You came from one place but more important was where you decided to go.
-- Narrator (Part I: Chapter 1)

Importance: At the start of the novel, Carney is determined not to become like his father. While driving around the city collecting old televisions for his shop, his mind shifts into memory. Scenes from his childhood impress upon Carney the importance of reinventing himself in the present and for the future. This line introduces Carney's character's most significant internal conflict, and the author's thematic interests in origins, change, and identity.

The world as it might be versus the world as it was.
-- Narrator (Part I: Chapter 6)

Importance: During a visit to his in-laws' apartment on Strivers' Row, Carney considers the possibilities of converging his conflicting versions of self. He sees Strivers' Row as a representation not only of what he wants to have, but of what he wants to come. However, he disbelieves his ability to live in a place like Strivers'...