Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

by Gabrielle Zevin

It was only when he was alone and he couldn’t participate in the business of living that he tended to notice how lovely being alive was.

But Sadie knew it was easy to get addicted to the taste of your own carnage.

It isn’t a sadness, but a joy, that we don’t do the same things for the length of our lives.”

“ ‘Zweisamkeit’ is the feeling of being alone even when you’re with other people.” Simon turned to look in his husband’s eyes. “Before I met you, I felt this constantly. I felt it with my family, my friends, and every boyfriend I ever had. I felt it so often that I thought this was the nature of living. To be alive was to accept that you were fundamentally alone.”

“The boredom you speak of,” Alabaster said. “It is what most of us call happiness.”

The length of time it had taken Dong Hyun to die also meant he had said everything he wanted to say to Sam, his cousins, and his grandmother. Was this trade worth his suffering? Sam didn’t know.