Stephen Chbosky Quotes

I wanted to laugh. Or maybe get mad. Or maybe shrug at how strange everyone was, especially me.
Stephen Chbosky
Then the movie started. It was in a foreign language and had subtitles, which was fun because I had never read a movie before.
Stephen Chbosky
Math has never made any sense to me.
Stephen Chbosky
Sam looked at me soft. And she hugged me. And I closed my eyes because I wanted to know nothing but her arms.
Stephen Chbosky
Then, I started running. And everything was as good as it could be.
Stephen Chbosky
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.
Stephen Chbosky
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.
Stephen Chbosky
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.
Stephen Chbosky
I just think it's bad when a boy looks at a girl and thinks that the way he sees her is better than she actually is. And I think it's bad when the most honest way a boy can look at a girl is through a camera.
Stephen Chbosky
Friends leave and life doesn't stop for anybody
Stephen Chbosky
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.
Stephen Chbosky
I think it's nice for stars to do interviews to make us think they are just like us, but to tell you the truth, I get the feeling that it's all a big lie. The problem is I don't know who's lying.
Stephen Chbosky
I think he was especially happy because I used to kiss this boy in the neighborhood a lot when I wasvery little, and even though the psychiatrist said it was very natural for little boys and girls to explorethings like that, I think my father was afraid anyway. I guess that's natural, but I'm not sure why.
Stephen Chbosky
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.
Stephen Chbosky
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.
Stephen Chbosky
Little kids talk about the strangest things. They really do.
Stephen Chbosky
I asked Patrick if he felt sad that he had to keep it a secret, and Patrick just said that he wasn't sad because at least now, Brad doesn't have to get drunk or stoned to make love.
Stephen Chbosky
It’s like when you’re excited about a girl and you see a couple holding hands, and you feel so happy for them. And other times you see the same couple, and they make you so mad. And all you want is to feel happy for them because you know that if you do, then it means you’re happy, too.
Stephen Chbosky
Maybe he didn’t really encourage me to do things, but he didn’t prevent me from doing them either. But after a while, I didn’t do things because I didn’t want him to think different about me. But the thing is, I wasn’t being honest. So, why would I care whether or not he loved me when he didn’t really even know me?
Stephen Chbosky
I just wish Mary Elizabeth would ask me questions other than “What's up?
Stephen Chbosky
A lot of parents make you feel very awkward when you meet them.
Stephen Chbosky
but my dad said it was no excuse."But I love him!" I had never seen my sister cry that much."No, you don't.""I hate you!""No, you don't." My dad can be very calm sometimes."He's my whole world.""Don't ever say that about anyone again. Not even me." That was my mom.
Stephen Chbosky
Some kids look at me strange in the hallways because I don't decorate my locker,...
Stephen Chbosky
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.
Stephen Chbosky
I know that things get worse before they get better because that's what my psychiatrist says, but this is a worse that feels too big.
Stephen Chbosky
Put my head under my pillow, and let the quiet put things where they are supposed to be.
Stephen Chbosky
I don’t know if you’ve ever felt like that. That you wanted to sleep for a thousand years. Or just not exist. Or just not be aware that you do exist. Or something like that. I think wanting that is very morbid, but I want it when I get like this. That’s why I’m trying not to think. I just want it all to stop spinning.
Stephen Chbosky
I think the idea is that every person has to live for his or her own life and then make the choice to share it with other people. You can't just sit there and put everybody's lives ahead of yours and think that counts as love.
Stephen Chbosky
Charlie ... have you ever kissed a girl?" I shook my head no. It was so quiet. "Not even when you were little?" I shook my head no again. And she looked very sad. She told me about the first time she was kissed. She told me that it was with one of her dad's friends. She was seven. And she told nobody about it except for Mary Elizabeth and then Patrick a year ago. And she started to cry. And she said something that I won't forget. Ever. "I know that you know that I like Craig. And I know that I told you not to think of me that way. And I know that we can't be together like that. But I want to forget all those things for a minute. Okay?" "Okay." "I want to make sure that the first person you kiss loves you. Okay?" "Okay." She was crying harder now. And I was, too, because when I hear something like that I just can't help it. "I just want to make sure of that. Okay?" "Okay." And she kissed me. It was the kind of kiss that I could never tell my friends about out loud. It was the kind of kiss that made me know that I was never so happy in my whole life.
Stephen Chbosky
And even if somebody else has it much worse, that doesn't really change the fact that you have what you have. Good and bad... Maybe it's good to put things in perspective, but sometimes, I think the only perspective is to really be there. Like Sam said. Because it's okay to feel things. And be who you are about them.
Stephen Chbosky
You know I blamed Craig for not letting me do things? You know how stupid I feel about that now? Maybe he didn't really encourage me to do things, but he didn't prevent me from doing them either. But after a while, I didn't do things because I didn't want him to think different about me. But the things is, I wasn't being honest. So, why would I care whether or not he loved me when he didn't really even know me?
Stephen Chbosky
Things change, friends leave. And life doesn't stop for anybody.
Stephen Chbosky
It was hard to listen to her all the time without getting to say anything back
Stephen Chbosky
I think that if I ever have kids, and they are upset, I won't tell them that people are starving in China or anything like that because it won't change the fact that they are upset.
Stephen Chbosky
I was just trying to be a friend,' I said. 'But you weren’t, Charlie. At those times, you weren’t being his friend at all. Because you weren’t honest with him.
