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Buddhism Quote by John Green

“eveything that comes together, falls apart," the Old Man said. "Everything. the chair I'm sitting on. It was built, and so it will fall apart. I'm gonna fall apart, probably before this chair. And you're gonna fall apart. the cells and organs and systems that make you you - they came together…” quote by John Green
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““eveything that comes together, falls apart," the Old Man said. "Everything. the chair I'm sitting on. It was built, and so it will fall apart. I'm gonna fall apart, probably before this chair. And you're gonna fall apart. the cells and organs and systems that make you you - they came together, grew together and so must fall apart. the buddha knew one thing that science didn't prove for millenia after his dead: entropy increases. Things fall apart." We are all going, I thought, and it applies to turtles and turtlenecks, Alaska the girl and Alaska the place, because nothing can last, not even the earth itself. The buddah said that suffering was caused by desire, we'd learned, and that the cessation of desire meant the cessation of suffering. when you stopped wishing things wouldn't fall apart, you'd stop suffering when they did. Some day no one will remember that she ever existed, i wrote in my notebook, and then, or that I did. Because memories fall apart too. And then you're left with nothing, left not even with a ghost, but with its shadow. In the beginning, she had haunted me, haunted my dreams, but even now, just weeks later, she was slipping away, falling apart in my memory and everyone else's, dying away. (...) I'd tasted her boozy breath. and then something invisible snapped inside her and that which had come together commenced to fall apart. And maybe that was the only asnwer we'd ever have. She fell apart because that's what happens.””

John Green

About This Quote

Source Novel: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, 2012

Everything that is assembled inevitably decays; recognizing this can lessen suffering caused by attachment.

In simple terms: All things fall apart; accept it to reduce pain.

Key Takeaway

Accept impermanence, lessen desire.

Themes

impermanence attachment suffering entropy

Mood

melancholic reflective

Type

philosophical literary existential

When to use this quote

  • grief processing
  • relationship loss
  • personal reflection
  • mindfulness practice

Key Concepts

Buddhist philosophy entropy psychology

Questions to Reflect On

  • How does recognizing impermanence change your response to loss?
  • Can desire be fully extinguished?
A Different Perspective

Desire may still cause pain even when accepting impermanence.

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