How we cite our quotes: (Page number)
Quote #1
He stops talking, flexes his wrist, and grimaces. "Get your screwing up done now, when the consequences aren't so bad. Trust me. It gets harder to do it later." (292)
Most consequences for your screw-ups probably won’t involve being hit by a car, but Attorney Jeremy Fitzgerald probably has a point here.
Quote #2
I don't know what to tell him. Not that he's looking to me for advice. Ordinarily I would say follow your heart. But he's a married man. His heart is not the only one involved. (293)
At what point does it become worse to stay committed to the choices you’ve already made (like marrying somebody and having kids) than to change your life in pursuit of happiness? Check out our character analysis of Jeremy and Hannah for more on this discussion, but their story is a philosopher’s conundrum.
Quote #3
Jeremy Fitzgerald was crossing the street when a drunk and distraught man—an insurance actuary—in a white BMW hit him at twenty miles per hour. The blow wasn't enough to kill him, but it was enough to make him consider his eventual death and his current life. (117)
We definitely don’t recommend playing in traffic, but Jeremy’s near-death experience was powerful enough to change the entire course of his life.
Quote #4
That's the thing that gets to Joe even now. All the plans they'd made. All the saving. All the waiting around for the perfect time. And for what? For nothing...He takes one last look at the girl and the boy before closing the door. They're looking at each other like there's nowhere else they'd rather be. He and his Beth were like that once.
Maybe he will give up smoking after all. Maybe he'll make some new plans. (266-267)
Joe reconsiders his entire outlook on life after Natasha simply asks him to hand over his pack of cigarettes and says he shouldn’t smoke, which just goes to show readers that you never know how profoundly a simple action might affect somebody else’s life.
Quote #5
One of the case officers—Lester Barnes—stopped by her station. He told her that a girl left a message on his voicemail for her. The girl had said thank you. Irene never knew what she was being thanked for, but the thank you came just in time. Because at the end of the day, Irene had planned to commit suicide.
She'd written her suicide note at lunch. She'd mentally charted her route to the roof of her apartment building.
But for that thank-you.
The fact that someone saw her was the beginning. (341)
If Natasha hadn’t asked Lester to thank Irene and Irene had gone through with her suicidal plans, it wouldn’t have been Natasha’s fault. However, just recognizing Irene as a human being who deserved to be noticed was enough to change her life. Natasha seems to have this effect on people a lot.
Quote #6
His son will never settle down or marry or have children or forgive his father for his betrayal. His daughter will marry her first girlfriend, Marie. She will spend most of that first marriage anticipating and then causing its end...Jeremy and Hannah's children will grow up to love others in the simple and uncomplicated way of people who have always known where love comes from, and aren't afraid of its loss. (297)
This quote illustrates the consequences of Jeremy and Hannah’s affair. On one hand, his ex-wife and their kids are permanently scarred by his abandonment. On the other hand, his future kids—who wouldn’t even exist if he didn’t leave his ex—will have amazing, healthy lives. Blargh. Looking at life through a big-picture lens makes things so complicated.
Quote #7
I rue the day I walk into that store. If it wasn't for you and the children, my life would be betta. I would be doing the thing God put me on this earth to do. I don't want to hear nothing more ‘bout your dreams. Them not nothing compared to mine. (229)
Samuel blames his failure as an actor on his decision to marry Patricia and start a family, which is completely unfair. He couldn’t get work when he was couch-surfing with his friends before Patricia and Natasha joined him in the Big Apple either, and he’s the one who chose to stop going on auditions after he lost his job. P.S. This exchange is also the one Natasha overhears that torpedoes her relationship with her dad.
Quote #8
The sheer number of actions and reactions it's taken to form our solar system, our galaxy, our universe, is astonishing. The number of things that had to go exactly right is overwhelming.
Compared to that, what is falling in love? A series of small coincidences that we say means everything because we want to believe that our tiny lives matter on a galactic scale. But falling in love doesn't even begin to compare to the formation of the universe.
It's not even close. (203)
Considering the sheer number of coincidences and life-changing events that had to work together for Natasha and Daniel to meet, she might want to revisit this idea.
Quote #9
Things don't happen for a reason. They just happen. But here are some Observable Facts: If I hadn't been late to my appointment, I wouldn't have met Lester Barnes. And if he hadn't said the word irie, I wouldn't have had my meltdown. And if I hadn't had my meltdown, I wouldn't now have the name of a lawyer known as "the fixer" clutched in my hand.
I head out of the building past security. I have an irrational and totally unlike-me urge to thank that security guard—Irene—but she's a few feet away and busy fondling someone else's stuff. (34)
Natasha doesn’t even realize that today’s chain of events has barely begun. Also worth noting: She doesn’t thank Irene in this moment, but that “irrational and totally unlike-me urge” comes back later after her meeting with “the fixer” Attorney Fitzgerald, and that urge saves Irene’s life. In turn, Irene sets off the chain of events that leads Natasha back to Daniel a decade later.