The world will break your heart ten ways to Sunday, that’s guaranteed. And I can’t begin to explain that- or the craziness inside myself and everybdy else,but guess what? Sunday is my fav day again
Matthew QuickI don't want to stay in the bad place, where no one believes in silver linings or love or happy endings.
Matthew QuickInstead he thinks up the worst ending imaginable: Hemingway has Catherine die from hemorrhaging after their child is stillborn. It is the most torturous ending I have ever experienced and probably will ever experience in literature, movies, or even television. I am crying so hard at the end, partly for the characters, yes, but also because Nikki actually teaches this book to children. I cannot imagine why anyone would want to expose impressionable teenagers to such a horrible ending. Why not just tell high school students that their struggle to improve themselves is all for nothing?
Matthew QuickLife 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.
Matthew QuickYou can lose yourself in repetition—quiet your thoughts; I learned the value of this at a very young age.
Matthew QuickMy other friends are in music relaxation class, which I do not attend, because smooth jazz makes me angry sometimes.
Matthew QuickPeople should be nice to you, Leonard. You're a human being. You should expect people to be nice.
Matthew QuickThe only way to beat my crazy was by doing something even crazier. Thank you. I love you. I knew it from the moment I saw you. I'm sorry it took me so long to catch up.
Matthew QuickYou're different. And I'm different too. Different is good. But different is hard. Believe me, I know.
Matthew QuickLook, 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 case, I think that wing is being fixed, my friend, and you gotta make sure that it’s mended and you’re getting in the way of that right now, okay, because she’s sensitive and she’s smart, she’s artistic. This is a great girl, you gotta be respectful to that. Come on, let me walk you to your car, you’re a better guy than this.
Matthew QuickWhen she needed help most, she was abandoned--and only when she offered help to others was she beloved.
Matthew QuickI believe in happy endings," I tell him, "And it feels like this movie has gone on for the right amount of time.
Matthew QuickThere will always be a part of me that is dirty and sloppy, but I like that, just like all the other parts of myself.
Matthew QuickShe looks sad. She looks angry. She looks different from everyone else I know—she cannot put on that happy face others wear when they know they are being watched. She doesn’t put on a face for me, which makes me trust her somehow.
Matthew QuickIf clouds are blocking the sun, there will always be a silver lining that reminds me to keep on trying.
Matthew QuickMaybe my movie isn't over, I say, because sometimes moviemakers trick the audience with a false bad ending, and just when you think the movie is going to end badly, something dramatic happens, which leads to the happy ending. This seems like a good spot for something dramatic to happen, especially since it's my birthday.
Matthew QuickAlso, I sort of let my appearance go, to the point where I was maybe ten to seventy pounds overweight.
Matthew QuickDid you ever think about all of the nights you lived through and can't remember The ones that were so mundane your brain just didn't bother to record them. Hundreds, maybe thousands of nights come and go without being preserved by our memory. Does that ever freak you out? Like maybe your mind recorded all of the wrong nights?
Matthew QuickWhen I run, I always pretend I am running toward Nikki, and it makes me feel like I am decreasing the amount of time I have to wait until I see her again.
Matthew QuickAlthough 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 because they're not strong enough to do the same.
Matthew QuickThe problem with the stigma around mental health is really about the stories that we tell ourselves as a society. What is normal? That's just a story that we tell ourselves.
Matthew QuickSomeday 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 are we- we're stories too.
Matthew QuickPeople can be cruel,' he says with a sympathetic look that makes me trust him even more. And right then I realize that he is not writing down all my words in a file, which I really appreciate, let me tell you.
Matthew QuickDo you like foreign films?” “With subtitles?” “Yes.” “I hate those types of films.” “Me too,” Cliff says. “Mostly because - “ “No happy endings.
Matthew QuickAfter 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 talented and resourceful and a powerful force to be reckoned with.
Matthew QuickSo I’m thinking this is the part of my movie where things appear as if nothing is going to work out. I have to remind myself that all movie characters go through this sort of dark period before they find their happy ending.
Matthew QuickI will not be quoting Hemingway anytime soon, nor will I ever read another one of his books. And if he were still alive, I would write him a letter right now and threaten to strangle him dead with my bare hands just for being so glum. No wonder he put a gun to his head, like it says in the introductory essay.
Matthew QuickI think all it really takes for different people to get along is a common rooting interest and a few beers.
Matthew Quick