What’s the true cost of a “perfect” society?
Lois Lowry’s The Giver masterfully explores this through “Sameness,” a system eradicating conflict by eliminating choice, color, and deep emotion.
In Jonas’s seemingly utopian community, life is predictable and painless, but devoid of true individuality and human connection. When selected as the Receiver of Memory, Jonas uncovers the vibrant, joyful, and agonizing truths of a world his society sacrificed for control.
We’ve collected 30 pivotal The Giver quotes about Sameness with page numbers (the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt paperback (ISBN 978-0-544-33626-1). Each quote includes insightful analysis, deeper for key lines, revealing the profound impact of Sameness on freedom and humanity.
The community in The Giver is built upon a bedrock of rigid rules and “Precision of Language,” designed to eliminate conflict, strong emotion, and individuality. These initial quotes explore how the mechanisms of Sameness are established and maintained from the earliest age, shaping every citizen’s perception and behavior.
The Foundations of Sameness: Precision, Rules, and Control
Life in Jonas’s community is governed by an intricate set of rules and expectations designed to uphold “Sameness.” From carefully selecting words to suppressing adolescent “Stirrings” and discouraging individual recognition, every aspect of life is engineered to ensure predictability and control. The following quotes reveal the subtle and overt ways Sameness is instilled and enforced, creating a society that, while appearing orderly, tragically limits human experience and understanding.
“It was almost December, and Jonas was beginning to be frightened. No. Wrong word, Jonas thought. Frightened meant that deep, sickening feeling of something terrible about to happen…Apprehensive, Jonas decided. That’s what I am.”
(Character: Narrator describing Jonas’s thoughts, Chapter 1, Page 9)
This opening immediately establishes the community’s emphasis on “Precision of Language.” Jonas’s careful self-correction from “frightened” to “apprehensive” highlights the societal pressure to choose words that minimize emotional intensity. It shows how Sameness begins by controlling the vocabulary used to articulate feelings, which shapes internal experience.
“NEEDLESS TO SAY, HE WILL BE RELEASED… For a contributing citizen to be released from the community was a final decision, a terrible punishment, an overwhelming statement of failure.”
(Character: The Speaker & Narration, Chapter 1, Page 9)
The concept of “Release” is introduced early as the ultimate consequence for failure or rule-breaking, framed as shameful punishment. The community’s euphemistic language deliberately obscures the true nature of Release, a mechanism essential for maintaining Sameness by eliminating those who cannot or will not conform, instilling fear of that ultimate “failure.”
“Jonas grinned, remembering the morning that Asher had dashed into the classroom, late as usual… ‘I apologize for inconveniencing my learning community.’ Asher ran through the standard apology phrase rapidly… ‘Distraught’ is too strong an adjective to describe salmon-viewing.”
(Character: Narrator & Instructor, Chapter 1, Page 10)
Asher’s public apology for using “distraught” instead of “distracted” further illustrates the community’s obsession with precise, unemotional language. The incident, while humorous, shows how even minor deviations in word choice are corrected to maintain emotional conformity and suppress strong expressions, a key tenet of Sameness.
“Stirrings. He had heard the word before… ATTENTION. A REMINDER THAT STIRRINGS MUST BE REPORTED IN ORDER FOR TREATMENT TO TAKE PLACE.”
(Character: Narrator, Jonas recalling rules, Chapter 5, Page 28)
The mandatory reporting and “treatment” (pills) for “Stirrings”—the first awakenings of sexual desire—demonstrate a direct physiological intervention to maintain emotional Sameness. By chemically suppressing these natural feelings, the community eliminates the potential for passionate attachments, jealousy, or any intense emotions that could disrupt its placid order.
“It was the sort of thing one didn’t ask a friend about because it might have fallen into that uncomfortable category of “being different.” Asher took a pill each morning; Jonas did not. Always better, less rude, to talk about things that were the same.”
(Character: Narrator, about the pills for Stirrings, Chapter 5, Page 28)
This quote reveals the social pressure underpinning Sameness. The fear of “being different” and the ingrained habit of avoiding uncomfortable topics ensure conformity. Even without explicit rules for every interaction, citizens self-censor to maintain superficial harmony and avoid highlighting deviations from the norm, like Jonas not yet taking the pill like Asher does.
“No one mentioned such things; it was not a rule, but was considered rude to call attention to things that were unsettling or different about individuals.”
