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Dave Eggers

Dave Eggers Quotes

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Famous Dave Eggers Quotes

“And we will be ready, at the end of every day will be ready, will not say no to anything, will try to stay awake while everyone is sleeping, will not sleep, will make the shoes with the elves, will breathe deeply all the time, breathe in all the air full of glass and nails and blood, will breathe it and drink it, so rich, so when it comes we will not be angry, will be content, tired enough to go, gratefully, will shake hands with everyone, bye, bye, and then pack a bag, some snacks, and go to the volcano.”

TryingEndsEnoughHandsSleepRichAirBloodReadyDrinkAngryTiredShoesGlassesBreatheAwakeShakesBagsPacksNailsByeVolcanoesSnacksBye Bye
Book:A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genius: A Memoir Based on a True Story
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“I like the dark part of the night, after midnight and before four-thirty, when it's hollow, when ceilings are harder and farther away. Then I can breathe, and can think while others are sleeping, in a way can stop time, can have it so – this has always been my dream – so that while everyone else is frozen, I can work busily about them, doing whatever it is that needs to be done, like the elves who make the shoes while children sleep.”

ThinkingWayLifeNeedsChildrenI CanDoneDreamNightDarkSleepFourHarderShoesBreatheThirtyMidnightFrozenHollowCeilingsSleeping InStop Time
Book:A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius: Picador Classic
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“GOD: I own you like I own the caves. THE OCEAN: Not a chance. No comparison. GOD: I made you. I could tame you. THE OCEAN: At one time, maybe. But not now. GOD: I will come to you, freeze you, break you. THE OCEAN: I will spread myself like wings. I am a billion tiny feathers. You have no idea what's happened to me.”

MadeIdeasChanceBreakHappenedOceanWingsSpreadBillionsTinyNo IdeaComparisonOne TimeCavesFeathersFreeze
Book:How We Are Hungry
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“There's nothing to be gained from passive observance, the simple documenting of conditions, because, at its core, it sets a bad example. Every time something is observed and not fixed, or when one has a chance to give in some way and does not, there is a lie being told, the same lie we all know by heart but which needn't be reiterated.”

KnowsWayGivingHeartDoeLyingChanceSimpleConditionsExampleCoreFixedPassiveObservance
Book:You Shall Know Our Velocity
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“My mind, I know, I can prove, hovers on hummingbird wings. It hovers and it churns. And when it's operating at full thrust, the churning does not stop. The machines do not rest, the systems rarely cool. And while I can forget anything of any importance--this is why people tell me secrets--my mind has an uncanny knack for organization when it comes to pain. Nothing tormenting is ever lost, never even diminished in color or intensity or quality of sound.”

PeopleKnowsMindDoeI CanPainLostSoundForgetSecretQualityColorProveMachinesOrganizationImportanceWingsIntensityThrustKnackUncannyHummingbirdsChurning
Author:Dave Eggers
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“How many times in life can we make decisions that are important but will not hurt anyone? Are we obligated- maybe we are- to say yes to any choice when no one will be hurt? We use the word hurt when talking about things like this because when these things go wrong it can feel as if you were hit in the sternum by a huge animal that's run for miles just to strike you.”

IfsFeelsImportantUseRunningChoicesHurtDecisionAnimalTalkingHugeStrikesMilesWords Hurt
Book:How We Are Hungry
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“Maybe he hadn't thought the war through. It had seemed like simple fun when he had first pictured it, with a glorious beginning, a difficult but valor-filled middle, and a victorious end. He hadn't accounted for the fact that there might not be much of a resolution to the battle, and he hadn't imagined what it would feel like when the war just sort of ended, without anyone admitting defeat and congratulating him for his bravery.”

FeelsFirstsWarEndsFactsMightFunDifficultSimpleMiddleBattleBraveryFilledDefeatGloriousResolutionValorAdmitting
Book:The Wild Things
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“The voice of the nickly reflection of the moon was not as deep as you might expect. It was a singer’s voice, though, a tenor, one that loved itself without reservation. “I feel time like you dream. Your dreams are jumbled. You can’t remember the order of your dreams, and when you recall them, the memories bend. Faces change. It’s all in puddles and ripples. That’s what time is for me.”

FeelsDreamMightRememberFacesOrderVoiceMemoriesLike YouMoonReflectionSingersYour DreamsRecallsRippleReservationsPuddlesTenors
Author:Dave Eggers
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