Quotes from S. E. Hinton

Movies can't ruin books. They can only ruin movies.

Since I am first of all a character writer, that character's emotions are as vivid to me as my own. I always begin with an emotion after I have established a character in my mind. I feel what they feel. I guess that is why it comes across so strongly.

I think that 'The Outsiders' was meant to be written, and I was just picked to write it.

If people want to find me, they can. They'll see a middle-aged woman wandering around the grocery store, looking to see what to buy for dinner.

My mother was physically and emotionally abusive. My father was an extremely cold man.

When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home.

I find it to be easier to write from a man's point of view.

They grew up on the outside of society. They weren't looking for a fight. They were looking to belong.

I just felt being part of my peer group so strongly. I was immersed in teen culture, but not taken in by it.

'The Outsiders' cast in particular was a joy to be around - sweet kids, normal goofy teenagers off camera and serious artists on. They were great. I never got them mixed up with the characters, though. Each of them had his own strong personality.

I am a greaser. I am a JD and a hood. I blacken the name of our fair city. I beat up people. I rob gas stations. I am a menace to society. Man do I have fun!

Sometimes, I feel like I spent the first part of my life wishing to be a teen-age boy, and the second part condemned to being one.

All my life I wanted somebody who knew more than I did to tell me the truth.

I never base a character on someone I know. You can get ideas from real life, but every character you write is some aspect of yourself.

When I was young, all the books were about a Mary Jane and the football player and the prom and ending up with the quiet guy and making your mom happy.

It's okay. We aren't in the same class. Just don't forget that some of us watch the sunset too.

Can you see the sunset real good on the West side? You can see it on the East side too.

If you have two friends in your lifetime, you're lucky. If you have one good friend, you're more than lucky.

I lie to myself all the time. But I never believe me.

I have no idea why I write. The old standards are: I like to express my feelings, stretch my imagination, earn money.

When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home.

You still have a lot of time to make yourself be what you want. There's still lots of good in the world. Tell Dally. I don't think he knows.

I was desperate for something to read that dealt realistically with teenage life, and I thought others might be, too.

Any writer who gives a reader a pleasurable experience is doing every other writer a favor because it will make the reader want to read other books. I am all for it.