I mean, it's like we all get our raw materials from our families―but it's up to us whether we build bridges or bombs.
Neal ShustermanRead
Which is worse, Risa often wondered, to have tens of thousands of babies that no one wanted or to silently make then go away before they were even born
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the moral dilemma of existence and the value of human life before it's fully realized.
In this quote, Neal Shusterman explores the ethical implications of existence and choice regarding life. It poses a profound question about the ramifications of bringing life into the world and the moral burden of unwanted lives, suggesting a deep internal conflict about the value and recognition of those lives before they have a chance to exist fully.
Themes
LifeExistenceValueMoralityEthics
In practice
Example use cases
In a panel discussion on ethical dilemmas in medicine, this quote could be cited to emphasize the gravity of making choices about life.
More from Neal Shusterman
All quotes →Either things happen for a reason, or they happen for no reason at all. Either one's life is a thread in a glorious tapestry or humanity is just a hopelessly tangled knot.
Neal ShustermanRead
Unwinds didn't go out with a bang-they didn't even go out with a whimper. they went out with the silence of a candle flame pinched between two fingers.
Neal ShustermanRead
She smiles at them as they go by and continues to play, making it clear that this furnace of a place, full of planes that cannot fly, is more than it seems. It is a womb of redemption for every Unwind, and fora ll those who fought the Heartland War and lost - which was everybody.
Neal ShustermanRead
Words don't hurt you." Which is one of the hugest criminal lies perpetrated by adults against children in this world. Because words hurt more than any physical pain.
Neal ShustermanRead
They say you never know who's the real hero and who's the real coward until you're looking death in the face. I've always been afraid of plenty of things, but fear isn't what makes you a coward. It's how depraved your heart becomes when fear gets pumped through it.
Neal ShustermanRead
Similar quotes
I think the tragic feeling is invoked in us when we are in the presence of a character who is ready to lay down his life, if need be, to secure one thing -- his sense of personal dignity.
Arthur MillerRead
Part of the function of memory is to forget; the omni-retentive mind will break down and produce at best an idiot savant who can recite a telephone book, and at worst a person to whom every grudge and slight is as yesterday's.
Christopher HitchensRead
But it does make me sad that we've forgotten our names. Out of everything, this seems to me the most tragic. I miss my own and I mourn for everyone else's, because I'd like to love them, but I don't know who they are.
Isaac MarionRead
God himself does not give answers. He gives himself.
Frederick BuechnerRead
I want to be identified with the negro; until he gets his rights, we shall never have ours.
Angelina GrimkeRead
Everyone must believe in something. I believe I'll go canoeing.
Henry David ThoreauRead