Stephen Chbosky

“Go for the knees, throat, and eyes"And I did. And I really hurt Sean. And then I started crying.”

“She thanked me for not trying to make what I did seem less by offering a lot of excuses.”

“And she says she wants to expose me to all these great things. And to tell you the truth, I don't really want to be exposed to all these great things if it means that I'll have to hear Mary Elizabeth talk about all the great things she exposed me to all the time. I don't understand that. I would give someone a record so they could love the record, not so they would always know that I gave it to them.”

“if shes says no, then you have to assume she means it...because if you force her to do something she doesn't want to do, then your in big trouble mister... and even if she says no, and really means yes, the quite frankly she's playing games and isn't worth the price of dinner.”

“What has 32 legs and 1 tooth?'What?' we all asked.A West Virginia unemployment line.”

“They've been talking about their prom nonstop. Even the people that think it's a “joke” like Mary Elizabeth can't stop talking about what a “joke” it is. It's all very fun to witness.”

“That scared me a lot. It scared me how much it scared me. Being punished for something you did not do. Or being an innocent victim. It's just something that I never want to experience.”

“My dad and my brother and my cousins carry him out to the car of the person who is least angry at him.”

“my grandfather always says is "too dry" even if it's soup.”

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

“Are you okay?""Leave me alone, Charlie.""No, really. What's wrong?""You wouldn't understand.""I could try.""That's a laugh. That's really a laugh.""Do you want me to wake up Mom and Dad then?""No.""Well, maybe they could -""CHARLIE! SHUT UP! OKAY?! JUST SHUT UP!”

“Next was Alice. I gave her a book by Anne Rice because she is always talking about her. And she looked at me like she couldn't believe I knew she loved Anne Rice. I guess she didn't know how much she talked or how much I listen.”

“That nice feeling when you look in the mirror, and your hair's right for the first time in your life? I don;t think we should base so much on weight, muscles, and a good hair day, but when it happens, it's nice. It really is.”

“I hope it's the kind of second side that he can listen to whenever he drives alone and feel like he belongs to something whenever he's sad. I hope it can be that for him.”

“My grandfather was crying. The kind of quiet that is quiet and a secret. The kind of crying that only I noticed. I thought about him going into my mom's room when she was little and hitting my mom and holding up her report card and saying that her bad grades would never happen again. And I think now that maybe he meant my older brother. Or my sister. Or me. That he would make sure that he was the one to work in a mill. I don't know if that's good or bad. I don't know if it's better to have your kids be happy and not go to college. I don't know if it's better to be close with your daughter or make sure she has a better life than you do. I just don't know.”

“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.”

“Do you enjoy holidays with your family? I don't mean your mom and dad family, but your uncle and aunt and cousin family? Personally, I do. There are several reasons for this. First, I am very interested and fascinated by how everyone loves each other, but no one really likes each other. Second, the fights are always the same.”

“Charlie, don’t you get it? I can’t feel that. It’s sweet and everything, but it’s like you’re not even there sometimes. It’s great that you can listen and be a shoulder to someone, but what about when someone doesn’t need a shoulder? What if they need the arms or something like that? You can’t just sit there and put everybody’s lives ahead of yours and think that counts as love. You just can’t. You have to do things.”

“It's sweet and everything, but it's like you're not even there sometimes. It's great that you can listen and be a shoulder to someone, but what about when someone doesn't need a shoulder? What if they need the arms or something like that? You can't just sit there and put everybody's lives ahead of yours and think that counts as love. You just can't. You have to do things." "Like what?" I asked. My mouth was dry. "I don't know. Like take their hands when the slow song comes up for a change. Or be the one who asks someone for a date. Or tell people what you need. Or what you want.”

“He says when you're smoking a cigarette with someone, and you have a lighter, you should light their cigarette first. But if you have matches, you should light your cigarette first, so you breathe in the 'harmful sulfur' instead of them. He says it's the polite thing to do. He also says it's bad luck to have "three on a match." He heard that from his uncle who fought in Vietnam. Something about how three cigarettes was enough time for the enemy to know where you are. Bob says that when you're alone, and you light a cigarette, and the cigarette is only halfway lit that means someone is thinking about you.”

“My sister said Mary Elizabeth is suffering from low self-esteem, but I told her that she said the same thing about Sam back in November when she started dating Craig, and Sam is completely different. Everything can't be low self-esteem, can it? My sister tried to clarify things. 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.”

“She also keeps talking about the Billie Holiday record she bought for me. And she says she wants to expose me to all these great things. And to tell you the truth, I don't really want to be exposed to all these great things if it means that I'll have to listen to Mary Elizabeth talk about all the great things she exposed me to all the time. It almost feels like of the three things involved: Mary Elizabeth, me, and the great things, only the first one matters to Mary Elizabeth. I don't understand that. I would give someone a record so they could love the record, not so they would always know that I gave it to them.”

