Stephen Chbosky Quotes

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.

Craig said the problem with things is that everyone is always comparing everyone with everyone

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.

To tell you the truth, I've just been avoiding everything.

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]

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't

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.

I think on my next birthday, I'm going to buy her a present. I think that should be the tradition. The kid gets gifts from everybody, and he buys one present for his mom since she was there, too. I think that would be nice.

Banning books gives us silence when we need speech. It closes our ears when we need to listen. It makes us blind when we need sight.

Girls like guys to be a challenge. It gives them some mold to fit in how they act. Like a mom. What would a mom do if she couldn't fuss over you and make you clean your room? And what would you do without her fussing and making you do it? Everyone needs a mom. And a mom knowns this. And it gives her a sense of purpose. You get it?

Movies, by nature, are not subjective, they're objective.

I want to make sure that the first person you kiss loves you, okay?

I just laid around in my bed, looking at the ceiling, and i smiled because it was a nice kind of quiet.

And all the books you've read have been read by other people. And all the songs you've loved have been heard by other people. And that girl that's pretty to you is pretty to other people. and that if you looked at these facts when you were happy, you would feel great because you are describing 'unity.

I wasn't raised very religiously because my parents went to Catholic school, but I do believe in God very much. I just never gave God a name, if you know what I mean. I hope I haven't let Him down regardless.

Maybe it's good to put things in perspective, but sometimes, I think that the only perspective is to really be there.

I wonder what it will be like when I leave this place.

I'm not saying she was lying to me, but she just acted so different before I got to know her, and if she really isn't like what she was at the beginning, I wish she could have just said so.

I didn't feel like reading that night, so I went downstairs and watched a half-hour long commercial that advertised an exercise machine. They kept flashing a 1-800 number, so I called it. The woman who picked up the other end of the phone was named Michelle. And I told Michelle that I was a kid and did not need an exercise machine, but I hoped she was having a good night. That's when Michelle hung up on me. And I didn't mind a bit.

As I was walking up the stairs to dad's old room, and I was looking at the photographs, I started thinking that there was a time when these weren't memories. That someone actually took the photograph, and the people in the photograph had just eaten lunch or something.

And I guess I realized at that moment that I really did love her. Because there was nothing to gain, and that didn't matter.

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.

Enjoy it. Because it's happening.

I just wish that God or my parents or Sam or my sister or someone would just tell me what's wrong with me. Just tell me how to be different in a way that makes sense. To make this all go away.

I couldn't believe Sam actually got me a present because i honestly thought the "I love you" was it.

He was the boy that made mix tapes with themes and hand-colored covers until the day he hit my sister and stopped crying.

Well, I think that part of being young is not exactly knowing why you do some of the things that you do. And it's by exploring your life or experimenting or making mistakes and learning from them hopefully that you start to forge an identity.

Have you ever done that? You feel really bad, and then it goes away, and you don’t know why.

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.

Everyone is special in their own way.

It’s strange how things can change back as suddenly as they changed originally. When one thing happens and suddenly, things are back to normal.

On Friday night, I was reading my new book, but my brain got tired, so I decided to watch some television instead.

Why do I and everyone I love pick people who treat us like we're nothing"; - "We accept the love we think we deserve.

Old pictures look very rugged and young, and the people in the photographs always seem a lot happier than you are.

What about when someone doesn't need a shoulder? What if they need the arms?

I don't even remember the season. I just remember walking between them and feeling for the first time that I belonged somewhere.

After a few minutes, it was time for me to leave. I don't know who decides these things. It just happens.

You can't just sit there and put everyone's lives ahead of yours and think that counts as love. You just can't. You have to do things.

My dad said I did the right thing. I hope I did, but it's hard to tell sometimes.

You get the right collection of people together and you get the atmosphere together that it is very free where there is no judgment. If you create an atmosphere that is very open you steer the ship.

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.

It's just hard to see a friend hurt this much. Especially when you can't do anything except 'be there.' I just want to make him stop hurting, but I can't. So I just follow him around whenever he wants to show me his world.

Patrick started running after the sunset. And Sam immediately followed him. And I saw them in silhouette. Running after the sun.

If you are in a movie theater, you can look two people down and they are laughing while you are laughing or you can look three people down and they love that song that you love. It is living proof that you are not alone.

I love Twinkies, and the reason I am saying that is because we are all supposed to think of reasons to live.

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.

She said that by introducing me to all these great things, Mary Elizabeth gained a “superior position” that she wouldn’t need if she was confident about herself. She also said that people who try to control situations all the time are afraid that if they don’t, nothing will work out the way they want.

Do you think if people knew how crazy you really were, no one would ever talk to you?