How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"Meaning." She nodded, as if to herself. "None of you has taught us any. So now we've found it ourselves." (18.15)
Given that several of the students have career goals based on things they've learned about in school (Maiken's astronomy, for example), Sofie is somewhat inaccurate in telling the adults they haven't taught the children any meaning. They understand language, mathematics, science—aren't all those things packed with meaning all their own?
Quote #8
"It's all been seen before!" Pierre Anthon hollered, a cloud of frosty white breath issuing from the mouth of his dark blue balaclava. "It's news now, and the eyes of the world are on Taering. In a month's time Taering will be forgotten and the world will be someplace else." (20.1)
Existentialists would argue that a thing becomes meaningful the minute one individual perceives it as meaningful, but that doesn't give it meaning in and of itself. In other words, just because it has meaning to one person doesn't mean anyone else will care, which is why no one is interested in seeing your stamp collection. Sorry, bud.
Quote #9
Each day was like the next. And even though we looked forward all week to the weekend, the weekend was always still a disappointment, and then it was Monday again and everything started over, and that was how life was, and there was nothing else. (22.9)
This is, in a way, a rewording of the sentiment, "Variety is the spice of life." But we have to point out that plenty of people have meaningful lives that are in some way repetitive. Just because you go to the same school every day doesn't mean there's nothing meaningful there.