Helene Wecker > Quotes

“Sometimes men want what they don't have because they don't have it. Even if everyone offered to share, they would only want the share that wasn't theirs.”
― Helene Wecker, The Golem and the Jinni

“All of us are lonely at some point or another, no matter how any people surround us. And then, we meet someone who seems to understand. She smiles, and for a moment the loneliness disappears.”
― Helene Wecker, The Golem and the Jinni

“A man might desire something for a moment, while a larger part of him rejects it. You'll need to learn to judge people by their actions, not their thoughts.”
― Helene Wecker, The Golem and the Jinni

“Faith is believing in something even without proof, because you know it in your heart to be true.”
― Helene Wecker, The Golem and the Jinni

“The human body is like a piece of fabric. No matter how well one cares for it, it frays as it ages.”
― Helene Wecker, The Golem and the Jinni

“And perhaps the humans did create their God. But does that make him less real? Take this arch. They created it. Now it exists.”
― Helene Wecker, The Golem and the Jinni

“They’d need no reason!” shouted Arbeely. “Why can’t you understand? Men need no reason to cause mischief, only an excuse!”
― Helene Wecker, The Golem and the Jinni

“Chava," he said, "it's a cruel irony that you have the most difficulty precisely when those around you are on their best behavior. I suspect you would find it much easier if we all cast politeness aside, and took whatever we pleased."
She considered. "It would be easier, at first. But then you might hurt each other to gain your wishes, and grow afraid of each other, and still go on wanting.”
― Helene Wecker, The Golem and the Jinni

“If the act of love is so dangerous, why do people risk so much for it?”
― Helene Wecker, The Golem and the Jinni

“He'd lived so long in anticipation of his own death that to contemplate his future was like standing at the edge of a cliff, staring into a vertiginous rush of open sky.”
― Helene Wecker, The Golem and the Jinni

“I trust you above all others", he told her. "Above myself". She shook her head, but then leaned into him, as though taking shelter. He drew her close, the crown of her head beneath his cheek. Beyond the hansom's window, New York was an endless rhythm of walls and windows and doors, darkened alleys, flashes of sunlight. he thought, if he could pick a moment to be taken into the flask, a moment to live in endlessly, perhaps he would choose this one: the passing city, and the woman at his side.”
― Helene Wecker, The Golem and the Jinni

“On a cloudless night, inky dark, with only a rind of a moon above, the Golem and the Jinni went walking together along the Prince Street rooftops.”
― Helene Wecker, The Golem and the Jinni

“All of us are lonely at some point or another, no matter how many people surround us. And then, we meet someone who seems to understand. She smiles, and for a moment the loneliness disappears. Add to that the effects of physical desire-and the excitement you spoke of-and all good sense and judgement fall away. The Rabbi paused, then said, But love founded only on loneliness and desire will die out before long. A shared history, tradition and values will link two people more thoroughly than any physical act.”
― Helene Wecker, The Golem and the Jinni

“Most idealists lived in their own impossible worlds, sealed away from reality; Maryam, it seemed, effortlessly reached out from hers and drew others inside.”
― Helene Wecker, The Golem and the Jinni

“I look at what we call faith, and all I see is superstition and subjugation . . . They create false divisions, and enslave us to fantasies, when we need to focus on the here and now.”
― Helene Wecker, The Golem and the Jinni

“What use is logic, when it takes you so far in the wrong direction?”
― Helene Wecker, The Golem and the Jinni

“As always, Arbeely’s heart squeezed at the sight of her, a not unpleasant ache, as if to say, Ah well. Like many of the men of the neighborhood, he was a little bit in love with Maryam Faddoul. What luck to be that Sayeed, her admirers thought, to live always in the light of her bright eyes and understanding smile! But none would dream of approaching her, even those who regarded the conventions of propriety as obstacles to be overcome. It was clear that Maryam’s smile shone from her belief in the better nature of those around her. To demand more of that smile for themselves would only serve to extinguish it.”
― Helene Wecker, The Golem and the Jinni

“Let me see if I understand correctly now," the Jinni said at one point. "You and your relations believe that a ghost living in the sky can grant you wishes."

