North River Quotes

“The cause of death was always life. Across many years now, he had comforted people he knew would soon die. He hoped his consoling whispers would do them no harm. He hoped too that he could reduce their immediate pain. But he could not carry them around in his head like luggage. He had to examine with all the intensity he could muster, do what he could, avoid harm, and then forget them.”
― Pete Hamill, North River

“One thing I learned in this world? Things don't last. People say they do. They don't. Your friends, they die. The wars go on and on and on, then they end. People say they will love each other for the rest of their lives, and they don't.”
― Pete Hamill, North River

“The painting was food. He wanted to caress it, hold it in his hands, lick its glazed surface, plunge into it, dive into the Florentine light. Years vanished, decades were erased, and he was again the boy who had come here to the feast of art.”
― Pete Hamill, North River

“How does the brain wire words? Why do the Swiss manage three languages, while most Americans have trouble with one?”
― Pete Hamill, North River