Stephen Chbosky
So, tomorrow, I'm leaving. And I'm not going to let that happen again with anyone else. I'm going to do what I want to do. I'm going to be who I really am. And I'm going to figure out what that is. But right now I'm here with you. And I want to know where you are, what you need, and what you want to do.
Stephen Chbosky
I decided then that when I met someone I thought was as beautiful as the song, I should give it to that person. And I didn't mean beautiful on the outside. I meant beautiful in all ways. So, I was giving it to Sam
Stephen Chbosky
she hated everything her parents loved
Stephen Chbosky
It's nice to have things to look forward to.
Stephen Chbosky
I just kind of put my feelings away somewhere after that.
Stephen Chbosky
I know I should have been grateful because it was a very nice thing to do. But I wasn't grateful. I wasn't grateful at all. Don't get me wrong. I acted like I was. But I wasn't. To tell you the truth, I was starting to get mad.
Stephen Chbosky
I thought if I didnt take a break, I would do something even worse. Like yell or hang up the phone.
Stephen Chbosky
I just reminded myself that she didn't say it mean. She wasn't making fun of me. She wasn't comparing. Or criticizing.
Stephen Chbosky
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.
Stephen Chbosky
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.
Stephen Chbosky
It's much easier not to know things sometimes.
Stephen Chbosky
I am both happy and sad at the same time, and I'm still trying to figure out how that could be.
Stephen Chbosky
Once on a yellow piece of paper with green linesthe wrote a poemAnd he called it "Chops"tbecause that was the name of his dogAnd that's what it was all aboutAnd his teacher gave him an Atand a gold starAnd his mother hung it on the kitchen doortand read it to his auntsThat was the year Father Tracyttook all the kids to the zooAnd he let them sing on the busAnd his little sister was borntwith tiny toenails and no hairAnd his mother and father kissed a lotAnd the girl around the corner sent him aValentine signed with a row of X'stand he had to ask his father what the X's meantAnd his father always tucked him in bed at nightAnd was always there to do itOnce on a piece of white paper with blue linesthe wrote a poemAnd he called it "Autumn"tbecause that was the name of the seasonAnd that's what it was all aboutAnd his teacher gave him an Atand asked him to write more clearlyAnd his mother never hung it on the kitchen doortbecause of its new paintAnd the kids told himtthat Father Tracy smoked cigarsAnd left butts on the pewsAnd sometimes they would burn holesThat was the year his sister got glassestwith thick lenses and black framesAnd the girl around the corner laughedtwhen he asked her to go see Santa ClausAnd the kids told him whythis mother and father kissed a lotAnd his father never tucked him in bed at nightAnd his father got madtwhen he cried for him to do it.Once on a paper torn from his notebookthe wrote a poemAnd he called it "Innocence: A Question"tbecause that was the question about his girlAnd that's what it was all aboutAnd his professor gave him an Atand a strange steady lookAnd his mother never hung it on the kitchen doortbecause he never showed herThat was the year that Father Tracy diedAnd he forgot how the endtof the Apostle's Creed wentAnd he caught his sistertmaking out on the back porchAnd his mother and father never kissedtor even talkedAnd the girl around the cornertwore too much makeupThat made him cough when he kissed hertbut he kissed her anywaytbecause that was the thing to doAnd at three a.m. he tucked himself into bedthis father snoring soundlyThat's why on the back of a brown paper bagthe tried another poemAnd he called it "Absolutely Nothing"Because that's what it was really all aboutAnd he gave himself an Atand a slash on each damned wristAnd he hung it on the bathroom doortbecause this time he didn't thinkthe could reach the kitchen.
Stephen Chbosky
What's the point of using words nobody knows or can say comfortably?
Stephen Chbosky
And she kissed me. It was the kind of kiss that I could never tell my friends about out loud. It was the kind of kiss that made me know that I was never so happy in my whole life.
Stephen Chbosky
It is now my favorite book of all time, but then again, I always think that until I read another book.
Stephen Chbosky
Things get worse before they get better, but this is a worse that feels too big.
Stephen Chbosky
She even told me how to treat a girl on a date, which was very interesting. She said that with a girl like Mary Elizabeth, you shouldn't tell her she looks pretty. You should tell her how nice her outfit is because her outfit is her choice whereas her face isn't. She also said that with some girls, you should do things like open car doors and buy flowers, but with Mary Elizabeth (especially since it's the Sadie Hawkins' dance), I shouldn't do that. So, I asked her what I should do, and she said that I should ask a lot of questions and not mind when Mary Elizabeth doesn't stop talking. I said that it didn't sound very democratic, but Sam said she does it all the time with boys.
Stephen Chbosky
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.
Stephen Chbosky
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.
Stephen Chbosky
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.
Stephen Chbosky
I don´t want to be somebody´s crush, if somebody likes me, i want them to like the real me, not what they think I am.
Stephen Chbosky
I know we didn't accomplish anything, but it felt great to sit there and talk about our place in things.
Stephen Chbosky
On that piece of white paper, Sam wrote, "Write about me sometime." And I typed back to her, standing right there in her bedroom. I just typed. "I will."And I felt good that those were the first two words that I ever typed on my new old typewriter that Sam gave me. We just sat there quiet for a moment, and she smiled. And I moved to the typewriter again, and I wrote something. "I love you too.
Stephen Chbosky
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.
Stephen Chbosky