Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Gary Shteyngart

Quote by Gary Shteyngart

Work

Vera, or Faith

Browse quotes and source details for this work. more

Author

Gary Shteyngart
Gary Shteyngart

Gary Shteyngart, born on July 5, 1972, is an American writer known for his focus on immigration, cultural conflicts, and modern urban life, characterized by his humor and satire. more

You May Also Like

“Rather than trying to paper over our suffering with comforting beliefs, this approach is about actually exploring directly what seems to be in the way of freedom, peace and happiness, what seems scary, dreadful and unbearable. It's one thing to believe that the tiger chasing you is only a mirage, and it's another thing entirely to actually turn around and embrace the tiger and find out for sure.”

“Each day Mother Teresa meets Jesus; first at the Mass, whence she derives sustenance and strength; then in each needing, suffering soul she sees and tends. They are one and the same Jesus; at the altar and in the streets. Neither exists without the other. We who are imprisoned in history; castaways on the barren shores of time, past, present and to come — we seek another Jesus. A Jesus of history, which is actually a contradiction of terms; like an eternity clock or an infinity tape-measure. Jesus can only exist now; and, in existing now, makes now always. Thus, for Mother Teresa the two commandments — to love God and to love our neighbor — are jointly fulfilled; indeed, inseparable.”

“as soon as want and suffering permit rest to a man, ennui is at once so near that he necessarily requires diversion," —i. e., more suffering. Even if the socialist Utopia were attained, innumerable evils would be left, because some of them —like strife — are essential to life; and if every evil were removed, and strife were altogether ended, boredom would become as intolerable as pain.”