Quotes from Sarah Dessen

She's a baby, Maggie told me. Babies wear pastels. Says who? I asked. ... Society. The same society, I might add, that dictates that little girls should always be sugar and spice and everything nice, which engourages them to not be assertive. And that, in turn, then leads to low self-esteem, which can lead to eating disorders and increased tolerance and acceptance of domestic, sexual, and substance abuse.

Maybe marriage, like life, isn't only about the big moments, whether they be good or bad. Maybe it's all the small things—like being guided slowly forward, surely, day after day—that stretches out to strengthen even the most tenuous bond.

It was becoming clear to me that I shouldn't bother to get too attached to anything. Turn your back and you lose it. Just like that.

Nate: "And," he said, "boys at twelve aren't exactly slick with the ladies." Ruby: "'Slick with the ladies'?" I said. "Are you twelve?

And the rest is history,' I said. Nah.' He shook his head. 'The rest is now.

She was just a shell of her former self, functioning and talking but hardly alive.

You really get to meet people on such a personal level. There's a real bonding in someone beating the crap out of you.

But you only get so many do-overs in this life, so many chances to, if not change your past, alter your future.

Plus there's the fact," he went on, making it clear he didn't need me to reply anyway, "that music is a total constant. That's why we have such a strong visceral connection to it, you know? Because a song can take you back instantly to a moment, or a place, or even a person. No matter what else has changed in you or the world, that one song stays the same, just like that moment. Which is pretty amazing, when you actually think about it.

I took his wildness from him and tried to fold it into myself, filling up the empty spaces all those second place finishes left behind.

It's so easy to get caught up in what people expect of you. Sometimes, you can just lose yourself

Oh, God, I said. No, it's Dexter, he replied, offering me his hand, which I ignored. He glanced behind him, then back at me. I'll see you soon, he said, and grinned at me. Like hell, I replied

We all have one idea of what the color blue is, but pressed to describe it specifically, there are so many ways: the ocean, lapis lazuli, the sky, someone's eyes. Our definitions are as different as we are ourselves.

Fine...a word that you said when someone asked how you were but didn't really care to know the truth.

What was the name of Pygmalion's sister? She blinked, twice, obviously surprised. Ummm, she said, keeping her eyes on me. I don't know. Rogerson did, I told her. Rogerson knew everything.

We can all be beautiful girls.

It's hard to be nice when the rest of the world is so mean.

You get used to people being a certain way; you depend on it. And when they surprise you, for better or worse, it can shake you to your core.

This was always the problem with my mother and me, I suddenly realized. There were so many things we thought we agreed on, but anythign can have two meanings. Like sides of a coin, it just matters how it falls.

For all the invisible girls and for my readers, for seeing me

A lot can change between planning something and actually doing it. But maybe all that really matters is that anything is different at all.

Home wasn't a set house, or a single town on a map. It was wherever the people who loved you were, whenever you were together.

See, he began, leaning back into the booth, I was at this car dealership today, and I saw this girl. It was an across-a-crowded-room kind of thing. A real moment, you know? I rolled my eyes. Chloe said, And this would be Remy? Right. Remy, he said, repeating my name with a smile. Then, as if we were happy honeymooners recounting our story for strangers he added, Do you want to tell the next part? No, I said flatly.

When faced with the scariest of things, all you want to do is turn away, hide in your own invisible place. But you can't. That's why it's not only important for us to be seen, but to have someone to look for us, as well.