How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Part.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Few of you Yankees asked where your new kidney or pancreas was coming from, be it a slum kid from the City of God or some unlucky student in a Chinese political prison. You didn't know, you didn't care. You just signed your traveler's checks, went under the knife, then went home to Miami or New York or wherever. (2.4.41)
As we'll see time and time again in World War Z, our survival instinct can be at odds with our intelligence Bet this character won't eat a piece of gum he found off the street, right? Then why would he put a ticker in his chest that someone else might have found on the side of the street? (Of course, the stakes are a little higher when you're talking about needing a new heart.)
Quote #2
He thought that if we abandoned our tribal homeland and relocated to a city, there would be a brand-new house and high-paying jobs just sitting there waiting for us. (2.5.2)
World War Z focuses not only on a man's survival in the natural world, but also the human world. Each has hazards to avoid, and unfortunately for Jacob's dad, he doesn't do so well here.
Quote #3
It wasn't even the idea of safety anymore, it was the idea of the idea of safety. (3.3.23)
Half of all survival in the natural world is mental. The idea of safety, the belief that you'll make it is fifty percent of the battle. Uh, we're pretty sure we heard that on Survivorman or something.
Quote #4
I met the whore's rat dog as we were both heading for the back door. He looked at me, I looked at him. If it'd been a conversation, it probably woulda gone like, "What about your master?" "What about yours?" (4.5.17)
Man meets Chihuahua and discovers a kindred soul in the need to survive in the natural world. Besides, the dog has a better chance with the zombies than he does the helter-skelter life of the rich and fabulous. At least you know where you stand with the zombies.
Quote #5
But, like everything else in our country, that dream never came true. Even before the crisis, the bridge had been a nightmare of traffic jams. Now it was crammed with evacuees. (5.3.5)
As the civilized world falls apart around us, our survival instinct will kick in. But the modern world wasn't exactly built with this kind of thing in mind—whether it's a natural disaster or a zombie invasion.
Quote #6
Panic shot through the crowd. You could see it like a wave, like a current of electricity. People started screaming, trying to push forward, back, into one another. Dozens were jumping into the water with heavy clothes and shoes that prevented them from swimming. (5.3.14)
The people's panic causes them to not think about their situation. They only see the zombies attacking and don't consider that they're, you know, going from the frying pan into the fire. Or from being eaten alive to drowning alive. (We'd probably take the drowning.)
Quote #7
Winters were hard. Remember how long they used to be? Helping people to help themselves is great in theory, but you still gotta keep'em alive. (6.5.19)
Ah, winter, what a mild inconvenience you are with your frosty car windows, sidewalks in need of a good salting, and sky-high electric bills. But without our technological marvels, winter would be less of a nuisance and more of a life-threatening event.
Quote #8
You should have seen some of the "careers" listed on our first employment census; everyone was some version of an "executive," a "representative," an "analyst," or a "consultant," all perfectly suited to the prewar world, but all totally inadequate for the present crisis. We need carpenters, masons, machinists, gunsmiths. (6.1.5)
As we mentioned before, you have to consider survival in terms of both the natural world and man's world in World War Z. Some skills transfer between the two, others…eh, not so much.
Quote #9
That hit me hard, a lot harder than the little faceless kid. This guy had had everything he needed to survive, everything except the will. (6.5.57)
Another example of the willpower needed to survive the natural world. The problem here isn't that the guy couldn't survive—it's that he didn't want to.
Quote #10
This network [of satellites] was as important to the modern world as roads had been in ancient times, or rail lines during the industrial age. What would happen to humanity if these all-important links just started dropping out of the sky? (7.8.5)
Let's be clear here: we're part of the natural world, like it or not. Our tools help make this relationship a little bit more bearable for us. Roads in ancient times, railroads after that, and now, best of all, smartphones.