Normal, in our house, is like a blanket too short for a bed--sometimes it covers you just fine, and other times it leaves you cold and shaking; and worst of all, you never know which of the two it's going to be.
Jodi PicoultRead
Whether it was power they sought, or revenge, or love-well, those were all just different forms of hunger. The bigger the hole inside you, the more desperate you became to fill it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that desires like power, revenge, and love stem from an inner emptiness or need.
Jodi Picoult's quote reflects on the nature of human desires, proposing that they are often driven by an inner void. The metaphor of hunger emphasizes how different pursuits, whether they are for power, revenge, or love, can originate from a deeper sense of lack or emptiness within an individual. Instead of seeing these desires as standalone goals, the quote invites reflection on the internal struggles that drive these pursuits.
Themes
HungerDesireEmptinessPowerRevengeLove
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about personal growth and fulfillment, you could quote this to illustrate the need for self-awareness.
More from Jodi Picoult
All quotes →she told me she'd be a phoenix." The image of the mythical creature rising from the ashes glitters in my mind. "They don't really exist." "She said that depends on whether or not there's someone who can see them.
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for 100,000 (dollars), you [can] flatten a house with a wrecking ball. Imagine how much less it [takes] to destroy something than it [does] to build it in the first place.
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But if you seek forgiveness, doesn't that automatically mean you cannot be a monster? By definition, doesn't that desperation make you human again?
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when you [lose someone], it feels like the hole in your gum when a tooth falls out. You can chew, you can eat, you have plenty of other teeth, but your tongue keeps going back to that empty place, where all nerves are still a little raw
Jodi PicoultRead
But what if your obsession has nothing to do with drugs or thrills or money? What if what you want most in the world is to recapture the way life was a week, a month, a year ago-and you are willing to do whatever it takes?
Jodi PicoultRead
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