The Great Believers

by Rebecca Makkai

“This is the American habit,” Serge said to Richard. “You exaggerate.”

“Emails,” he said. “Did you ever think we’d be so buried under mountains of these things?”

“This disease has magnified all our mistakes. Some stupid thing you did when you were nineteen, the one time you weren’t careful. And it turns out that was the most important day of your life.

The point is, you have to take care of the people you love.”

Roman said, “When you think a specific bad thing is going to happen, it never does. I don’t mean like if you think it looks like rain it won’t rain, but like if you think your plane will crash, it won’t.” Yale shook his head. “I want to live in your world. Doom is beautiful, and you can control your fate.”

Asher had one of those “GAY $” stamps and a pad of red ink in his center ashtray, and Yale wondered if he was still stamping all his money.

Asher & I would’ve been best friends

Asher said, “I think that’s the saddest thing in the world, the failure of love. Not hatred, but the failure of love.”

“If we could just be on earth at the same place and same time as everyone we loved, if we could be born together and die together, it would be so simple. And it’s not. But listen: You two are on the planet at the same time. You’re in the same place now. That’s a miracle. I just want to say that.”