“I know we didn't accomplish anything, but it felt great to sit there and talk about our place in things.”

“I was last. Sam walked up and held me for a long time. Finally she whispered in my ear. She said a lot of wonderful things about how it was okay that i wasn't ready last night and how she would miss me and how she wanted me to take care of myself while she was gone."You're my bestfriend," was all i could say in return.”

“No puedes sólo sentarte y poner la vida de todos por encima de la tuya y pensar que eso cuenta como amor. Simplemente no puedes. Tienes que hacer algo.”

“No recuerdo a dónde íbamos o de dónde veníamos, incluso no recuerdo la temporada, sólo recuerdo caminar en medio de los dos y sentir por primera vez que pertenecía a algún lugar.”

“Nadie en mi familia es rico, pero parece que todos ahorran lo necesario para este tipo de eventos, y todos fingimos que somos ricos por un día.”

“Todos tenían frases de canciones pop que tenían algo que ver con el futuro”

“Y mi mamá seguía callando a mi abuelo, quien seguía hablando sobre la cantidad de personas negras que había en la escuela.”

“Éramos demasiado jóvenes para saber que al conductor no le importaban nuestras canciones.”

“No sé cuánto tiempo más puedo seguir adelante sin un amigo. Solía ser capaz de hacerlo muy fácilmente, pero eso fue antes de que supiera lo que significa tener un amigo.”

“Me acosté en su vieja cama, y miré por la ventana este árbol que probablemente era mucho más pequeño cuando mi padre lo miraba. Y pude sentir lo que sentía en la noche cuando se dio cuenta de que si no se iba, nunca sería su vida. Sería de ellos.”

“the problem with things is that everyone is always comparing everyone with everyone and because of that, it discredits people...”

“Sam dropped me off. When she was too far away to see me, I started to cry again. Because she was my friend again. And that was enough for me.”

“If you care about somebody, you should want them to be happy. Even if you wind up being left out.”

“I read the book again that night because I knew that if I didn't, I would probably start crying again.”

“He's a wallflower." And Bob nodded his head. And the whole room nodded their head. And i started to feel nervous in the Bob way, but Patrick didn't let me get too nervous. He sat down next to me."You see things. You keep quiet about them. And you understand.”

“And we were talking about things that seemed important at the time. And we were looking up that hill. And then Patrick started running after the sunset. And Sam immediately followed him. And I saw them in silhouette. Running after the sun. Then, I started running. And everything was as good as it could be.”

“Dear Friend, I'm sorry I haven't written to you in a couple of weeks, but I have been trying to 'participate' like Bill said.”

“And nobody felt sad as long as we could postpone tomorrow with more nostalgia.”

“Nothing in the world like a sore stomach for the right reasons.”

“He realized that if he didn't leave, it would never be his life. It would be theirs.”

“He got this very serious look on his face after I told him, and he said something to me I don't think I will forget this semester or ever. 'Charlie, we accept the love we think we deserve.”

“I wish I knew. It might make me miss him more clearly. It might have made sad sense.”

“When I was done reading the poem, everyone was quiet. A very sad quiet. But the amazing thing was that it wasn’t a bad sad at all. It was just something that made everyone look around at each other and know that they were there. Sam and Patrick looked at me. And I looked at them. And I think they knew. Not anything specific really. They just knew. And I think that’s all you can ever ask from a friend.”

“I want them to like the real me, not what they think I am. And I don't want to them to carry it around inside. I want them to show me, so I can feel it, too. I want them to be able to do whatever they want around me. And if they do something I don't like, I'll tell them.”

“I don’t know if I will have the time to write any more letters, because I might be too busy trying to participate. So, if this does end up being the last letter, I just want you to know that I was in a bad place before I started high school, and you helped me. Even if you didn’t know what I was talking about, or know someone who’s gone through it, you made me not feel alone. Because I know there are people who say all these things don’t happen. And there are people who forget what it’s like to be sixteen when they turn seventeen. I know these will all be stories some day, and our pictures will become old photographs. We all become somebody’s mom or dad. But right now, these moments are not stories. This is happening. I am here, and I am looking at her. And she is so beautiful. I can see it. This one moment when you know you’re not a sad story. You are alive. And you stand up and see the lights on the buildings and everything that makes you wonder. And you’re listening to that song, and that drive with the people who you love most in this world. And in this moment, I swear, we are infinite.”

“they were there. Sam and Patrick looked at me. And I looked at them. And I think they knew. Not anything specific really. They just knew. And I think that's all you can ever ask from a friend.”

“There are rules you follow here not because you want to, but because you have to.”

“We were just there together. And that was enough.”