Quote preview background for Nicole Krauss
To paint a leaf, you have to sacrifice the whole landscape. It might seem like you're limiting yourself at first, but after a while you realize that having a quarter-of-an-inch of something you have a better chance of holding on to a certain feeling of the universe than if you pretended to be doing the whole sky. My mother did not choose a leaf or a head. She chose my father, and to hold on to a certain feeling, she sacrificed the world.
Nicole Krauss The History of Love
Turn into a Quote Card

Quote Detail

To paint a leaf, you have to sacrifice the whole landscape. It might seem like you're limiting yourself at first, but after a while you realize that having a quarter-of-an-inch of something you have a better chance of holding on to a certain feeling of the universe than if you pretended to be doing the whole sky. My mother did not choose a leaf or a head. She chose my father, and to hold on to a certain feeling, she sacrificed the world.
NK
Nicole Krauss

The History of Love

Quick Answer

What this quote page tells you

This canonical quote page keeps the full saying, the attributed author, any linked work, and the topic tags together so the quote can be cited from one stable URL.

Related Quotes

More quote cards from the same area

"

A smile curled the corner of Xavier__ mouth. __ou didn__ think I would let her walk out of my arms without knowing I would see her again soon, did you?__ryant shrugged. __ell, no. I guess not. What are you going to do now?__he lid of the case slammed shut, and Xavier jerked his vibrating phone back out of his pocket. __ell, as soon as I get these fires extinguished, I__ going to go start one with her.__ryant laughed. __fter this long, that__l be one hell of a raging inferno.___ hope so.