A Sense of the Infinite Quotes

“It was no small thing to turn to another human and say, ‘I want to know you,’ with the implied opposite, ‘I want you to know me’.”
― Hilary T. Smith, A Sense of the Infinite

“There’s something haunting about seeing pictures of your friends having a good time without you, even if you were having a good time in parallel, even if you were having the time of your life. Suddenly, you have one memory and your friend has another, and you’ll never be able to say, Remember that time? and never laugh together remembering.”
― Hilary T. Smith, A Sense of the Infinite

“People are like trees,” said Mom. “They need one kind of food when they’re seedlings, and a different kind of food once they’ve been growing for a few years. Maybe you and Noe needed each other in ninth grade in a way you don’t need each other now.”
― Hilary T. Smith, A Sense of the Infinite

“Some friendships ended all at once and some were like Athenian ships, each part slowly replaced over the years until one day, even if you had never left the deck, you couldn’t recognize it anymore. Lately when I talked to Noe I felt like one of the old people who came to the ice-cream shop year after year, even though the soul of the place had long ago drained out of it: they knew it wasn’t the same anymore, but they simply didn’t know where else to go.”
― Hilary T. Smith, A Sense of the Infinite

“I couldn’t tell if it was better to be a person who held on or a person who let go. Maybe it was less about better and worse, and more about which thing you needed to do in order for your plant to grow.”
― Hilary T. Smith, A Sense of the Infinite

“I know. But you don’t understand. I already have all these amazing memories of me and Noe going to college together, and now they’re not even going to happen.”

“Maybe you needed to imagine those things more than you needed to actually do them,” said Ava. “The same way that kids make elaborate plans about running away to desert islands.”
― Hilary T. Smith, A Sense of the Infinite

“Friendship was more than laughing at someone’s jokes. It was more like skinny-dipping: if you cheated and kept a piece of clothing on, you’d never experience the wonder of the water against your bare skin, or be a full participant in the trust that binds naked swimmers to one another.”
― Hilary T. Smith, A Sense of the Infinite

“Annabeth, honey, life keeps on changing. You don’t get one chance at friendship, or one chance at love. Things die. Things grow. It’s hard to see that when you’ve only been around for seventeen years, and you’ve only ever had one of everything, but it’s true.”
― Hilary T. Smith, A Sense of the Infinite