it’s a long race and you can always outwork talent in the end

you don’t put demands on people and you never say anything negative–ever. So many people suck the life out of everyone they’re around, but you don’t do that. You give people strength just by being...

And I still love you in my own fucked-up way. I miss you, I really do. Can we still be friends?

Haven’t you ever noticed that life is like a series of movies?

People should be nice to you, Leonard. You’re a human being. You should expect people to be nice.

Remember – it’s a long race and you can always outwork talent in the end.

… Kenny G is extremely talented and resourceful and a powerful force to be reckoned with … Mr. G might not seem evil, but I fear him more than any other human being.

Life is not a PG feel-good movie. Real life often ends badly. Literature tries to document this reality, while showing us it is still possible for us to endure nobly.

And I understood why he didn’t need friends or to be accepted at our shitty racist high school, because he had his music, and that was so much better than anything we had to offer.

You need to make time for your family no matter what happens in your life

A lot of female teachers do this – flirt with male students. I wonder if that’s the only way they know how to interact with men. Like they use their sexuality to get what they...

…I like the way Chee kept God magical, sorta like Santa Claus when you’re a kid. More priests should take this approach, because there is a frickin’ reason why Santa Claus is more popular than...

I can always look up at the cosmos and marvel, no matter what happens. And when I look up at it, I feel as though my problems are small. I don’t know why, but it...

That’s basically the mantra of Herr Silverman’s teaching – think for yourself and do what’s right for you, but let others do the same.

Your mother is risking a lot, because she believes in you.

Miracles happen on Christmas, Pat. Everybody knows that shit.

You need to know it’s your actions that will make you a good person, not desire.

Air goes in and outof my nose, throat, lungs, blood, heartbrain – and so I am

Nobody knows anything when they are in their midtwenties.

The bullies are always popular.Why?People love power.

I am not weak and can control my mind really well”.

Silence has always been my default mode—my best defense against the rest of the world.

…Daisy doesn’t even go to his funeral, Nick and Jordan part ways, and Daisy ends up sticking with racist Tom… you can tell Fitzgerald never took the time to look up at clouds during sunset,...

You may exist inthis world–but I exist tooand I will not yield

Although once when we were talking after class, Herr Silverman told me that when someone rises up and holds himself to a higher standard, even when doing so benefits others, average people resent it, mostly...

…I am uncontrollable and dangerous. But of course I do not say this to Jake, mostly because he has never been locked up and doesn’t understand what it feels like to lose control, and he...

Look, sometimes it’s OK with girls like this, they wanna have fun, and sometimes it’s not because they’ve got a broken wing and they’re hurt and they’re an easy target. In this case, this particular...

Here’s looking at you, kid.

Why didn’t my father get to give Mom the fairy tale? Why do most people fail to give each other the fairy tale?

The whole time I pretend I have mental telepathy. And with my mind only, I’ll say — or think? — to the target, ‘Don’t do it. Don’t go to that job you hate. Do something...

After I returned to New Jersey, I thought I was safe, because I did not think Kenny G could leave the bad place, which I realize is silly now – because Kenny G is extremely...

Someday an opportunity will come. Think about Harry Potter. His life is terrible, but then a letter arrives, he gets on a train, and everything is different for him afterward. Better. Magical.””That’s just a story.””So...

I still believe you fell into my life for a reason.

Mom could make small things seem miraculous. That was her talent.

There’s a lot for you to live for. Good things are definitely in your future, Leonard. I’m sure of it. You have no idea how many interesting people you’ll meet after high school’s over. Your...

I found posts about how to slit your wrists the “right way”, so you will actually die, and that depressed me, because people actually post stuff like that, and even though I wanted to know...

You don’t always get to pick the role you’re going to play in life, but it’s good to play whatever role you got the best way you can.

She’s fulfilled her obligation, assuaged her conscience by finding me in the hallway and giving me the chance to freak out, and I’ve played my role too, by remaining calm, pretending to be okay, and...

So the key is doing something that sets you apart forever in the minds of regular people.Something that matters.

And what is reality, if it isn’t how we feel about things?

I was right; just as soon as you take the first step toward getting to know someone your own age, everything you thought was magical about that person turns to shit right in front of...

We really don’t get to understand /why/ most of the time. It’s true.

You’re different. And I’m different too. Different is good. But different is hard. Believe me, I know.

I’m trying to let him know what I’m about to do.I’m hoping he can save me, even though I realize he can’t.

I believe in happy endings, and i feel this movie has advanced long enough.

Pat, it’s not sexual – it’s modern dance.

He never once tells me what Tiffany thinks or what is going on in her heart: the awful feelings, the conflicting impulses, the needs, the desperation, everything that makes her different from Ronnie and Veronica,...

Of course I began to see Nikki, which was strange because I was staring into Danny’s eyes, and Danny is a six-foot-three black man who looks nothing like my ex-wife.

Let me tell ya. You gotta pay attention to signs. When life reaches out with a moment like this it’s a sin if you don’t reach back… I’m telling you.

I’m a screwed-up person who no longerknows how to communicate with the people I love. But I meant everything I told you in my letter.