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The Goodbye Song

Book by Karl Kristian Flores · 18 quotes · The Goodbye Song, Sadness, Loneliness

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The Goodbye Song Quotes

“You claim to want love, but how can that be if you have not yet met the person you love? Rather, you desire its advantages: touch, security, and company. Love is born from another person—their touch, their company, their ideas. Love is a hand that knocks on our doors and owns no door of its own for you to knock on. When dealing with people, we are each too unique and changing to be labeled and be fitted to another person’s prerequisite needs. And so, it is our lovers who introduce us to our desire. Until then, it is not love that we want. If we claim, alone in our homes, to so badly want love, or marriage, we likely want that other thing.”

“The best lover you could ever have will sit on this very bench 270 years from now. You two will never meet. And will never know you’ll never meet. They are, however, currently sitting with you because if you two did meet, you’d spend your time sitting as you are now. Because returning to that bench every afternoon, happily single, was like spending a day with every soul who wants to sit there too.”

“We have to be careful how we treat others. The human brain is a sensitive flesh that can be punctured by a single event. Based on your sentence, you can leave someone an insult they’ll never forget. You can sometimes hear this frailty when shy voices ask things like: “Can I have another bite?”, “Please call me back” or “What days do you work?”

“We cannot know everything. We cannot do everything. We are what we chose to have known. We are what we ended up doing. This condition is why you could look around and tell people apart. Time is ticking and we are all fugitives fleeing from random death. And we all flee differently. Thus, with the responsibility of choice, humanity is magical this way.”

“I can’t do relationships because I’m afraid it will get boring. My friendships are boring. And married couples only talk about how to upgrade the house. I don’t want you and I to be bored ever and so I don’t want to ruin that. People aren’t meant to be so close to each other," said Andrew. "Andrew," said Nora. "There are some people you meet who are worth being boring with.”

“I hate running into people. They take the random places. That door over there. Fuck that door. It was an hour before class on the first day and Justin came out right as I was walking in. Bumped in and scared the ba- Jesus out of me and every time I walked into that door, I remembered him. For four years that space belonged to that moment. It’s like everywhere we walk, all we see internally is a landmark of people and moments you’ll never have again.”

“It was agreed that to stay with one person your whole life was to not only prevent life experience, but have a miserable elder life by having to stay with another ugly old-looking person. If you stayed single forever, however, one wouldn’t have to lie and say to their wrinkly, crooked-backed lover, “Good morning, beautiful.” Thus, everyone pretty much died alone. At least they died honestly. But these people did not live honestly. At some point, every person once wished to tell that morning lie—to be soothed and supported by an unconditional, unwavering agreement during the cold ends of one’s life. A lie of attraction in exchange for company, they theorized. But they missed the point. Marriage in one’s elder life isn’t to lie and say, “Good morning, beautiful,” but to joke and say, “Good morning, ugly.”

“I think we all have to meet more people. Help others, be hurt by others, learn from them, fight with them, listen to them, and see things. Over time, one starts to develop a universal voice that is all-fitting— soothing to grandmas, yet exciting to kids. Loud enough to cheer in a stadium and soft enough to whisper in church. A voice that makes sense both to a hungry man on the street and a university professor. An experienced body breeds an encompassing voice.”

“Pretty faces have distracted incoming hands ready to stab. Sex has disguised arguments. Politeness has prevented confrontation. Laughing has slowed down revelation. Emotions have been misinterpreted as agreements. Judgment has hampered our listening. Perhaps, for now, we are more accurately defined by what we say or think and not how we seem or look.”

“Darling, don’t say it’s me that you love, But that you love how I make you feel on the weekends. Don’t say you have to go, admit there’s nothing more to let me know. Don’t say it was a good movie, tell me that it was a good break. Don’t say you like her hair, tell me that it’s just different. Don’t say your father’s evil, tell me that it’s ignorance. Don’t say you feel like dying, tell me life would be better without bills. Don’t say you hate crying, but that you hate when they see you ill. Don’t say you love the winter, tell me you like the gifts. Don’t say you want a vacation when you really want a kiss.”