“A Little Life” Book Summary + Lessons + Inspiring Quotes

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The book “A Little Life” by Hanya Yanagihara encapsulates a range of emotions that leaves the readers moved by the story in the end.

The book surrounds the tale of love and friendship in the modern-day and explores some dark avenues in life yet explored.

“A Little Life” Book summary

“A Little Life” by Hanya Yanagihara is a novel that follows the lives of four friends navigating the complexities of adulthood in New York City. The story primarily focuses on Jude, a man with a traumatic past, and his deep connections with his friends.

The book explores themes of friendship, trauma, and the enduring human spirit in the face of immense challenges.

It delves into the profound impact of our past on our present, and the power of love and support in overcoming even the most devastating circumstances.

Lessons from “A Little Life”:

  1. Strength in Friendship: The book highlights the incredible strength that comes from having supportive and loyal friends who stand by you through thick and thin.
  2. Resilience in Adversity: Jude’s character teaches us about the incredible resilience of the human spirit. Despite enduring immense trauma, he finds ways to continue living.
  3. Confronting and Healing from Trauma: It emphasizes the importance of facing and dealing with our past traumas, seeking help when needed, and finding ways to heal.
  4. Unconditional Love and Acceptance: The novel shows us the power of unconditional love and acceptance from those who truly care about us.
  5. Pursuit of Personal Fulfillment: It encourages us to pursue our passions and interests, even in the face of difficulties or self-doubt.
  6. The Impact of Compassion: Acts of kindness and compassion, no matter how small, can have a profound effect on someone’s life.
  7. Coping Mechanisms and Self-Care: The characters demonstrate different ways of coping with pain and stress. It emphasizes the importance of finding healthy ways to take care of oneself.
  8. Accepting Imperfections: We all have our flaws and scars, and it’s important to accept and love ourselves as we are.
  9. The Long Road to Recovery: Healing is a process, and it can take time. It’s important to be patient with ourselves and seek help when needed.
  10. The Value of Human Connection: The book emphasizes the deep need for human connection and the solace that can be found in close relationships.
  11. Living Authentically: It encourages us to be true to ourselves and live authentically, even if it means facing painful truths.
  12. The Power of Hope: No matter how dark life may seem, there is always the potential for hope and the possibility of a brighter future.

Remember, while this novel provides valuable insights, it’s important to seek professional help and support when dealing with severe trauma or mental health issues.

A Little Life Quotes

– You might not understand what I mean now, but there will be a day you will.

– The trick to friendship lies in finding people better than you, kinder and generous.

– Appreciate what your friends have to teach you, and listen to what they have to say about your being.

– When your friends share some thoughts on your nature, trust them no matter how critical they might be.

– Things get broken, and often they can be repaired.

– In many cases, you’ll realize that no matter how damaged it gets, life finds a way to compensate for your loss. Often it leaves you stunned.

– We often ask why a friendship wasn’t as good, let apart better than a relationship.

Two souls decided to stay together, not motivated by physical attraction but simply by a mutual agreement to continue; such dedications can’t be codified.

– Friendship is a miracle on its own. Finding someone down the line appears miraculous, making the rest of the world seems a bit less lonely.

– I try to have a kind approach to all that I see. For everything I look at, I see him.

– He felt the singular pleasure of witnessing all those he loved fall in love with someone else.

– Often, he can’t remember who he is upon waking up. He would desperately ask who he was or where he was.

– All his knowledge came from books. Books tend to lie as they make things appear prettier than they are.

– Friendship lies in witnessing the other’s miseries drip slowly, long periods of boredom, and having occasional moments of triumph.

– Friendship lets you feel honored for having the privilege of being present for someone’s most dismal moments while knowing that you can be dismal around him.

– The privilege of being fair lies for happy souls.

– Fairness lies for those who had the chance to be lucky enough to live a life that was defined by certainties rather than ambiguities.

– When he would ask me in a confused fashion, I would reply that I was Willem Ragnarsson, and I would never let him go.

– It is viewed as a successful relationship in which both people have recognized the best of what the other person has to offer.

– He missed most of his own life.

– You are provided with something in the relationship, not everything.

– You have to identify which three qualities you have so that you can spend your entire life ahead.

– You will end up with nothing if you try to find everything in life.

– I wasted so much that I have become lost to the world.

– To refute it, I can hardly say anything about it.

– If happiness is something everyone should attain, there was a time when the pressure to achieve happiness felt oppressive.

– The relationship wasn’t officially recognized by history, and they were inviting their type of relationship.

– To consider whether life was meaningful or not had always seemed to him a very pushed kind of problem.

– The whole incident is a metaphor for life in general.

– Life constantly rearranges itself and compensates for your loss no matter what happens in your life.

– He could comprehend for the first time that the people he helped might betray him in the future.

– Most of them thought they would be friends for a decade, but hardly their friendship could last.

– You can learn and accept this if you are intelligent and lucky.

– You should try to answer your questions because life will happen to you.

– We want our children to be better than we are, and as human beings, we are unimaginative in that sense.

– Some people defend first and always by what they are missing.

– Successful people also strive to maintain their success, and it is a fact.

– To live for his own sake, it is somewhat impossible to convince someone.

– Morals and ethics have a place in law in reality.

Laws can be made with the help of morals and couldn’t be applied without its help.

– Fairness is always a consideration, and it is never an answer.

– Fairness is for the lucky people to live life-defining more certainties than ambiguities.

He has learned that what he has learned tells him to leave, and the things he has wished tell him to stay.

– The healthy logic of the sick is impossible to explain to him, and he didn’t have that energy too.

– Having friends matters when you have them as distinct characters inhabiting their own stories.

– If you discuss what has happened to you, you will find your way.

– There are two ways of forgetting things in life.

– Until it is wholly honed, you must work for it every night.

– He often wonders if anyone can love him as much as another person.

– The hypothesis of the empty set can explain the three concepts of nothingness.

– Often, you cannot unlearn the feelings you have.

– The best way to predict your future is to create it. – Abraham Lincoln

– Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it. – Charles R. Swindoll

– The purpose of our lives is to be happy. – Dalai Lama

– You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. – C.S. Lewis

– Believe you can and you’re halfway there.- Theodore Roosevelt

– Life is a journey, and if you fall in love with the journey, you will be in love forever.- Peter Hagerty

– Don’t wait for opportunity; create it. – George Bernard Shaw

– Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions.- Dalai Lama

– The only way to do great work is to love what you do.- Steve Jobs

– The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing. – Socrates

– Don’t count the days; make the days count. – Muhammad Ali

– The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams. – Oprah Winfrey

– Life is too short to waste time on things that don’t matter. – Anonymous

– The greatest glory in living lies not in falling, but in rising every time we fall. – Nelson Mandela

– You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. – Wayne Gretzky

– Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass; it’s about learning how to dance in the rain. – Vivian Greene

– Be the change you wish to see in the world. – Mahatma Gandhi

– Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that count. – Winston Churchill

– The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart. – Helen Keller

– The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing. – Walt Disney

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