Stephen Chbosky
I really think that everyone should have watercolors, magnetic poetry, and a harmonica.Collection: Thinking
When you publish a book, you do so in part to end the silence. All censorship is silence. I would never, as an author, feel right requiring a young person whose family would object to the book to read it. Just as I would never force that person to read it, I would ask those folks to not force others not to read it. To me, that is just good manners.Collection: Book
And in that moment, I swear we were infinite.Collection: Infinity
I just don't want you to worry about me, or think you've met me, or waste your time anymore.Collection: Thinking
Sometimes, I look outside, and I think that a lot of other people have seen this snow before. Just like I think that a lot of other people have read those books before. And listened to those songs. I wonder how they feel tonight.Collection: Song
We didn't talk about anything heavy or light. We were just there together. And that was enoughCollection: Light
Do you know what 'masturbation' is? I think you probably do because you are older than me. But just in case, I will tell you. Masturbation is when you rub your genitals until you have an orgasm. Wow!Collection: Thinking
I said no to having a beer. I once had a beer with my brother when I was twelve, and I just didn't like it. It's really that simple for me. [pp.37]Collection: Brother
You know . . . a lot of kids at school hate their parents. Some of them got hit. And some of them got caught in the middle of wrong lives. Some of them were trophies for their parents to show the neighbors like ribbons or gold stars. And some of them just wanted to drink in peace.Collection: Stars
On Friday night, I was reading my new book, but my brain got tired, so I decided to watch some television instead.Collection: Friday
Patrick started driving really fast, and just before we got to the tunnel. Sam stood up, and the wind turned her dress into ocean waves. When we hit the tunnel, all the sound got scooped up into a vacuum, and it was replaced by a song on the tape player. A beautiful song called “Landslide.” When we got out of the tunnel, Sam screamed this really fun scream, and there it was. Downtown. Lights on buildings and everything that makes you wonder. Sam sat down and started laughing. Patrick started laughing. I started laughing. And in that moment, I swear we were infinite.Collection: Beautiful
I walk around the school hallways and look at the people. I look at the teachers and wonder why they're here. If they like their jobs. Or us. And I wonder how smart they were when they were fifteen. Not in a mean way. In a curious way. It's like looking at all the students and wondering who's had their heart broken that day, and how they are able to cope with having three quizzes and a book report due on top of that. Or wondering who did the heart breaking. And wondering why.Collection: Life
Despite everything my mom and doctor and dad have said to me about blame, I can't stop thinking what I know. And I know that my aunt Helen would still be alive today if she just bought me one present like everybody else. She would be alive if I were born on a day that didn't snow.Collection: Mom
and for the first time in my life I understand the end of that poem. And I never wanted to. You have to believe me.Collection: Believe
Part of the reason I wrote the book was I wanted to understand for myself why such good people let themselves get treated so badly.Collection: Book
Writing a novel is a lot like directing a movie because you are creating a world and a tone, you are creating a large canvas and all the details.Collection: Writing
Writing screenplays is incredibly hard. I can't call it joy. Writing Novels? Joy. Directing? Joy. Writing Screenplays? That's where you pay all your dues.Collection: Writing
I've never understood the need people have to dictate morality to other people. I really don't know what it is. I don't know if it's fear or the belief that they know the only right way. Or maybe they see a lot of social ills and social decline, and they really think they have the elixir for it.Collection: Thinking
I look at the field, and I think about the boy who just made the touchdown. I think that these are the glory days for that boy, and this moment will just be another story someday because all the people who make touchdowns and home runs will become somebody's dad. And when his children look at his yearbook photograph, they will think that their dad was rugged and handsome and looked a lot happier than they are. I just hope I remember to tell my kids that they are as happy as I look in my old photographs. And I hope that they believe me.Collection: Running
All I could do is lie there and think about how much her voice changed when she asked me if she was pretty, and how much she changed when I answered.Collection: Lying
I was in the shopping mall because that's where I go lately. For the last couple of weeks, I've been going there every day, trying to figure out why people go there. It's kind of a personal project.Collection: Couple
I don't know if you've ever felt like that. That you wanted to sleep for thousands of years. Or just not exist.Collection: Sleep
And I wonder if anyone is really happy. I hope they are. I really hope they are.Collection: Wonder
But in that moment when my brother took the field, all that washed away, and everyone was proud... I looked up at my dad, and he was smiling. I looked at my mom, and she was smiling even though she was nervous about my brother getting hurt, which was strange because it was a VCR tape of an old game, and she knew he didn't get hurt.Collection: Mom
Except that my father got a raise, and my mother didn't because she doesn't get paid for housework, and my sister stopped reading those self-esteem books because she met a new boyCollection: Mother
And things were back to normal except we were just friends.Collection: Just Friends
The sound of the radio fades to nothing because the waves just can't reachCollection: Sound
The fights are always the sameCollection: Fighting
I think they were afraid that some of us would try to kill ourselves or something because they looked very tense and one of them kept touching his beard.Collection: Thinking
I was in my bed trying to figure out why sometimes you can wake up and go back to sleep and other times you can'tCollection: Sleep
The radio comes back even louder than you remember it.Collection: Radio
If it meant that I would never get to think of you that way, as long as you were happy, it was okay.Collection: Thinking
Old pictures look very rugged and young, and the people in the photographs always seem a lot happier than you are.Collection: People
Charlie, you’re one of the most gifted people I’ve ever known. And I don’t mean in terms of my other students. I mean in terms of anyone I’ve ever met.Collection: Mean
Calls her beautiful, but she cannot hear.Collection: Beautiful
Regardless, I decided to never take LSD again.Collection: Lsd
How about your favorite book?" "This Side of Paradise by From. Scott Fitzgerald." "Why?" "Because it was the last one I read." This made them laugh because they knew I meant it honest, not show-off. Then they told me their favorites, and we sat quiet.Collection: Book
I couldn't believe Sam actually got me a present because i honestly thought the "I love you" was it.Collection: Believe
I guess when you see somebody in the hallway or on the field or something, it's nice to know that they are a real person.Collection: Real
Susan was very fun to be around. She liked movies, and her brother Frank made her tapes of this great music that she shared with us. But over the summer she had her braces taken off, and she got a little taller and prettier and grew breasts. Now, she acts a lot dumber in the hallways, especially when boys are around. And I think it's sad because Susan doesn't look as happy.Collection: Summer
deep down...she's a good woman...you should be proud of her." When I told my mom about this, she just looked very sad because he could never say those things to her. Not ever. Not even when he walked her down the aisle.Collection: Mom
To kill a mockingbird. If you haven't read it, I think you should because it is very interesting.Collection: Thinking
we are all supposed to think of reasons to live.Collection: Thinking
It's kind of like when you look at yourself in the mirror and you say your name. And it gets to a point where none of it seems real.Collection: Real
I don't know the significance of this, but I find it very interesting.Collection: Interesting
I don't even remember the season. I just remember walking between them and feeling for the first time that I belonged somewhere.Collection: Feelings
Some kids look at me strange in the hallways because I don't decorate my locker.Collection: Kids
After a few minutes, it was time for me to leave. I don't know who decides these things. It just happens.Collection: Minutes
More like the movie where the guy meets a smart girl who wears a lot of sweaters and drinks cocoa. They talk about books and issues and kiss in the rain.Collection: Girl