But your book is wrong, Mrs. Strunk, says George, when it tells you that Jim is the substitute I found for a real son, a real kid brother, a real husband, a real wife. Jim wasn't a substitute for anything. And there is no substitute for Jim, if you'll forgive my saying so, anywhere.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the uniqueness and irreplaceability of an individual in relationships.
In this quote, the speaker, George, expresses a deep connection to Jim, asserting that Jim should not be viewed as a mere substitute for familial or spousal roles. Rather, he underscores the importance of acknowledging Jim as an irreplaceable individual, highlighting the profound bond that exists in genuine relationships and the deep emotional attachments that cannot be substituted or replicated.
In practice
During a heartfelt speech at a wedding, someone might use this quote to express the significance of the bride and groom in each other's lives.
The more I think about myself, the more I'm persuaded that, as a person, I really don't exist. That is one of the reasons why I can't believe in any orthodox religion: I cannot believe in my own soul. No, I am a chemical compound, conditioned by environment and education. My "character" is simply a repertoire of acquired tricks, my conversation a repertoire of adaptations and echoes, my "feelings" are dictated by purely physical, external stimuli.
A minority is only thought of as a minority when it constitutes some kind of threat to the majority, real or imaginary. And no threat is ever quite imaginary.
What’s so phony nowadays is all this familiarity. Pretending there isn’t any difference between people —well, like you were saying about minorities, this morning. If you and I are no different, what do we have to give each other? How can we ever be friends?
I'm like a book you have to read. A book can't read itself to you. It doesn't even know what it's about. I don't know what I'm about.
The paternalist is a sentimentalist at heart, and the sentimentalist is always potentially cruel.
I am a camera, with its shutter open. Someday, all of this will be developed, printed, fixed.
Now I'm starting to think he wasn't supposed to be my whole life, he was just this doorway to me.
Once the love bug wears off, as it inevitably does, you are shocked to discover that you really didn't know the object of your affections at all. We know this to be so, even as we repeat the same mistake over and over and over.
A very long time ago, Grandmother had wanted to tell about all the things they did, but no one had bothered to ask. And now she had lost the urge.
Since desire always goes towards that which is our direct opposite, it forces us to love that which will make us suffer.
That was part of her, and you used to know it. It's like now you only care about the Alaska you made up.
I wanted to give people that feeling of wanting to hug the TV and just admit that you're unhappy.
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