An Abundance of Katherines Dreams, Hopes, and Plans Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #7

The reading quieted his brain a little. Without Katherine and without the Theorem and without his hopes of mattering, he had very little. But he always had books. Books are the ultimate Dumpees: put them down and they'll wait for you forever; pay attention to them and they always love you back. (11.11)

You know you're in trouble when you start thinking about books as human beings, as people you can dump and get back together with whenever you feel like it. Colin imagines what his life will be like without any Katherine or theorem or name for himself, and we'll be honest: it ain't pretty.

Quote #8

In short, he had been counting upon a reunion. He'd been assuming that the Theorem could see into the future, when K-19 would return to him. But the Theorem, he decided, couldn't take into account its own influence. (13.46)

Colin claims he's trying to use the theorem to predict the future, but in reality, he's just wanting it to say he and K-19 will get back together. Sadly, no matter how he crunches the numbers, he can't get it to work. Hint, hint.

Quote #9

Spring Break, and she was this short fiery woman who hated being called a girl, and she liked me and at first it seemed she shared my massive sense of insecurity, and so I just built up my hopes ridiculously and found myself writing her these extravagantly long and painfully philosophical e-mails, and then she dumped me over e-mail after only two actual dates and four actual kisses, whereupon I found myself writing her these extravagantly long and painfully pathetic e-mails. (19.89)

Even though Colin is talking about K-8, he's really sharing his history with all of the Katherines: First he falls madly and deeply in love, and then he gets dumped; repeat cycle.