Finish the quote... Flashcards
It was too-
transitory.
It was more like a-
terminal.
I want to do-
something that matters.
Extravagantly, guiltily-
alive.
He’d wondered all his life-
what his profession should be, and now he was certain.
[Laura had] left him onstage-
performing CPR on a dead actor and gone home.
Three-
divorces…can you imagine?
the divide between _______ and ________.
before and after
he added a bouquet-
of daffodils.
the era when it was possible to press a series of buttons on a telephone-
and speak with someone on the far side of the earth.
An incomplete ________.
list
in a life-
she mostly couldn’t remember
The first _________ years.
unspeakable
four or five families-
living together in a former truck shop.
Kirsten and August broke into-
abandoned houses.
a wash of-
electric blue light.
Elizabeth, a _________-looking blonde.
malnourished
petty jealousies, neuroses-
…undiagnosed PTSD cases and simmering resentments
what made it bearable-
were…the moments of transcendent beauty and joy.
Civilization in Year Twenty-
weas an archipelago of small towns.
that ludicrously ______ world.
easy
the truth was that-
the Symphony was their only home
Queen Anne’s lace-
whispering against Kirsten’s outstretched hand.
The late-afternoon light, the wildflowers,-
the dragonflies gliding on currents of air.
What was lost in the collapse:-
almost everything, almost everyone, but there is still such beauty.
1594: the year-
London’s theatres reopened after two seasons of plague.
Plague closed-
the theatres again and again, death flickering over the landscape.
Twilight once more lit-
by candles, the age of electricity having come and gone
Because survival-
is insufficient.
this beautiful respite-
from our daily cares.
everything that has ever happened on this earth-
has happened for a reason.
divine _________
punishment
We are the ________. We are the ________.
light, pure
everyone here, of course,-
is free to go as they please.
There’s more than-
one way to die.
There’s death of the body,-
and there’s the death of the soul.
when people leave without permission,-
we have funerals for them.
He suggested that-
we consider leaving Alexandra.
he’s looking-
for another bride.
Being alive-
is a risk.
no practical use-
whatsoever…but she found it beautiful.
[Delano island] was _________ and __________.
gorgeous and claustrophobic
[Arthur] loved it and-
[he] always wanted to escape.
this _______ city
infinite
Arthur lives in a-
permanent state of disorientation
The revelation of privacy: she can walk down the street and-
absolutely no one knows who she is.
he’s stepped into a world where-
people know him when he doesn’t know them…
photographers got used to taking his picture when he was holding hands with-
more famous people.
I wasn’t-
being strategic
he is becoming-
extremely, unpleasantly famous.
Thea, who is impeccable in a-
smooth, corporate way
My poor corporate baby-
…lost in the machine.
how calm she always is…how __________.
unflappable.
It is sometimes necessary-
to break everything.
She is paying the entire rent on their apartment,-
and he’s verifying that she’s actually at her job.
You’re always half-
on Station Eleven.
You don’t have to-
understand it…It’s mine.
the beautiful wreckage of-
Station Eleven.
Station Eleven will be-
my constant.
I repent-
nothing.
Miranda is a person with very few certainties,-
but one of them is that only the dishonorable leave when things get difficult.
Can you call the pursuit of-
happiness dishonorable?
She is marooned-
one a strange planet.
It’s the work itself-
that’s important to me.
What’s the point of doing all that work-
…if no one sees it?
everything happens-
for a reason
I prefer you-
with a crown.
The dinner party looks-
like a diorama.
How could they be so _______?
indiscreet
The two moons float side by side on the surface. The fake moon-
which has the advantage of being closer and not obscured by fog, is almost always brighter than the real one.
This life was never ours-
…We were only ever borrowing it.
[Miranda] splashes her feet in the water-
to watch the moon reflection ripple and break.
I live on that kind of gossip-
…what I live for is something different.
What do you live for?
Truth and beauty.
In the next version of her life-
…she will be entirely independent.
