How we cite our quotes: The main text of the story is cited (Chapter.Paragraph). The date headers are not counted as paragraphs. The verses in the chapters with a single passage from the narrator's religious texts are cited (Chapter.Verse.Line#). In chapters with multiple passages, the verses are cited (Chapter.Verse#.Line#). The four section pages with the years and passages are cited (Year.Verse).
Quote #1
Prodigy is, at its essence, adaptability and persistent, positive obsession. Without persistence, what remains is an enthusiasm of the moment. Without adaptability, what remains may be channeled into destructive fanaticism. Without positive obsession, there is nothing at all. (2024.Verse)
This verse passage is the very first thing we read in Parable of the Sower, so that means it's pretty important. It's all about Lauren: she's clearly a prodigy, and this quote is saying (that a prodigy needs to be persistent in order to succeed. Lauren stays really focused on her goals throughout the novel. She remains steadfast despite all the troubles thrown her way. Maybe that's why so many people admire her as a character.
Quote #2
Maybe I'll be more like Alicia Leal, the astronaut. Like her, I believe in something that I think my dying, denying, backward-looking people need. I don't have all of it yet. I don't even know how to pass on what I do have. I've got to learn to do that. It scares me how many things I've got to learn. How will I learn them? (3.46)
Lauren isn't a complete perfect robot who never feels fear or needs others' help. Here she plainly admits that the work she has set out for herself is scary, and it's clear she draws inspiration from Alicia Leal's life. Perseverance is all about feeling the fear and doing what you're supposed to do, anyway, rather than being some sort of impossible person who never gets afraid or worried.
Quote #3
But this thing (This idea? Philosophy? New religion?) won't let me alone, won't let me forget it, won't let me go. Maybe...Maybe it's like my sharing: One more weirdness; one more crazy, deep-rooted delusion that I'm stuck with. I am stuck with it. And in time, I'll have to do something about it. In spite of what my father will say or do to me, in spite of the poisonous rottenness outside the wall where I might be exiled, I'll have to do something about it. (3.51)
From the outside, people look at Lauren or other prodigies and admire them. They wonder how it is that these individuals can summon the ability to work so very hard and persevere for long periods of time. But from the inside, Lauren sees it differently: Earthseed is something she's stuck with and has to deal with. It's an obsession that won't let her alone. So how much is her perseverance a virtuous matter of choice, and how much of it is just her nature?