(Character: Narrator, Chapter 3, Page 19)
The community’s unwritten rule against acknowledging individual differences, such as Jonas’s pale eyes, shows how Sameness is enforced through social convention, not just explicit laws. Discouraging attention to uniqueness fosters a culture where conformity is valued above all, and anything “unsettling or different” is politely ignored to maintain superficial comfort.
“There was never any comfortable way to mention or discuss one’s successes without breaking the rule against bragging, even if one didn’t mean to.”
(Character: Narrator, Chapter 4, Page 23)
The prohibition against bragging, however unintentional, highlights the community’s deep-seated suppression of individuality and personal achievement. Success is downplayed, and individual talents are rarely singled out for praise, all to maintain a level of perceived equality and prevent feelings of envy or superiority that could disrupt the carefully constructed Sameness.
“He had been trained since earliest childhood, since his earliest learning of language, never to lie. It was an integral part of the learning of precise speech… To say ‘starving’ was to speak a lie… But the reason for precision of language was to ensure that unintentional lies were never uttered.”
(Character: Narrator, about Jonas, Chapter 9, Page 48)
The community’s emphasis on “precision of language” is presented as a method to ensure truthfulness, but it is also a powerful tool of control and a cornerstone of Sameness. By strictly defining and limiting the meaning of words (like “starving” or later, “love”), the community restricts the range of expressible thoughts and emotions, effectively neutralizing potent concepts and ensuring shared, shallow understanding. This linguistic control prevents citizens from articulating or fully conceptualizing experiences outside the community’s narrow norms.
As Jonas begins training with The Giver, he perceives the profound absences that define his community’s existence. Made generations ago, the choice for Sameness involved relinquishing not just discomfort and conflict, but also the vibrant tapestry of human experience: color, individual choice, and the capacity for deep, complex emotions.
The Price of Sameness: Relinquishing Color, Choice, and Deep Emotion
The architects of Jonas’s community aimed to create a stable, painless society by systematically eliminating differences. Pursuing “Sameness” meant sacrificing fundamental aspects of human experience.
The following quotes reveal the startling extent of these losses—the vibrant spectrum of color, the freedom of individual choice, and the rich, often tumultuous, landscape of deep emotions like love and true joy. Jonas’s dawning awareness of these deprivations forms the core of his internal conflict and his critique of the society that raised him.
“But suddenly Jonas had noticed… the apple had changed. Just for an instant.”
(Character: Narrator describing Jonas, Chapter 3, Page 20)
This incident marks Jonas’s first conscious experience of “Seeing Beyond,” his nascent ability to perceive color (specifically red) in a monochrome world of Sameness. The apple’s fleeting change is a subtle but profound disruption of his reality, the first hint of a richer, more vibrant world that has been suppressed.
“Our people made that choice, the choice to go to Sameness. Before my time, before the previous time, back and back and back. We relinquished color when we relinquished sunshine and did away with difference. We gained control of many things. But we had to let go of others.”
(Character: The Giver, Chapter 12, Page 63)
The Giver provides Jonas with the historical rationale behind their society’s stark uniformity. The community consciously chose “Sameness” to gain “control” over unpredictable elements like weather (“sunshine”) and human variation (“color,” “difference”), presumably to eliminate conflict and ensure stability.
However, The Giver’s somber acknowledgment, “But we had to let go of others,” underscores the profound trade-off: the loss of sensory richness, individuality, and potentially much more, for a managed, predictable existence. This pivotal quote reveals Sameness not as a natural state but as a deliberate, historical decision with far-reaching consequences.
“If everything’s the same, then there aren’t any choices! I want to wake up in the morning and decide things!”
(Character: Jonas, Chapter 13, Page 65)
Jonas’s impassioned outburst directly connects the enforced uniformity of Sameness to the profound lack of choice in his community. His yearning to “decide things,” even something as simple as the color of his tunic, highlights a fundamental human desire for self-determination that Sameness has eradicated. This realization is critical in his growing awareness of what his society has sacrificed for its superficial order and predictability. He begins to see Sameness not just as a lack of color, but as a lack of freedom.
“Well…,” Jonas had to stop and think it through. “If everything’s the same, then there are no choices! I want to wake up in the morning and DECIDE things! A blue tunic, or a red one?”