The sensation of being in a dream…only she isn’t sure-
if she’s fighting to wake up or to stay asleep.
The feeling that-
one’s life resembles a movie.
We were not meant for this world.-
Lat us go home.
I stood looking over my damaged home-
and tried to forget the sweetness of life on earth.
No one ever thinks they’re awful,-
even people who really actually are.
I’d prefer not to think-
that I’m following a script
clothes are _______
armour
[Miranda] lives mostly-
out of a carry-on suitcase
She lives a life-
that feels like freedom
________ ________ is all around them.
Station Eleven
you don’t know where you’re going unless-
you know where you’re going
I’ve been-
indecently lucky
He was-
performing.
[Kirsten has] some problems with memory.-
[She] can’t remember very much from before the collapse.
Not uncommon among-
people who were children when it happened.
It’s much less dangerous-
than it used to be.
Some places, you pass through once-
and never return
Other towns, discussion-
of the past is discouraged.
You can’t argue with them-
because they live by an entirely different logic.
Sometimes the travelling symphony thought-
that what they were doing was noble.
it seemed a difficult-
and dangerous way to survive and hardly worth it.
Survival-
is insufficient.
Two ______ ________ … inked to mark specific events.
black knives
if she could only-
remember [her parents] faces
The wildflowers growing by the roadside were-
abstract…paint dots of pink and purple ad blue in the grass.
[Eleanor] is promised-
to the prophet.
Why would he-
marry a twelve-year-old?
God told him he was to-
repopulate the earth.
their leader was known only as-
the prophet and had three wives.
the prophet added the mayor’s wife-
to his collection
Within a week it became obvious-
that the town was his.
A sea of-
pink flowers
Someone always got-
executed in the bathroom.
Because we are looking for the former world-
before all traces of the former world are gone.
There was a fair chance, Kirsten thought,-
that Alexandra would live out her life without killing anyone.
I dreamt last night-
I saw an airplane.
If I ever saw an airplane, that meant that-
somewhere planes still took off.
For a whole decade after the pandemic,-
I kept looking at the sky.
She remembered the drink-
but not her mother’s face.
clusters and pinpoints of light in the darkness,-
scattered constellations linked by roads or alone.
The beauty of it,-
the loneliness
in what other life would I-
get to perform Shakespeare?
Because survival-
is insufficient.
If you are the light, if your enemies are darkness, then-
there’s nothing you cannot justify. There’s nothing you can’t survive because there’s nothing you will not do.
People want-
what was best about the world.
She collected-
fragments.
What did it mean to seem like yourself,-
in the course of such unspeakable days?
I find myself immeasurably weary and-
I have gone to rest in the forest.
A fragment for my friend-
If your soul left this earth I would follow and find you
there were so many-
fish
Hell is the absence-
of the people you long for.
this _______ age
calmer
the entire world is a place-
where artifacts of the old world are preserved.
The beauty of this world-
where almost everyone was gone.
Perhaps soon humnaity-
would simply flicker out.
straining to remember what it had been like-
when this motion had worked
Kirsten thought it meant something-
to see Titania in a gown, Hamlet in a shirt and tie.
The thing about the new world…is it’s just horrifically short-
on elegance.
I’m not exactly homesick-
but not exactly not.
Love is like-
the lion’s tooth.
Do you ever talk to him and-
get the sense that he’s acting?
iPhone-
zombies
the corporate world’s-
full of ghosts.
adulthood’s-
full of ghosts.
high-functioning-
sleepwalkers
had Arthur seen-
that Clark was sleepwalking?
I’ve just realized that-
I’m as minimally preset in this world as you are
he was sick to death-
of stalking celebrities
Elizabeth: nothing bad-
has ever happened to her
We bemoaned the impersonality of-
the modern world, but…it had never been impersonal at all.
There had always been a-
massive delicate infrastructure of people
Jeevan had never felt-
so close to his brother.
What makes you think-
the lights will come back on?
