We aren't the things we collect, acquire, read. We are, for as long as we are here, only love. The things we loved. The people we loved. And these, I think these really do live on.
Gabrielle ZevinRead
It’s difficult to ever go back to the same places or people. You turn away, even for a moment, and when you turn back around, everything’s changed.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Change is inevitable, and returning to the past often reveals how much has transformed.
This quote reflects on the nature of change and our experiences as we navigate life. It highlights that even brief absences from familiar places or people can lead to a perception of significant alteration, underscoring the fluidity of life and the inevitability that things will not remain static.
Themes
ChangeTransformationRelationshipsTimeLife
In practice
Example use cases
During a graduation speech to reflect on how everyone has grown apart.
More from Gabrielle Zevin
All quotes →As many have discovered, it is entirely possible (although not particularly desirable) to love two people with all your heart. It is entirely possible to long for two lives, to feel that one life can't come close to containing it all.
Gabrielle ZevinRead
On, there are so many lives. How we wish we could live them concurrently instead of one by one by one. We could select the best pieces of each, stringing them together like a strand of pearls. But that's not how it works. A human life is a beautiful mess.
Gabrielle ZevinRead
I wish I could tell you to always follow your heart, but I think it is bad advice. You have a heart, yes, it is true, but also a brain and also a soul. I've come to believe that we love with our brains as much as our hearts. Real Love is not just instinct, but intent...... From year to year, you may not always be the same Jane. This is perfectly normal. A Jane is many Janes in a lifetime.
Gabrielle ZevinRead
There is no difference in quality between a life lived forward and a life lived backwards, she thinks. She had come to love this backward life. It was, after all, the only life she had.
Gabrielle ZevinRead
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