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If I’d been someone else in a different world I’d’ve done something different, but I was myself and the world was the world, so I was silent.

Jonathan Safran Foer

Isn’t it strange how upset people get about a few dozen baseball players taking growth hormones, when we’re doing what we’re doing to our food animals and feeding them to our children?
JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER

Children Food Growth Ourselves People Strange Upset
Every moment before this one depends on this one.
JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER

Depend Moments Oneself
She had fallen in love so many times that she began to suspect she was not falling in love at all, but doing something much more ordinary.
JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER

Beginning Fall In Love Herself Ordinary Time
Food serves two parallel purposes: it nourishes and it helps you remember. Eating and storytelling are inseparable-the saltwater is also tears; the honey not only tastes sweet, but makes us think of sweetness; the matzo is the bread of our affliction.
JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER

Food Help Honey Nourish Ourselves Purpose Remember Serve Tears
I am sure people tell you this constantly but if you looked up ‘incredibly beautiful’ in the dictionary there would be a picture of you.
JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER

Dictionary People Photograph Yourself
And she would say, “Today you believe in God?” And he would say, “Today I believe in love”.
JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER

Believe God Love Myself
It was not the feeling of completeness I so needed, but the feeling of not being empty.
JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER

Complete Empty Feeling Myself Need
Of course food has an important cultural use in families, but there are things that have more important cultural uses in families, and broadening the conversation out simply from what’s reasonable also allows in other things.
JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER

Allow Conversation Culture Family Food Important Reason Simplicity
I have no need for the past, I thought, like a child. I did not consider that the past might have a need for me.
JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER

Children Myself Need Past
I can only hold on to the things I want to lose.
JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER

Hold On Lose Myself
Time was passing like a hand waving from a train that I wanted to be on.
JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER

Hand Myself Time Training
There were things I wanted to tell him. But I knew they would hurt him. So I buried them, and let them hurt me.
JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER

Bury Communication Hide Himself Hurt Myself Word
When I looked at you, my life made sense. Even the bad things made sense. They were necessary to make you possible.
JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER

Life Love Necessary Possible Yourself
Being with him made my brain quiet. I didn’t have to invent a thing.
JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER

Brain Invention Myself Quiet
It’s so beautiful at this hour. The sun is low, the shadows are long, the air is cold and clean. You won’t be awake for another five hours, but I can’t help feeling that we’re sharing this clear and beautiful morning.
JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER

Beautiful Cleaning Feeling Help Low Morning Myself Shadow Sun
Memory was supposed to fill the time, but it made time a hole to be filled.
JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER

Fill Memories Time
Why didn’t I learn to treat everything like it was the last time. My greatest regret was how much I believed in the future.
JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER

Believe Future Greatness Learning Time Treat
I think and think and think, I‘ve thought myself out of happiness one million times, but never once into it.
JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER

Happiness Myself Thinking Time
She was with me. She did all of those things and so many more, things I would never tell anyone, and she never even loved me. Now that’s love.
JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER

Herself Love Myself Togetherness
Do you eat chicken because you are familiar with the scientific literature on them and have decided that their suffering doesn’t matter, or do you do it because it tastes good?
JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER

Decision Eat Goodness Literature Suffering Taste Yourself
I felt shame for living in a nation of unprecedented prosperity-a nation that spends a smaller percentage of income on food than any other civilization has in human history-but in the name of affordability treats the animals it eats with cruelty so extreme it would be illegal if inflicted on a dog.
JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER

Animal Civilization Dog Feeling Illegal Name Nation Prosperity Shame Treat
She wanted more, more slang, more figures of speech, the bee’s knees, the cats pajamas, horse of a different color, dog-tired, she wanted to talk like she was born here, like she never came from anywhere else
JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER

Animal Born Color Different Herself
Sadness of not knowing enough words to [express what you mean].
JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER

Enough Expression One Liner Sadness Word
You can call your turkey organic and torture it daily.
JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER

Call Organic Yourself
As long as I am thinking, I am alive.
JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER

Alive Myself Thinking
Not responding is a response–we are equally responsible for what we don’t do. In the case of animal slaughter, to throw your hands in the air is to wrap your fingers around a knife handle.
JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER

Equality Fingers Respond Responsibility Throw Yourself
But I believe that things are extremely complicated, and her looking over me was as complicated as anything could ever be. But it was also incredibly simple.
JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER

Believe Complication Myself Simplicity

If I’d been someone else in a different world I’d’ve done something different, but I was myself and the world was the world, so I was silent.

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If I’d been someone else in a different world I’d’ve done something different, but I was myself and the world was the world, so I was silent.

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Popular Authors

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