Stephen Chbosky Quotes

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

It was hard to listen to her all the time without getting to say anything back

~ Stephen Chbosky

Things change, friends leave. And life doesn't stop for anybody.

~ 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

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

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

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

Put my head under my pillow, and let the quiet put things where they are supposed to be.

~ 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

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

Some kids look at me strange in the hallways because I don't decorate my locker,...

~ 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

A lot of parents make you feel very awkward when you meet them.

~ Stephen Chbosky

I just wish Mary Elizabeth would ask me questions other than “What's up?

~ 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

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

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

Little kids talk about the strangest things. They really do.

~ 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

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

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

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

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 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

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

Then, I started running. And everything was as good as it could be.

~ 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

Math has never made any sense to 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

I wanted to laugh. Or maybe get mad. Or maybe shrug at how strange everyone was, especially me.

~ Stephen Chbosky

When you think back to your first kiss, your hair is perfect and she was wearing a cool outfit. We remember it with restraint and we remember it with style. We remember it as idealistically as you can think.

~ Stephen Chbosky

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.

~ Stephen Chbosky

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.

~ Stephen Chbosky