Whalefall Quotes

“Jay's not sure he believes in therapy. He definitely doesn't believe in closure. People aren't doors. They're whole floor plans, entire labyrinths, and the harder you try to escape, the more lost inside them you become.”
― Daniel Kraus, Whalefall

“No one carries the best parts of themselves. The best parts are those held inside of others.”
― Daniel Kraus, Whalefall

“(We are sorry we never asked questions)
(We wanted to know but were afraid)
"Of what?"
(Answers to questions have weight)
(And we wanted to stay light)
(We are sorry)”
― Daniel Kraus, Whalefall

“Seventy percent of the planet is water. Most of that water is deep ocean. The origin of everything. Less than 5 percent of the deep ocean is mapped. Humans know more about Mars. Anything could be down there. Therefore, everything is.”
― Daniel Kraus, Whalefall

“A single life is nothing but a spark. The explosion is everything after death, the generations of reverberation. Every consumed morsel of your body, your wisdom, your kindness, your art, is another bid for perfection, a chance to get it right this time, or next time, or the time after that.”
― Daniel Kraus, Whalefall

“Let me tell you the lesson of this prophet. Truth never outweighs mercy.”
― Daniel Kraus, Whalefall

“Jay didn’t find his dad’s remains.
He is his dad’s remains.
He breathes sleepy at last.”
― daniel kraus, Whalefall

“If you can’t know what’s right in front of you, you can’t know what’s beyond you.”
― Daniel Kraus, Whalefall

“Don’t sons have responsibilities, too? The answer is yes, they do. To hold their fathers accountable.”
― Daniel Kraus, Whalefall

“What always felt brutal to Jay about the natural world now feels like its most elegant design. We all eat each other, like Hewey said. That's why we live forever.”
― Daniel Kraus, Whalefall

“Steinbeck called this ‘the hour of the pearl.’ ” It’s dusk, the dusk of dusk, an unblurred luster.”
― Daniel Kraus, Whalefall

“The simple sharing of hope, its weight not so heavy after all, is a wonder.”
― Daniel Kraus, Whalefall

“There need be no struggle when we are all the same weight.”
― Daniel Kraus, Whalefall

“All this plastic is getting in the way of our animal duty. Which is, we've got to eat each other over and over to keep this carousel turning round.”
― Daniel Kraus, Whalefall

“(There is no fighting when there is no way to win)”
― Daniel Kraus, Whalefall

“Good memories are all around. It only took dying for him to rub the sleep from his eyes and see them clearly again.”
― Daniel Kraus, Whalefall

“(All of our so-called successful men are sick men)”
― Daniel Kraus, Whalefall

“Did you know sailors and angels are homophones in Hebrew?”
― Daniel Kraus, Whalefall

“In all the art Jay’s seen, sperm whales are barges of fat. But when the whale before him curls its fluked tail to the side, muscles larger than Jay pull tight, pinching seams through the blubber. It must be the strongest thing that ever lived, matched only by its unexpected grace. It holds the pose: a comma in a sentence so large only gods can read it.”
― Daniel Kraus, Whalefall

“Mitt’s dying plea, Don’t break my heart, don’t
break my heart, don’t break my heart.
Dad’s whisper, at last, gives Jay permission to do the opposite.
(Break it)”
― Daniel Kraus, Whalefall

“That’s all right. Every hour of the pearl, you realize you’ve lost pages too. More and more pages until”—he whistles—“you’re all gone.”
― Daniel Kraus, Whalefall

“A single life is nothing but a spark. The explosion is everything after death, the generations of reverberation. Every consumed morsel of your body, your wisdom, your kindness, your art, is another bid for perfection, a chance to get it right this time, or next time, or the time after that. There is no death.”
― Daniel Kraus, Whalefall

“But those three people waiting outside are the tones of Jay's voice, the organs in Jay's body.”
― Daniel Kraus, Whalefall

“Jay didn't find his dad's remains. He is his dad's remains.”
― Daniel Kraus, Whalefall

“(We are dying now)
(There is no changing that)
(But you Jay)
(There is strength in you yet)”
― Daniel Kraus, Whalefall

“But regression to gills and fins comes quick. Or is it evolution? Were legs a grand mistake?”
― Daniel Kraus, Whalefall

“What’s the significance of 1,080 versus 4,725 feet per second? The speed of sound in air versus the speed of sound in water. What’s the weight of air inside an eighty-cubic-foot tank? 0.08 × 80 = 6.4. What’s the weight density differential between seawater and fresh? (64 [sea] ÷ 62.4 [fresh] − 1) × 100 = 2.5%.”
― Daniel Kraus, Whalefall

“Principles: a nifty excuse for being an asshole.”
― Daniel Kraus, Whalefall

“Witnessing is of limited value when there’s no one to read the chronicle. Unless the story becomes its own teller, scribed through DNA, surfacing in Nan’s and Eva’s children, some knowledge in their guts of things sowed and reaped, lost and gained.”
― Daniel Kraus, Whalefall

“If you can’t know what’s right in front of you”
― Daniel Kraus, Whalefall