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People took what they wanted, they clutched at coincidences, the few there were, and made a life from them. . . . Choices are made in brief seconds and paid for in the time that remains.
Paolo Giordano
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Our lives are shaped by the choices we make and the coincidences we seize.

This quote reflects on the nature of existence, suggesting that life is a tapestry woven from brief choices and unforeseen events. It emphasizes the idea that people often grab onto fleeting moments and coincidences to create their narratives, highlighting the importance of decision-making in shaping the course of our lives.

Themes

ChoicesCoincidencesLifeDecisionsNarrative

In practice

Example use cases

During a motivational speech about embracing spontaneity.

More from Paolo Giordano

They lived the slow and invisible interpenetration of their universes, like two stars gravitating around a common axis, in ever tighter orbits, whose clear destiny is to coalesce at some point in space and time.
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All Mattia saw was a shadow moving toward him. He instinctively closed his eyes and then felt Alice’s hot mouth on his, her tears on his cheek, or maybe they weren’t hers, and finally her hands, so light, holding his head still and catching all his thoughts and imprisoning them there, in the space that no longer existed between them.
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In fact, they didn't talk much at all, but they spent time together, each in his own abyss, held safe and tight by the other's silence.
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Mattia was right: the days had slipped over her skin like a solvent, one after the other, each removing a very thin layer of pigment from her tattoo, and from both of their memories. The outlines, like the circumstances, were still there, black and well delineated, but the colors had merged together until they faded into a dull, uniform tonality, a neutral absence of meaning.
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You'll get used to it. In the end you won't even notice it anymore," he said. "How is that possible? It will always be there, right before my eyes." "Exactly," said Mattia. "Which is precisely why you won't see it anymore.
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