(Character: Jonas, Chapter 13, Page 65)
Reiterating his frustration, Jonas articulates the direct link between uniformity and the absence of choice. His desire to select a “blue tunic, or a red one” symbolizes a longing for simple, everyday freedoms and self-expression that are impossible under the regime of Sameness, which dictates all such minor details to prevent conflict or distinction.
“It’s the choosing that’s important, isn’t it?”
(Character: The Giver, Chapter 13, Page 65)
The Giver affirms Jonas’s dawning realization, suggesting that “choosing” itself, the exercise of free will, holds inherent value and significance for human experience, regardless of the triviality or importance of the options. This validates Jonas’s unease with the community’s restrictions.
“What if they were allowed to choose their own mate? And chose wrong?”
(Character: Jonas, Chapter 13, Page 65)
Jonas voices the community’s ingrained fear—that granting individuals the freedom to choose important aspects of life, like partners, inevitably risks disastrous mistakes and societal instability. This highlights the rationale behind Sameness: to protect people from the perceived dangers of their fallibility, even at the cost of deep personal experience.
“We really have to protect people from wrong choices.”
(Character: Jonas, Chapter 13, Page 65)
Momentarily echoing the community’s established justification for Sameness, Jonas articulates the core belief that an ordered society must shield its citizens from the potential negative outcomes of free will. This highlights the pervasive indoctrination he’s beginning to question but has not yet fully shed.
“Now, through the memories, he had seen oceans and mountain lakes and streams that gurgled through woods; and now he saw the familiar wide river beside the path differently. He saw all of the light and color and history it contained and carried in its slow-moving water…”
(Character: Narrator, about Jonas, Chapter 17, Page 84)
The memories have fundamentally altered Jonas’s perception. He no longer sees his physical surroundings with the bland acceptance of Sameness but with an awareness of the “light and color and history” that real, unmanaged nature holds. The river, once just a feature, now symbolizes a connection to a richer, more vibrant Elsewhere.
As Jonas receives more memories from The Giver—memories of intense joy, profound love, but also deep sorrow and pain—his understanding of what his community has sacrificed for Sameness deepens. This newfound knowledge fuels growing discontent and desire to share these real experiences, even as he grapples with the community’s inability to comprehend them.
Awakening to Difference: Memories, Questions, and Growing Discontent
The memories transmitted by The Giver open Jonas’s eyes to a spectrum of human experience absent from his community’s bland, controlled existence. He learns concepts like individual love, family beyond the assigned unit, and the vibrant reality of color.
This influx of profound experiences inevitably leads to questioning the very foundations of Sameness and a growing frustration with the emotional and sensory poverty of the life he once accepted without a second thought. These quotes track his internal awakening and the seeds of his rebellion.
“They were satisfied with their lives which had none of the vibrance his own was taking on. And he was angry at himself, that he could not change that for them.”
(Character: Narrator describing Jonas’s feelings about his friends, Chapter 13, Page 65)
Jonas feels a deep sense of isolation from his peers, recognizing their contentment stems from ignorance of the richer, more vibrant reality he now accesses through memories. His anger is twofold: at their unthinking acceptance of Sameness and his inability to share the profound truths and feelings he’s discovering, highlighting the isolating nature of his unique knowledge.
“He knew that there was no quick comfort for emotions like those. These were deeper and they did not need to be told. They were felt.”
(Character: Narrator describing Jonas’s understanding after receiving memories of deep sadness/grief, Chapter 17, Page 84)
Through the memories, Jonas learns that true, deep emotions like grief cannot be easily resolved or articulated through the community’s ritualistic “Telling of Feelings”; they must be experienced directly and profoundly. This contrasts sharply with the superficial emotional landscape enforced by Sameness, where all strong feelings are suppressed or medicated away.
“They have never known pain, he thought. The realization made him feel desperately lonely.”
(Character: Jonas’s thoughts, after the memory of warfare, Chapter 14, Page 72)
After experiencing the excruciating memory of war, Jonas confronts the harsh reality that his community members, insulated by Sameness, have no concept of true suffering. This deep experiential gap creates a deep sense of loneliness, as he carries burdens and understandings they cannot imagine, isolating him within his society.
“The next morning, for the first time, Jonas did not take his pill. Something within him, something that had grown there through the memories, told him to throw the pill away.”
(Character: Narrator, Chapter 16, Page 82)
This act signifies Jonas’s first deliberate rebellion against the mechanisms of Sameness and emotional control. Having experienced true feelings through the memories, particularly the memory of love and family, he consciously chooses to reject the pill that suppresses his “Stirrings” and, by extension, his capacity for deeper emotional connection.
