Just be patient, she told herself, and with the mounting pages, the strength of her writing fist grew.
***A Last note from your narrator*** I am haunted by humans.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects the complexities of human nature and the deep emotional impact humans have on each other.
Markus Zusak's quote, 'I am haunted by humans,' captures the profound and often troubling influence that human actions, emotions, and memories exert upon us. It suggests that our interactions and the stories we share leave lasting impressions, both beautiful and painful, that shape our understanding of life and our place within it. The notion of being 'haunted' implies a lingering presence of these experiences, indicating that they continue to resonate and affect us long after the moment has passed, illustrating the weight of human connection and experience.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the impact of literature, I could use this quote to emphasize how stories can haunt us.
More from Markus Zusak
All quotes βIt felt as though the whole globe was dressed in snow. Like it has pulled it on, the way you pull on a sweater. Next to the train line, footprints were sunken to their shins. Trees wore blankets of ice. As you may expect, someone has died.
Because you don't learn anything unless you can find the patience to read. TV takes that away from you. It robs you from your mind.
Or had she always loved him? It's likely. Restricted as she was from speaking, she wanted him to kiss her. She wanted him to drag her hand across and pull her over. It didn't matter where. Her mouth, her neck, her cheek. Her skin was empty for it, waiting.
I think it's a mistake to think, 'Am I going to write a young adult book, or do I desperately want to write a book for adults?' I think the better ambition is to try to write someone's favorite book, because those categorizations of adult, young adult, become kind of superfluous.
I could introduce myself properly, but it's not really necessary. You will know me well enough and soon enough, depending on a diverse range of variables. It suffices to say that at some point in time, I will be standing over you, as genially as possible. Your soul will be in my arms. A color will be perched on my shoulder. I will carry you gently away.
Similar quotes
I think if we wish to live in any kind of a moral universe, we must hold the perpetrators of violence responsible for the violence they perpetrate. It's very simple. The criminal is responsible for the crime.
Everything is good as it comes from the hands of the Maker of the world, but degenerates once it gets into the hands of man
[Buddhism and Christianity] are in one sense parallel and equal; as a mound and a hollow, as a valley and a hill. There is a sense in which that sublime despair is the only alternative to that divine audacity. It is even true that the truly spiritual and intellectual man sees it as sort of dilemma; a very hard and terrible choice. There is little else on earth that can compare with these for completeness. And he who does not climb the mountain of Christ does indeed fall into the abyss of Buddha.
We cannot have peace if we are only concerned with peace. War is not an accident. It is the logical outcome of a certain way of life. If we want to attack war, we have to attack that way of life.
The only certainty is that nothing is certain.
Satan promises the best, but pays with the worst; he promises honor, and pays with disgrace; he promises pleasure, and pays with pain; he promises profit, and pays with loss, he promises life, and pays with death. But God pays as he promises; all his payments are made in pure gold.