"That is a gross oversimplification, and you know it."

"And yet, according to men, we jinn are nothing but children's tales?"

"This is different. This is about religion and faith."

"And where exactly is the difference?”
― Helene Wecker, The Golem and the Jinni

“These were the world’s first people. Everything they did, every action and decision, was entirely new, without precedent. They had no larger society to turn to, no examples of how to behave. They only had the Almighty to tell them right from wrong. And like all children, if His commands ran counter to their desires, sometimes they chose not to listen. And then they learned that there are consequences to one’s actions.”
― Helene Wecker, The Golem and the Jinni

“The jinni sighed. 'I'm less grateful to him than I should be. He's a good and generous man, but I'm not accustomed to relying on someone else. It makes me feel weak.’

'How is relying on others a weakness?'

'How can it be anything else? If for some reason Arbeely died tomorrow, I'd be forced to find another occupation. The event would be outside my control, yet I'd be at its mercy. Is that not weakness?'

'I suppose. But then, going by your standard, everyone is weak. So why call it a weakness, instead of just the way things are?”
― Helene Wecker, The Golem and the Jinni

“And I still don't understand the purpose of a wedding. What could possibly induce two free beings to partner only with each other for the rest of their existence?”
― Helene Wecker, The Golem and the Jinni

“Now as then, he sensed the threads of his life scattering and rearranging before this new and overwhelming thing that had landed among them.”
― Helene Wecker, The Golem and the Jinni

“Now that the book is out in the world, I’m amazed all over again at what my friend did for me in prompting me to ditch realism for a more magical approach. In some ways, the Golem and the Jinni are the ultimate immigrants. They aren’t just new to New York or America; they’re new to people. Like those around them, they wrestle with issues of religion versus doubt and duty versus self-determination—but as inescapable aspects of their own otherworldly natures. For seven years I’ve lived with their questions, arguments, and adventures, and it’s been one of the greatest gifts of my life.”
― Helene Wecker, The Golem and the Jinni

“What did people do when the ones they needed died? She lay curled on her bed, feeling as though part of her chest had been roughly scooped out, left raw and exposed.”
― Helene Wecker, The Golem and the Jinni

“They chanted the psalms and praises, and as always the rhythm fastened itself to his heartbeat. It seemed unfair that the prayers could affect him this way, against his will; that he could scoff at the sentiments, yet find himself mouthing along. He imagined himself at ninety, toothless and doddering, unable to remember anything except for the morning prayers. They were his deepest memories, his first music.”
― Helene Wecker, The Golem and the Jinni

“So perhaps this God of the humans is just a jinni like myself, stuck in the heavens, forced to answer wishes. Or maybe he freed himself long ago, only no one told them.”
― Helene Wecker, The Golem and the Jinni

“. . . some will be happy with whatever comes their way, and others won't be satisfied with anything. And there's always a few who are only looking to take advantage. So when my friends talk about how best to fix the world, it all sounds so naive. As though there could be one solution that would solve every man's problem, turn us into innocents in the Garden of Eden. When in truth we will always have our lesser natures.”
― Helene Wecker, The Golem and the Jinni

“It's his duty. A good healer can't pick and choose. If he can help, then he must.”
― Helene Wecker, The Golem and the Jinni

“Enormous. Cold. It stretched on forever, in every direction. If I hadn't know otherwise, I would've thought that the whole world was ocean.”
― Helene Wecker, The Golem and the Jinni

“Her father, indulgent in his concern, had opened his library to her, and at last she could read to her heart's content. In all, these past few weeks had been some of the most peaceable of her life. She had the sense of existing inside a fragile pause, a moment of grace.”
― Helene Wecker, The Golem and the Jinni