Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Tayari Jones

Quote by Tayari Jones

“Yes," she said, but she seemed confused. "I never thought you did it. I know who I married." "Georgia," I said. "I know who I married, too. You're in me. When I touch you, your flesh communicates with my bones. You think I can't feel how sad you are?" "I'm scared," she said, her fingers transmitting a miserable willingness. "It's hard to start over.”

Quote by Tayari Jones

Work

An American Marriage

Browse quotes and source details for this work. more

Author

Tayari Jones
Tayari Jones

Tayari Jones is an American author born on November 30, 1970. Her works primarily focus on the lives of African American women, particularly those facing challenges related to race, class, and gender. Jones is celebrated for her deep character development and emotional expression in her writing. more

You May Also Like

“In truth, Thomas was being a faithful disciple of Jesus, who warned His disciples that “many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah!’ and they will lead many astray” (Matt. 24:5). Indeed, Jesus affirms those who believe without seeing because such belief takes great faith. But that in no way suggests we should ignore evidence when it is available, as though doing so makes us more faithful. This impulse, combined with an often uncritical biblicism, not only neglects God’s command to love him with our minds, but leads us into unnecessary divisiveness and shallow literalism that blinds us to the deeper truth of Scripture. Therefore, during this process of self-emptying, we must be aware of and honest with our uncertainties. While we should never throw around our doubt with rebellious defiance, neither should we view our genuine questions and uncertainties as liabilities. Sometimes allowing ourselves to question deeply held beliefs opens us up to discovering that we were, in fact, in error, offering us the opportunity for more faithful understanding. Other times we discover that our fears are unfounded, returning to our former beliefs without doubt, yet stronger for it.”

“Control seems preferable to what we typically think of as its opposite--chaos. But I want to suggest that the opposite of control is not chaos. It is trust, and trust is far preferable to control. We want to control because we fear the outcome of letting God be in control. We fear we won't be taken care of, won't have what we need, or will be taken advantage of. But trying to be in control is futile, because in reality there is very little that we can control.”