A.S. King

“Are there baby steps toward complete loserdom, and if so, how many are there to go?”

“What does a boy who' witnessed what Charlie's witnessed know about trust? How does a boy like that discern right from wrong?”

“Today I am in control because I want to be. I have my fingers on the switch, but have lived a lifetime ignoring the control I have over my own world. Today is different.”

“The trick is remembering that change is as easy as you make it. The trick is remembering that you are the boss of you.”

“I get the urge to feel it, too, so when she takes her hand away, I turn her toward me and I feel the edges of New Jersey. I kiss Hoboken and Atlantic City. I kiss Newark and Trenton. I kiss Camden, and then I follow the road west, over the Walt Whitman Bridge into Pennsylvania. And I kiss home.”

“She's like a kindness ninja. Sneaking around in order to help people.”

“I didn't have the time to slice a hundred shallow cuts into his lips and make him suck limes. I was too busy to make him swallow oiled musket balls. I had more important things to think about now and a lot to do. -Saffron in Dust of 100 Dogs”

“The world is full of assholes. What are you doing to make sure you're not one of them?”

“Isn't it funny how we live inside the lies we believe?”

“I reminded myself that the one thing Jenny Flick couldn't buy, no matter what she used as currency, was a ticket to drive on the high road next to people like me.”

“But that's a side effect of alcohol, isn't it? Stopping to think about other people is not on the bar menu.”

“But they keep saving me because they know I stand for something. They're just not sure what yet.-The Pagoda”

“I miss him so much, but it's confusing, because I missed him long before he was dead, and that's the bitch of it all. I missed him long before he was dead.”

“No patience. No kisses. No hugs. Just a tweezers and some rubbing alcohol, and a stinging sensation that never goes away.”

“The willow is green; flowers are read. The flower is not red; nor is the willow green. Same went for Charlie. Charlie was my friend; he was very nice to me. Charlie was not my friend; nor was he very nice to me.”

“The thing you don't see while you're still there on Earth is how easy it is to change your mind. When you're in it and you're mixed up with feelings, assumptions, influences, and misconceptions, things seem completely impossible to change. From here, you see that change is as easy as flicking a light switch in your brain.”

“Loving Vera Dietz was the scariest thing that ever happened to me.”

“She looked into space a lot, didn't say much, and kissed my father when midnight came, as if she were punching a time card.”

“Yo prefiero sentir algo real en lugar de fingir que algo no es lo que es""El secreto está en recordar que el cambio puede ser tan fácil como tú lo decidas. El secreto está en recordar que tú eres el jefe""La cita decia: De cuantos problemas nos podríamos deshacer si, en lugar de decidir tener algo, decidiéramos ser alguien""Quiero decirle que no tiene caso ocultarse, quierp decirle que cuando construyes un muro a tu alrededor, lo único que consigues es alcanzar el vacío”

“I'm sorry, but I don't get it. If we're supposed to ignore everything that's wrong with our lives, then I can't see how we'll ever make things right.”

“I was also built from delusional optimism and folly.”

“I wager that most human beings do five things a day they cannot logically explain.”

“I mean, I ignore plenty of stuff, like school spirit days and the dirty looks I get from the Detentionheads while I try to slink through the halls unnoticed. But there's something about telling other people what to ignore that just doesn't work for me. Especially things we shouldn't be ignoring.Hear that girl in your class is being abused by her stepfather and had to go to the clinic? Hear she's bringing her mother's pills to school and selling them to pay for it? Ignore. Ignore. Ignore. Mind your own business. Don't make waves. Fly under the radar. It's just one of those things, Vera. I'm sorry, but I don't get it. If we're supposed to ignore everything that's wrong in our lives, then I can't see how we'll ever make things right.”

“I'd rather feel something for real than pretend it's not what it is. Which Zen guy said "If you want to drown, do not torture yourself with shallow water"?”

“Charlie turned to me. "Want some?"I said, "Nah." What I meant was: Who are you?”

“Because with Charlie, nothing was ever easy. Everything was windswept and octagonal and finger-combed. Everything was difficult and odd, and the theme songs all had minor chords.”

“You'll never lose me, Vera. I'm the Great Hunter now.”

“I wish we could go back in time and climb trees together again. I love you, Vera. I always will.”

“DAD: Why didn't you say this when it happened?ME: It's complicated.Don't they know that regret begets regret begets regret?DR. B: Vera, you need to answer the question.ME: Because I loved Charlie too much.DAD: Loved him?DR. B: Is that all?ME: Because I hated Charlie too much.”

“True love includes equal parts good and bad, but true loves sticks around and doesn't run off to Vegas with a podiatrist.”

“Is it okay to hate a dead kid? Even if you loved him once? Even if he was my best friend? Is it okay to hate him for being dead?”

“...there's something about telling other people what to ignore that just doesn't work for me. Especially things we shouldn't be ignoring. Kid bullying you at school? Ignore him. Girl passing rumors? Ignore her. Eighth-grade teacher pinch your friend's ass? Ignore it. Sexist geometry teacher says girls shouldn't go to college because they will only ever pop out babies and get fat? Ignore him. Hear that a girl in your class is being abused by her stepfather and had to go to the clinic? Hear she's bringing her mother's pills to school and selling them to pay for it? Ignore. Ignore. Ignore. Mind your own business. Don't make waves. Fly under the radar. It's just one of those things, Vera. I'm sorry, but I don't get it. If we're supposed to ignore everything that's wrong with our lives, then I can't see how we'll ever make things right.”

“On one hand, it's nice on the other side. Secrets don't exist. There's nothing to ignore, and no destiny. On the other hand, the same thing is possible in life, if only we'd start paying attention to the right stuff.”

“My toaster could have a soul,and the walnut grove to the east of my house could be just a bunch of trees or could be made from the atoms of Elvis or Mussolini.Why not?”

“I felt a mix of wanting to kill him and wanting to kiss him at the same time. When I thought of what true love must be like, I figured it must be like this, and not the stupid eighth grade infatuation most girls my age felt. True love includes an equal part of good and bad, but true sticks around and doesn't run off to Vegas with a podiatrist.”

“She wore too much eyeliner then, at age thirteen, and now, at eighteen, she wears so much black under her eyes, she looks like a slutty linebacker raccoon.”

“It seems the older people get, the more shit they ignore. Or, like Dad, they pay attention to stuff that distracts them from the more important things that they’re ignoring.”