adds something: crying is you, plus tears. But the feeling Colin had was some horrible opposite of crying. It was you, minus something." - Meaning and context.">
Colin Singleton, p. 7

And then he lay there in his fever of sorry and repeated the now memorized note in his head and wanted to cry, but instead he only felt this aching behind his solar plexus. Crying adds something: crying is you, plus tears. But the feeling Colin had was some horrible opposite of crying. It was you, minus something.

— John Green

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "And then he lay there in his fever of sorry and repeated the now memorized note in his head and wanted to cry, but instead he only felt this aching behind his solar plexus. Crying adds something: crying is you, plus tears. But the feeling Colin had was some horrible opposite of crying. It was you, minus something." in the context of "Colin Singleton, p. 7" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "John Green" (Quotes, An Abundance of Katherines (2006)) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
John Green

About John Green

John Green (born 24 August 1977) is an American author of young adult fiction, who has appeared on the New York Times best sellers list several times. He also publishes a video blog with his brother Hank Green as "vlogbrothers". A massive community has popped up around the videos that the brothers call 'Nerdfighteria.' John lives with his wife and two kids in Indianapolis.