A stark and unexpected beauty,-
silent metropolis, no movement.
There’s still a world out there…-
I think there’s just survival out there
I’ll leave ________.
first.
[the paperweight] was-
beautiful. I still think it’s beautiful.
None of them went into the entertainment industry-
because they wanted to do good in the world.
long-dead actors…they’ll never-
truly die
First we only want to be seen,-
but once we’re seen,…we want to be remembered.
He wasn’t well,-
but was anyone?
the absolute absence of-
electric light
chilled by-
the suggestion of a dark city.
an empty bottle-
of sleeping pills
the bullet…still-
twenty-five years away but already approaching
You must be-
immune…I’m the luckiest man alive, aren’t I?
The children seemed-
awfully traumatized.
the more you remember,-
the more you’ve lost.
A sea of-
electric lights.
None of the older Symphony members knew much about-
science, which was frankly maddening given how much time [they] had to look things up on the internet before the world ended.
It would’ve been you-
in those tabloid pictures…in a parallel universe
you’d want to live on Station Eleven?-
I think it’s beautiful.
[Miranda] had been-
overtipping for as long as she’d had money.
Those previous versions of herself were so distant now-
that remembering them was almost like remembering other people
Your life’s probably unfathomable-
to most people.
You know where-
I’m from…once we lived on an island in the ocean.
None of this would seem real-
if it wasn’t for you.
She liked to think of herself as a person who hated no one,-
but what did she feel for these men if not hatred?
Dear V:-
An Unauthorized Portrait of Arthur Leander
[Arthur] treated Victoria-
like a diary.
Miranda had an odd impression-
that he was performing a scene.
Arthur looks up.-
Beat.
Did this happen to all actors, this-
blurring of borders between performance and life?
[Kirsten was] well-cared-for and-
coddled all her life…unadventurous and well-groomed.
he missed his own child,-
his distant son.
[people of the undersea] clinging to the hope-
that the world they remembered could be restored.
I stood looking over my damaged home-
and tried to forget the sweetness of life on Earth.
the pleasant heat of the tea,-
the warmth and beauty of this room
[Tyler] beamed up at his father’s face-
while Arthur smiled at the camera.
That ________ dinner party
ghastly
sunlight on the other side of the East River…the effect-
reminded Clark of an oil painting.
tabloids and movies and-
divorces…all those warping things.
No one knew me.-
Toronto felt like freedom.
and now-
everyone knows you again.
A wash of violent colour,-
pink and streaks of brilliant orange
Any expectation of a return to normalcy-
long gone by now
The last time-
I ate an orange.
Emmanuelle…her birth-
the only good thing that had happened that terrible first year.
These taken-for-granted miracles-
that had persisted all around them.
She is beautiful in a way that-
makes people forget what they were going to say when they look at her.
a breaking down of some mechanism that had previously-
held his personal and professional lives apart.
if he didn’t understand at that moment…-
it was only because he didn’t want to know.
A little girl-
did cartwheels up and down…Concourse B.
The fabric-
was unravelling.
Effexor?-
I’ve run out
he’d sit with Robert-
in a restaurant in New York or London
there was hazard-
in allowing his thoughts to drift too loosely
an aching tenderness-
for his fellow refugees
everyone waiting-
for whatever came next.
wish I could tweet this…-
just chilling with Arthur Leander’s kid at the end of the world.
it occurred to him-
that they were probably in shock.
The girl who needed Effexor was-
very sick by then.
no one wats-
to be a thief
chill the fuck out,-
I’ll cover it on my Amex.
he’d decided to take a plane-
to Los Angeles
a free flight to Los Angeles…-
proof that the world was ending
would still leave an ocean between themselves and their loved ones-
but would at least bring them two thousand miles closer to home.
Why, in his life of frequent travel, had he never recognised-
the beauty of flight?
Everything happens for a reason…-
This will pass. Everything passes.
no family, which meant that-
she was one of the saner people in the airport.
recalibrations having to do with-
memory and sight.
