How to Tell Toledo from the Night Sky Quotes

“Why do some people fall in love each other and other don't? What is love? Its so, so stupid. Right up until its real. And then its the most important thing in the world, whether you believe in it or not.”
― Lydia Netzer, How to Tell Toledo from the Night Sky

“This is a love story about astronomy, he thought. Twin souls collide and love each other forever. And no one ever goes crazy. And no one ever dies. And the universe folds back on itself and clicks into place, and the pylons holding up the electrical wires are really trees. And the trees are really gods.”
― Lydia Netzer, How to Tell Toledo from the Night Sky

“Sleep is a shallow death we practice every night.”
― Lydia Netzer, How to Tell Toledo from the Night Sky

“Sometimes you just have to keep away from the things that are trying to kill you, even if they're the same thing that gave birth to you. Sometimes those two things are the same, and their name is mother.”
― Lydia Netzer, How to Tell Toledo from the Night Sky

“Who cares if it's dangerous? Who wants to be the person who doesn't touch two bells together to make a sound, who doesn't hit a baseball with a bat, doesn't grind and orange against a knife. In life, there is only collision to keep us from dissolution, and there is only love to keep us from death. In this bumping into that, there is salvation and sacrament, an end to the endless falling, a wall between us and oblivion.”
― Lydia Netzer, How to Tell Toledo from the Night Sky

“It’s more like every electron in every atom in the universe paused, breathed in deeply, assessed the situation, and then reversed its course, spinning backward, or the other way, which was the right way all along. And afterward, the universe was exactly the same, but infinitely more right.”
― Lydia Netzer, How to Tell Toledo from the Night Sky

“As if it would slide off their brains at an angle, leaving a scuff mark.”
― Lydia Netzer, How to Tell Toledo from the Night Sky

“Maybe some people don't feel scared when they think about comets and supernovas. Maybe they think it is wonderful.”
― Lydia Netzer, How to Tell Toledo from the Night Sky

“Do we know her, Mother?" said George.
"What? No, of course we don't."
"Because when I see her," he went on, as if she hadn't answered no, "I don't miss anyone. I just feel happy that she's near.”
― Lydia Netzer, How to Tell Toledo from the Night Sky

“They were probably fifty feet away from each other. How far is fifty feet? To the top of the tallest tree? From one lip of a volcano to the other? As far as a man can go in ten seconds, striding briskly? As far as a man can go in five seconds, falling over himself in enthusiasm?”
― Lydia Netzer, How to Tell Toledo from the Night Sky

“I love you," said George.
"I love you, too," said Irene.
"I'm glad you said that," said George. "I wasn't sure you would."
"Yes, it's been five whole days since we met. What a holdout I am. You've been through such endless torments," she teased.
"I have," said George. "I thought I would never find you.”
― Lydia Netzer, How to Tell Toledo from the Night Sky

“There is no reason to believe that stars and planets or their movement could have any influence whatsoever on the lives of human beings or the countries of the earth. Neither is there any empirical evidence to show that true love is anything but a construct created by humans to solidify a family unit based on monogamy and a strong, diverse lineage for the species. No evidence of any true god. And yet we watch the stars, we fall in love, we pray. Therefore scholars of astrology, love, and religion have been forced to accept that something can be real, even if it is not true.”
― Lydia Netzer, How to Tell Toledo from the Night Sky

“His motto was Scientia vincere tenebras, or “Conquering the darkness through science,”
― Lydia Netzer, How to Tell Toledo from the Night Sky

“I will never forget the asymmetry of your eyes. it is transformative symmetry. it is the best symmetry. It is the symmetry that is beauty.”
― Lydia Netzer, How to Tell Toledo from the Night Sky