It’s a crucial step in reclaiming his individuality and desire for a life with genuine feeling, a direct challenge to the community’s mandate for emotional uniformity. This decision is not impulsive but born from “something that had grown there through the memories,” indicating a profound internal shift.
The Giver explains to Jonas why the community chose Sameness and why the role of the Receiver, who bears the burden of all memories and the pain they entail, is so vital, albeit isolating. This knowledge further complicates Jonas’s understanding of his society and his unique, painful position.
The Burden of Knowing: Why Sameness Endures
The community’s commitment to Sameness is not arbitrary; it’s a deliberate choice made generations ago to achieve a society free from pain, conflict, and difficult choices. However, this comes at the cost of true wisdom and emotional depth, burdens which are then consolidated onto a single individual: the Receiver of Memory. These quotes delve into the community’s rationale for maintaining Sameness and the profound loneliness and responsibility inherent in The Giver’s (and now Jonas’s) role.
“‘They know nothing,’ The Giver said bitterly.”
(Character: The Giver, Chapter 13, Page 68)
Contrasting the community’s factual, technical knowledge with the deep wisdom held in memory, The Giver expresses profound bitterness at their chosen ignorance and lack of true understanding. This highlights the emptiness of their “knowledge” when devoid of historical context and emotional depth, which Sameness has eradicated.
“It’s just that… without the memories it’s all meaningless.”
(Character: The Giver, Chapter 13, Page 68)
The Giver identifies the essential function of memory in providing context, meaning, and value to life. He asserts that without the collective past—its joys, sorrows, and lessons—present existence within the community becomes superficial and ultimately “meaningless,” a controlled but empty state.
“But why can’t everyone have the memories? I think it would seem a little easier if the memories were shared. You and I wouldn’t have to bear so much by ourselves, if everybody took a part.” The Giver sighed. “You’re right,” he said. “But then everyone would be burdened and pained. They don’t want that. And that’s the real reason The Receiver is so vital to them, and so honored. They selected me – and you – to lift that burden from themselves.”
(Character: Jonas and The Giver, Chapter 14, Page 73)
Jonas questions the logic of isolating all memories (and their attendant pain) within one individual, proposing a more communal approach. The Giver confirms the community’s deliberate choice to avoid being “burdened and pained,” necessitating the Receiver’s role as a solitary vessel for all difficult human experiences.
This reveals that Sameness is a conscious societal decision to sacrifice depth of experience for comfort and predictability. The “honor” of being Receiver is shown to be inextricably linked to profound suffering and isolation, a truth the community prefers not to confront.
“‘Do you advise them often?’ … ‘Rarely. Only when they are faced with something that they have not experienced before… But it very seldom happens. Sometimes I wish they’d ask for my wisdom more often… But they don’t want change. Life here is so orderly, so predictable—so painless. It’s what they’ve chosen.’”
(Character: Jonas & The Giver, Chapter 13, Page 67)
The Giver explains that his advisory role to the Elders is rarely invoked, only when unprecedented situations arise that their rule-based Sameness cannot address. He laments their aversion to change and preference for an “orderly, predictable—so painless” existence, even if it means forgoing the wisdom gained from memory. This highlights the stagnation inherent in Sameness and the community’s fear of confronting anything that might disrupt their carefully controlled environment.
“JONAS RECEIVER OF MEMORY… 8. You may lie.”
(Character: From Jonas’s instruction sheet, Chapter 9, Page 47)
This shocking rule, unique to the Receiver, shatters Jonas’s understanding of truth within his community, where “precision of language” was supposedly paramount to avoid lies. It signals his separation from societal norms and hints at the complex, perhaps morally ambiguous, nature of his new role, where the ability to lie might be necessary to protect the community or the integrity of the memories.
“His mind reeled. Now, empowered to ask questions of utmost rudeness—and promised answers—he could, conceivably (though it was almost unimaginable), ask someone, some adult, his father perhaps: “Do you lie?” But he would have no way of knowing if the answer he received were true.”
(Character: Jonas’s thoughts, Chapter 9, Page 48)
The permission to lie throws Jonas into turmoil, making him question the honesty of everyone around him. This realization undermines trust in his society, which prided itself on truthful communication. If others, particularly adults and Elders, also received such an instruction upon their “Assignment,” then the entire fabric of their community could be built on unacknowledged deceptions, a disturbing thought that further alienates Jonas.