Ari Gradia 452…-
never discussed.
Don’t think of that-
unspeakable decision…Don’t think…Don’t think…
nothing crossed the sky-
except birds and shooting stars.
The night sky was brighter-
than it had been.
The era of light pollution had-
come to an end.
Tu me-
manques. [I miss you]
A rape on the night-
of Day Eighty-five.
They…drove him-
into the forest at gunpoint
There might be-
no one left.
all the infections that were cured by antibiotics-
back when it was possible to obtain anitbiotics.
Clark had always been fond of beautiful objects…-
the human enterprise each object had required.
the planes were warped and-
caught in whirling snow.
Home, she’d thought,-
and felt such relief.
I’d thought I was-
the only one.
There were a number of impractical shoes…-
beautiful and strange.
the ______ plane
ghost
Because they were exposed-
to a certain virus, and we weren’t.
we were saved…-
people who were good…people who weren’t weak.
That kind of-
insanity’s contagious.
James, the first-
man who’d walked in
The shock of encountering someone who-
knew Arthur.
If there were newspapers now,-
what else might be possible?
The kind of stupid death that-
never would’ve happened in the old world.
Does it still make sense to teach kids-
about the way things were?
All that knowledge,-
all those incredible thigs we had.
the closest thing to a doctor-
in a one-hundred-mile radius
the physical pain of the post-anesthesia era-
often left him shaken.
the gentle music-
of the river
overcome by his good fortune at-
having …lived to see a time worth living in.
I apprenticed to a doctor-
near here for five years
The _______ happened.
prophet
We are the _______.
light
they’re armed and-
they take what they want.
A bouquet of corporate-
cliches
I used to write ‘T-H-X’ when-
I wanted to say ‘thank you’.
A life, remembered, is a-
series of photographs and disconnected short films.
A bouquet of-
tiger lilies
the wonders of technology were still ahead, not behind them,-
and far less had been lost.
the Symphony was nowhere near,-
a terrible absence.
You know how this…time we live in,-
…how it forces a person to do things.
she stopped trying to remember-
those lost years on the road
he’d had the colossal good fortune to have made it-
to Year Twenty without killing anyone.
it is possible to survive this-
but not unaltered
there was beauty in the decrepitude,…-
flowers that had sprung up through the gravel
This ______ world.
dazzling
the murdered follow their killers to the grave…-
dragging souls…like cans on a string.
She loved [the symphony]-
so desperately.
I have walked all my life through-
this tarnished world
leaves flickering in sunlight,-
the brilliant blue of the sky.
It was very difficult,-
but there were moments of beauty.
We long only-
to go home.
We long only for the world-
we were born into.
But it’s too late-
for that.
the boy had shot-
the prophet
perhaps he’d had the misfortune-
of remembering everything.
320 people…one of the largest settlements-
Kirste had seen.
A strange moment in-
a lifetime of strange moments.
Are you asking if I believe in ghosts?-
…Of course not. Imagine how may there’d be.
the stars seemed dimmer-
than elsewhere in the sky.
The town with-
electric light.
Always these memories,-
barely submerged.
He would shed his obligations-
and belongings.
The beauty of the pigeon’s-
luminescent neck.
He felt the old guilt.-
She’d never asked for any of it.
He was captivated…-
by her excessive youth.
a sign of having gone seriously astray…-
having more than one ex-wife
They’re lovely, but I-
don’t want more things.
[Arthur] never-
really understood.
he didn’t wat possessions. he didn’t-
want anything except his son.
He would be…the man who-
gave his fortune away.
My eldest born,-
my only born, my heart.
Arthur had promised to be in Jerusalem for Tyler’s birthday…-
and had frankly forgotten about it
He found he was a man who repented-
almost everything
he’d spent his entire life chasing after something,-
money or fame or immoratlity
a secret list of-
everything that was good
the wren goes
to’t
what else might-
this awakening world contain?
