Quotes from Sarah Dessen

It seemed safer to hold it in, where the only one who could judge was me.

I mean, at first, it was kind of disappointing. But people recover from disappointment. Otherwise we'd all be hanging from nooses. Right?

You know, I think I knew you for about three weeks before I ever really saw you smile. And then one day, Morgan said something and you laughed, and I remember thinking it was really cool because it meant something. You're not the kind of person who smiles for nothing, Colie. I have to earn every one.

Harder to get in than out, like so little else.

That's what this has been all about for you, correct? Make it clear. That you and me--it was nothing more that you'll have with Spinnerbait boy, or the guy after that, or the guy after that. Right? Yeah, I said, shrugging. You're right. He just stood there, looking at me, as if I had actually changed before his eyes. But this was the girl I'd been all along. I'd just hidden her well.

You're supposed to fail sometimes. It's a required part of the human existence -Eli

Whenever you made a choice, especially one you'd been resisting, it always affected everything else, some in big ways, like a tremor beneath your feet, others in so tiny a shift you hardly noticed a change at all. But it was happening.

Rogerson, I asked him sweetly as we sat watching a video in the pool house, where would I find the pelagic zone? In the open sea, he said. Now shut up and eat your Junior Mints.

What defines you isn't how many times you crash but the number of times you get back.

All I'd ever wanted was to forget. But even when I thought I had, pieces had kept emerging, like bits of wood floating up to the surface that only hint at the shipwreck below. Because that is what happens when you try to run from the past. It doesn't just catch up: it overtakes, blotting out the future, the landscape, the very sky, until there is no path left except that which leads through it, the only one that can ever get you home.

I told you, everyone understands a quest.

Like I, of all people, didn't know better than to lead a total stranger to the point where they could hurt me most, knowing how easily they'd be able to find their way back to it.

If only you could really use a fail-proof system to know who was worth keeping and who needed to be thrown away. It would make it so much easier to move through the world, picking and choosing what connections to make, or whether to make any at all.

I paused, only just now realizing that the subject was hitting a little close to home. You know, getting hurt. Putting herself out there, opening up to someone. Yeah, he said adding some cheese straws to the cart, but risk is just part of relationships. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. I picked up a box of cheese straws, examining it. Yeah, I said. But it's not all about chance, either.

I was used to being invisible. People rarely saw me, and if they did, they never looked close. I wasn't shiny and charming like my brother, stunning and graceful like my mother, or smart and dynamic like my friends. That's the thing, though. You always think you want to be noticed. Until you are.

Life is long. Just because you don't get your chance right when you want or expect it doesn't mean it won't come. Fate doesn't punch a time clock or consult a schedule.

Self respect, Colie. If you don't have it, the world will walk all over you.

As for me, I was just trying to get it right, whatever that means. But now I finally felt I was on my way. Everyone had a forever, but given a choice, this would be mine. The one that began in this moment, with Wes, in a kiss that took my breath away, then gave it back - leaving meastounded, amazed and most of all, alive.

I don't lie. You don't lie, I repeated. That's what I said. Ever. Nope. Sure you don't, I thought.

It's funny how someone's perception of you can be formed without you even knowing it.

When you had to do something, you had to do it. And eventually, if you were lucky, you did it well.

Your actions is like a raindrop; it falls into the pond making ripples and then its over...

Yeah. I mean, acknowledging is easy. Something happened or it didn't. But understanding... that's where things get sticky.

Being brave and self-confident doesn't necessarily start inside...It starts with the rest of the world, and it leads back to you.