Heart Quote by Jonathan Safran Foer
““She told him of ship voyages she had taken to places he had never heard of, and stories he knew were all untrue, were bad not-truths, even, but he nodded, and tried to convince himself to be convinced, tried to believe her, because he knew that the origin of the story is always an absence and he wanted to live among presences.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Jonathan Safran Foer, 2005
The narrator seeks authenticity in stories, confronting falsehoods while yearning for genuine experience.
In simple terms: He wants real presence, not empty tales.
Key Takeaway
Embrace truth, question narratives.
Themes
authenticity
storytelling
perception
truth
presence
Mood
reflective
melancholic
thoughtful
Type
literary
philosophical
reflective
When to use this quote
- reading literature
- personal reflection
- building trust
- evaluating information
- seeking meaning
Key Concepts
existentialism
narrative reliability
psychology
Questions to Reflect On
- What does “absence” mean to you?
- How do you balance truth and imagination?
A Different Perspective
The desire for presence may overlook the value of imagination and myth.
![“[My friend and I] decided, we'll go to Corsicana, and we'll see what the people in Corsicana say. ... We just started meeting people and talking to them, and the more I heard the stories, the more red flags kept popping up. There was this disconnect between this person [Todd Willingham] that I'm…” quote by Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/92b/elizabeth-gilbert-131_court_my-friend-and-i-decided-we-ll-go-to-cors_425440.jpg)
