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41 " I had lost too much of the heart and all the faith needed to stay afloat in a job where every human encounter felt like an anvil strung around my neck just when I thought I was nearing the shore. "
― Dinaw Mengestu , All Our Names
42 " For the first time in my life, every day when I woke up I had clean clothes, and something to eat two, three times a day, as much as I wanted. Once I had that, I realized my revolution was over. "
43 " As far as I could tell, no one had noticed us. I thought this was what it felt like to be invisible, but when I subtracted Isaac I realized that, until he came along, this was how I had always felt. Not invisible, but a natural part of the background, entitled to all the privileges that came with ownership. "
44 " I was reminded that without him I made an impact on no one. I was seen, and perhaps occasionally heard, strictly by strangers, and always in passing. I was a much poorer man for this than I had ever thought. "
45 " They stared at me, at Isaac, and then at the floor rather than at each other, as if they had long since come to terms with the fact that on any given evening men could burst into their house and do something terrible to them. There's no honest measure for the toll that sort of knowledge takes, whether the scale is the breadth of a single room or an entire city. "
46 " Perhaps she thought, this was the way everything in America actually was- all smoke and mirrors, with only illusions of grandeur. "
― Dinaw Mengestu , How to Read the Air
47 " There is nothing more restless than men in power. "
48 " Have you seen a hungry man with a gun? Of course not. Such things don't exist. It's like saying, have you ever seen a hungry lion? Of course not, because as soon as you did he wouldn't be hungry anymore. The men here with guns are the same. They can shoot, arrest, kill anyone they want. They've done it many times before. If a soldier sees you there's nothing I can do to help. Not even God will save a fool. "
― Dinaw Mengestu
49 " Между тези стъпала и магазина ми има приблизително 883 стъпки. Разстояние, което мога да пробягам за десетина секунди или да измина бавно за по-малко от минута. Първата и последната крачка винаги са най-трудните. Тръгваме си и се опитваме да не се обръщаме назад, или връщайки се, застиваме нерешително на прага, ужасени от това, което ни очаква. По средата залитаме слепешком от едно място на друго и от един живот в друг. Стараем се да даваме най-доброто от себе си. Но има моменти като този, когато нито идваме, нито си отиваме; и можем само да седнем и да погледнем назад към онова, което сме преживели. "
― Dinaw Mengestu , The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears
50 " какво ли би казал баща ми? Птица, заседнала между два клона, наранява и двете си крила. Бих добавил своята мисъл към списъка, тате: човек, заседнал между два свята, живее и умира самотен. Бях протакъл и бях висял по средата достатъчно дълго. "