“Everybody has strange things that mean things to them. You couldn't help it.”

— Ernest Hemingway , book The Garden of Eden

Source: The Garden of Eden

Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Ernest Hemingway 501

American author and journalist 1899–1961

Lori Lansens book The Girls

Source: The Girls

“The strange thing was, he wanted to like everyone. He just couldn't find a way to do it.”

David Guterson book Snow Falling on Cedars

Source: Snow Falling on Cedars

“You go up to a man, and you say, ‘How are things going, Joe?’ And he says, ‘Oh fine, fine—couldn’t be better.’ And you look into his eyes, and you see things really couldn’t be much worse. When you get right down to it, everybody’s having a perfectly lousy time of it, and I mean everybody. And the hell of it is, nothing seems to help much.”

Kurt Vonnegut book The Sirens of Titan

Source: The Sirens of Titan (1959), Chapter 3 “United Hotcake Preferred” (p. 69)

“And these are the kind of things that I think everybody ought to be doing. Helping others.”

Randy Pausch book The Last Lecture

The Last Lecture (2007)
Context: My dad was so full of life, anything with him was an adventure. [Shows picture of his Dad holding a brown paper bag] I don’t know what’s in that bag, but I know it’s cool. My dad dressed up as Santa Claus, but he also did very, very significant things to help lots of people. This is a dormitory in Thailand that my mom and dad underwrote. And every year about 30 students get to go to school who wouldn’t have otherwise. This is something my wife and I have also been involved in heavily. And these are the kind of things that I think everybody ought to be doing. Helping others.