Jonas’s profound understanding of what’s been sacrificed for Sameness—love, color, choice, deep emotions, and even the truth about life and death—becomes unbearable. His decision to leave the community isn’t just a personal escape but a rebellion against the principles of Sameness, driven by a desperate hope to restore what was lost, for himself and for the people he leaves behind.
Rejecting Sameness: The Path to Elsewhere
Armed with the truth and the weight of memories, Jonas can no longer tolerate the sterile, controlled existence mandated by Sameness. His growing love for Gabriel, who is threatened with Release for failing to conform to the community’s standards, becomes the final catalyst for his daring escape.
These quotes articulate Jonas’s ultimate rejection of Sameness and his embrace of an uncertain but potentially more human future in “Elsewhere.” He hopes to reintroduce choice, feeling, and individuality to a world that has forgotten them.
“The life where nothing was ever unexpected. Or inconvenient. Or unusual. The life without colour, pain or past.”
(Character: Narrator describing the community Jonas left, Chapter 21, Page 104)
As Jonas flees, he looks back and defines the community by its profound absences—the lack of unpredictability, inconvenience, individuality, color, pain, and historical memory. This encapsulates what Sameness has eradicated: a life stripped of the elements that often define human experience and growth, reducing existence to a controlled, monotonous, and unfulfilling state.
“If he had stayed, he would have starved in other ways. He would have lived a life hungry for feelings, for color, for love.”
(Character: Narrator about Jonas’s thoughts, Chapter 22, Page 109)
Jonas’s profound realization solidifies his decision to leave, despite the physical hardship of his journey. He understands that remaining in the community, while offering physical sustenance and safety, would have meant a far deeper kind of starvation—an emotional, sensory, and spiritual famine.
By eliminating pain and conflict, sameness also restrains true joy, vibrant perception, and unconditional love. Jonas chooses the uncertainty of Elsewhere over the certainty of this inner desolation, affirming the human need for a full spectrum of experience, even if it includes suffering.
“But the Receiver-in-training cannot be observed, cannot be modified. That is stated quite clearly in the rules. He is to be alone, apart, while he is prepared by the current Receiver for the job which is the most honored in our community.”
(Character: Chief Elder, Chapter 8, Page 43)
The Chief Elder’s description of the Receiver’s training highlights the isolation inherent in holding knowledge that sets one apart from a society built on Sameness. The inability to be “observed” or “modified” underscores the Receiver’s unique, unshareable burden, a harsh contrast to the community’s otherwise complete transparency and conformity, emphasizing the loneliness that comes with true seeing.
“Jonas, when you and I have finished our time together, you will be the new Receiver. You can read the books; you’ll have the memories. You have access to everything. It’s part of your training. If you want to watch a release, you have simply to ask.”
(Character: The Giver to Jonas, Chapter 19, Page 93)
The Giver outlines the unique privileges and awesome responsibilities of being the Receiver, including unrestricted access to books (knowledge) and the ability to witness even the community’s most hidden rituals, like Release. This access to unfiltered truth is precisely what Sameness denies everyone else, marking the Receiver as fundamentally different and outside the community’s carefully constructed ignorance.
Conclusion: The Enduring Question of Sameness
These quotes from Lois Lowry’s The Giver powerfully illustrate how “Sameness,” while creating an orderly, painless existence, fundamentally strips away choice, deep emotion, and the richness of human experience. Jonas’s awakening to the community’s sacrifices reveals the true cost of such strict conformity.
His ultimate rejection of Sameness highlights the indomitable human spirit’s need for individuality, love, and the freedom to experience the full spectrum of life, both its joys and sorrows. The Giver challenges us to consider the value of our own colorful, complex world. For a broader collection of pivotal moments from Jonas’s journey, explore our main selection of memorable quotes from The Giver.
Important Note on Page Numbers & Edition:
Like Jonas gradually perceiving the lost colors of the world, page numbers in different editions can reveal slightly different landscapes; the ones seen here are based on the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt paperback edition (ISBN: 978-0-544-33626-1). Always consult your copy to ensure the memory aligns with your reading experience.
Jeremy Mortis, founder of Ageless Investing, applies a rigorous analytical approach (the AAM framework) to distill timeless wisdom and contextualized quotes from classic literature, saving you time while deepening understanding. Learn more about Jeremy’s unique background and methodology on his author bio page.