfallen don't hang out with us peons much anymore. I've never really liked those guys. (2.2)
The Creator knows everything. What's worse? Just like one of the know-it-all kids in your class who likes to hold it over everyone, he doesn't let you forget it either. Kiriel gets annoyed feeling like he's missing a piece of the puzzle that the Creator knows but won't share with anyone else.
Quote #2
I already knew what sex was, in great and florid detail, but now I was determined to feel it. First lesson learned: Knowing doesn't hold a candle to doing. (3.23)
Sure, you can read books about stuff or even see it in movies, but it's different when you live through the experience yourself. Kiriel realizes that this whole time, he's thought he's got it figured out, when actually, he knows nothing about what it's like to actually do stuff. This just makes him want to do everything he can.
Quote #3
I opened Shaun's eyes. Yes! I was still here, and Shaun's body was still wrapped around me. What was sleep? Nothingness. Lost time. Only the Creator knew what purpose it served. (6.1)
Again, we hear his beef with the Creator. Notice how it always centers around knowledge? Kiriel is frustrated that he doesn't know as much as the Creator, because he wants to know everything. But he knows an awful lot. He's able to watch Shaun and his family before he joins them, and he's been around for all of history.
Quote #4
They say you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, I reflected as I headed across the cafeteria. Although what one would want to do with flies once caught, I do not know. Murder them, most likely—that seemed to me to be what humans generally did with caught flies. I suspected there was a lesson and a warning there about humans in general. (16.23)
Classic Kiriel. Instead of using experiences or friends to help him out, he turns to old sayings because these are the only things he knows. He tests out the theory that you should be nice to people instead of annoying them, but it doesn't change much with Reed. Guess there are some things even old proverbs can't fix.
Quote #5
He would have been able to converse with ease, interest, and even excitement. He would have known what to do when his mother put her hand on his shoulder or called him an angel. He would have known how to respond to an "I love you." (19.138)
At first, Kiriel thinks he knows way more than Shaun—he has lived for centuries, after all—but pretty soon, he figures out there are some things Shaun would probably know that he doesn't. It's a shock to him, but it's a good lesson. Like he says before, doing—actually living life—isn't the same as just knowing about it.
Quote #6
I had assumed that a human was bound by its activities and habits, its way of speaking and acting. But now it seemed that there were other threads that wound around someone like Shaun, connecting him to other beings—threads of affections and trust. (19.149)
Part of Kiriel's journey is figuring out what life is all about. Even though he thinks he knows everything before hitchhiking a ride to earth in Shaun's body, he still has a lot to learn. Like, the fact that life isn't about our organs working on blood pulsing—it's about having friends and family around to love you.
Quote #7
The Boss. Of course I'd met him; I'd once followed him even to my doom. Beautiful and terrible and endlessly compelling—that was the Boss. Even the thought of his anger a few minutes ago had sent me rigid with fear. (20.37)
There's a big difference between the stuff Kiriel wants to know but doesn't, and the stuff he doesn't know and would prefer not to learn. He's scared of the Boss, and he doesn't want to get to know the guy at all, even if it means he's in the dark about some stuff.
Quote #8
Her writings had—now that I recalled—been very vague when it came to the mechanics of coitus with Shaun. Now that I thought about it, there had always been a leap from about the time he touched her breasts till they lay drowsily together, post-deflowering, in each other's arms. (22.58)
Even though Kiriel thinks he knows what Lane wants, he couldn't be further from the truth. She's not interested in actually going through with the deed, which he's surprised by. It turns out, you can't trust everything that's in someone's diary—feel free to quote us on that to your mom.
Quote #9
"Shaun will regain possession of his body. He will get those lost moments back. And more. You have interrupted the trajectory of his existence. He requires more time now, to rebuild an arc that is uniquely his." (24.47)
Since Shaun didn't get to know what happened in his final moments, he gets more time on earth. We love the way this gets wrapped up for Shaun and Kiriel—Shaun gets to keep on living, while Kiriel feels good about what he did. Plus, the angel wants Shaun to know about his own life; he has a right to his final moments.
Quote #10
Hanael didn't look puzzled. That's because nothing ever puzzles the Unfallen. They know all the answers. "It is part of my function to be here," he said, as if that explained it all, "and so here I am." (24.68)
Check out what Kiriel says about Hanael, the Unfallen angel: He has all the answers. It's one of the reasons Kiriel gets annoyed with those guys, because they know so much more than the Fallen. Yet, we can't help but wonder whether Kiriel just thinks they have the answers.