Of course, sweetie," his mom said. "We'll be here all day. You just come down whenever you want and we love you and you're so so special, Colin, and you can't possibly let this girl make you think otherwise because you are the most magnificent, brilliant boy-" And right then, the most special, magnificent, brilliant boy bolted into his bathroom and puked his guts out. An explosion, sort of.
Interpretation
This quote highlights the unconditional love and support of a mother while illustrating a moment of emotional distress in her son.
In this quote from John Green, a mother reassures her son, Colin, of his worth and magnificence despite his struggles with self-doubt arising from a girl. The juxtaposition of her loving words with Colin's overwhelming emotions, leading to his physical reaction, underscores the complex interplay between parental love and adolescent challenges. It reflects the themes of love, acceptance, and the harsh realities of growing up, where even the most confident affirmations can be shattered by personal insecurities.
In practice
This quote can be used in a speech about the importance of parental support.
Always' was a promise! How can you just break the promise?" "Sometimes people don't always understand the promises they're making when they make them," I said. Isaac shot me a look. "Right, of course. But you keep the promise anyway. That's what love is. Love is keeping the promise anyway. Don't you believe in true love?" I didn't answer. I didn't have an answer. But I thought that if true love did exist, that was a pretty good definition of it.
Augustus Waters was the great star-crossed love of my life. Ours was an epic love story, and I won’t be able to get more than a sentence into it without disappearing into a puddle of tears. Gus knew. Gus knows. I will not tell you our love story, because—like all real love stories—it will die with us, as it should.
I find it really offensive when people say that the emotional experiences of teenagers are less real or less important than those of adults. I am an adult, and I used to be a teenager, and so I can tell you with some authority that my feelings then were as real as my feelings are now.
I don't think pandemics make us afraid of death, I think they make us afraid of oblivion. They force us to grapple with the futility of effort. Also they make us barf which isn't fun either... Wash your hands, cover your coughs, and find a way to hold in balance the futility of effort with the necessity to struggle.
So often we try to make other people feel better by minimizing their pain, by telling them that it will get better (which it will) or that there are worse things in the world (which there are). But that's not what I actually needed. What I actually needed was for someone to tell me that it hurt because it mattered. I have found this very useful to think about over the years, and I find that it is a lot easier and more bearable to be sad when you aren't constantly berating yourself for being sad.
We kiss. Her hands are freezing on my face, and she tastes like coffee and the smell of the onion is still stuck in my nose, and my lips are all dry from the endless winter. And it's awesome.
Love is the force that transforms and improves the Soul of the World.
If one wishes to know love, one must live love, in action.
There is always something left to love.
Happiness is in your ability to love others.
Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever.
Marry somebody you love and who thinks you being a writer's a good idea.
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