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Will Schwalbe

Will Schwalbe Quotes

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Famous Will Schwalbe Quotes

“One of Mom's favorite passages from Gilead was: "This is an important thing, which I have told many people, and which my father told me, and which his father told him. When you encounter another person, when you have dealings with anyone at all, it is as if a question is being put to you. So you must think, what is the Lord asking of me in this moment, in this situation?”

GodQuestion
Book:The End of Your Life Book Club
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“We would also have to say goodbye to the joy of watching this next generation soak up the massive quantities of love their grandmother would have given them, and seeing them learn that there was someone in the world who loved them as much as their parents did: a grandmother who was delighted by all their quirks and who thought they were the most amazing creatures on earth.”

GrandmotherDeath Of A Loved One
Book:The End of Your Life Book Club
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“It is not by regretting what is irreparable that true work is to be done, but by making the best of what we are. It is not by complaining that we have not the right tools, but by using well the tools we have. What we are, and where we are is God's providential arrangement - God's doing, though it may be man's misdoing; and the manly and the wise way is to look your disadvantages in the face, and see what can be made our of them.”

ChoicesWorkProvidence
Book:The End of Your Life Book Club
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“We would also have to say goodbye to the joy of watching this next generation soak up the massive quantities of love their grandmother would have given them, and seeing them learn that there was someone in the world who loved them as much as their parents did: a grandmother who was delighted by all their quirks and who thought they were the most amazing creatures on earth. It was an idealized view of the future-but it was the one I carried in my head, and I don't think it was far off from the one my brother and sister and father and mother had. I was learning that when you're with someone who is dying, you may need to celebrate the past, live the present, and mourn the future all at the same time.”

Mourning
Book:The End of Your Life Book Club
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“We all owe everyone for everything that happens in our lives. But it's not owing like a debt to one person--it's really that we owe everyone for everything. Our whole lives can change in an instant--so each person that keeps that from happening, no matter how small a role they play, is also responsible for all of it. Just by giving friendship and love, you keep the people around you from giving up--and each expression of friendship or love may be the one that makes all the difference.”

PeopleGivingMayPersonsMatterPlayWholeHappensDifferencesRolesOur LivesLove YouExpressionGiving UpHappeningsAnd LoveResponsibleDebtWhole LifeInstantLove And FriendshipOwingLife Can Change In An Instant
Book:The End of Your Life Book Club
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“One of the many things I love about bound books is their sheer physicality. Electronic books live out of sight and out of mind. But printed books have body, presence. Sure, sometimes they'll elude you by hiding in improbable places... But at other times they'll confront you, and you'll literally stumble over some tomes you hadn't thought about in weeks or years. I often seek electronic books, but they never come after me. They may make me feel, but I can't feel them. They are all soul with no flesh, no texture, and no weight. They can get in your head but can't whack you upside it.”

FeelsYearsMindMayI CanBookSoulSometimesBodyWeekWeightSightBoundsFleshHidingSheerPrintedTextureImprobableThings I LovePhysicalityEludeElude YouPrinted Books
Book:The End of Your Life Book Club
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“If our family was an airline, Mom was the hub and we were the spokes. You rarely went anywhere nonstop; you went via Mom, who directed the traffic flow and determined the priorities: which family member was cleared for takeoff or landing. Even my father was not immune to Mom's scheduling, though he was given more leeway than the rest of us.”

IfsFatherGivenMomMembersFlowDeterminedPrioritiesOur FamilySpokesTrafficImmuneAirlineLandingFamily MembersHubSchedulingTakeoff
Book:The End of Your Life Book Club
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“What I suddenly understood was that a thank-you note isn't the price you pay for receiving a gift, as so many children think it is, a kind of minimum tribute or toll, but an opportunity to count your blessings. And gratitude isn't what you give in exchange for something; it's what you feel when you are blessed--blessed to have family and friends who care about you, and who want to see you happy. Hence the joy from thanking.”

ThinkingWantGivingFeelsKindChildrenCareJoyOpportunityPayGratitudeBlessingUnderstoodBlessedNotesReceivingMinimumFamily And FriendsWho CaresTributeTollsCount Your BlessingsWant To See YouThank You Note
Author:Will Schwalbe
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“As a reader, you’re often inside one or more character heads, so you know what they’re feeling, even if they can’t exactly say it, or they say it so obliquely that the other characters don’t catch it. Readers are frequently reminded of the gulf between what people say and what they mean, and such moments prod us to become more attuned to gesture, tone, and language.”

PeopleIfsKnowsMeanMomentsCharacterFeelingsLanguageReaderToneGestures
Author:Will Schwalbe
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“With FIVE DAYS, Douglas Kennedy has crafted a brilliant meditation on regret, fidelity, family, and second chances that will have you breathlessly turning pages to find out what happened in the past and what will happen next. At once heartbreaking and hopeful, it is a powerful new work of fiction by an internationally acclaimed writer at the height of his powers.”

HappensPastNextChancePowerfulFictionFiveMeditationHappenedRegretPagesBrilliantHeightHopefulSecond ChanceFidelityHeartbreakingNew Work
Author:Will Schwalbe
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“In Gilead, the narrator's friend's son describes himself not as an atheist but in "state of categorical unbelief." He says, "I don't even believe God doesn't exist, if you see what I mean." I pointed this passage out to Mom and said it closely matched my own views-I just didn't think about religion.”

IfsThinkingBelieveMeanSaidStatesMy OwnViewsSonMomAtheistBelieve In GodPassagesUnbeliefMatchedNarrators
Book:The End of Your Life Book Club
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“...in the eyes of her oldest friends and colleagues and extended family, she wasn't a painfully thin seventy-five-year-old gray haired woman dying of cancer- she was a grade school class president, the young friend you gossiped with, a date or double date, someone to share a tent with in Darfur, a fellow election monitor in Bosnia, a mentor, a teacher you'd laughed within a classroom or a faculty lounge, or the board member you'd groaned with after a contentious meeting”

YearsEyeSchoolYoungPresidentClassFiveTeacherShareDyingMembersElectionFellowsMeetingsCancerBoardsFive YearsGradesFacultyGrayLaughedClassroomMentorColleaguesSeventiesTentsFive Year OldsGrades In SchoolBosniaExtended FamilyGray HairContentiousDarfurYoung FriendsBoard MembersOldest FriendsClass President
Author:Will Schwalbe
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