Quotes from Sarah Dessen

He was so close to me in that moment, too close, but I had never pushed a guy away for that. If anything I pulled them nearer, taking them in, as I did now, sure in my belief that knowing me that well would easily be enough to scare them away.

I can see that everyone else is doing exactly what they wanted with the rest of their lives. They're all at the gate, pawing the dirt and ready to run, and I've already got a lame leg and am this close to being taken around back of the stable to be put out of my misery.

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.

If I'd ever seen what love really could do, or was, maybe I'd have believed in it from the start. But too much of my life had been spent watching marriages come together and then fall apart. So I understood, yes. But sometimes, like lately, I wished that I didn't, not at all.    

That was the thing. You just never knew. Forever was so many different things. It was always changing, it was what really everything was all about. It was 20 minutes, 100 years, or just this instant, or any instant I wished would last and last. But there was only one truth about forever that really mattered, and it was this: it was happening. Right then as I ran with Wes into that bright sun, and every moment afterwards.

the love we have for each other is bigger than these small differences. And that's the key. It's like a big pie chart, and the love in a relationship has to be the biggest piece. Love can make up for a lot, Remy.

I am, of course, a rogue. A rapscallion. A musician. I would bring her nothing but poverty, shame, and bruised shins from my flailing limbs. She is the better for our parting.

It was so easy to disown what you couldn't recognize, to keep yourself apart from things that were foreign and unsettling. The only person you can be sure to control, always, is yourself. Which is a lot to be sure of, but at the same time, not enough.

Maybe this next time would do the trick. Or maybe not. But unless you stepped into the game, you would never know.

There was something incongruous about one marriage ending the same day another began, as if there was an exchange program in the universe or something, a trade required in order to keep the numbers even.

Everything, in the end, comes down to timing. One second, one minute, one hour, could make all the difference. So much hanging on just these things, tiny increments that together build a life.

To me she said, It's this stupid gotcha thing, they've been doing it for weeks now. Leaping out at each other and us, scaring the hell out of everyone. It's a game of wits, Bert said to me. Half-wits, Kristy added.

For any one of us our forever could end in an hour, or a hundred years from now. You can never know for sure, so you'd better make every second count.

The important thing to remember, ... is that you are a human being and worthy of respect.

I knew from experience that no matter how much you turn things in your head, trying to make sense of them, some people just defy all logic.

I understand that you are under a lot of pressure and that it's hard being a bride. That is all well and good. But it does not, ever, entitle you to be rude, selfish, uncaring, and generally obnoxious to me or Haven or anyone else. We've been very patient with you because we're your family and we love you, but it stops here. I don't care if the wedding is two weeks or two hours away, you were never raised to behave this way.

There is never," Kristy said adamantly, "a time or place for true love. It happens accidentally, in a heartbeat, in a single flashing, throbbing moment.

I was distracted, thinking about what she'd said, until she got to this last part. Sherman? I said. She nodded. That's John and Craig's friend. He's visiting from Shreveport. Sherman from Shreveport? I said. This is the guy you're determined I go out with? You can't judge a book by its cover! she snapped. When I slid my eyes toward Forbidden , she grabbed it up, shoving it back under the bed. You know what I mean. Sherman might be very nice.

It's been a long night. Aren't they all.

As our eyes met, I thought again of that long-ago afternoon in the courthouse. When faced with the scariest of the things, all you want is to 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.

Again, I was speechless. What do you do when you finally hear everything you've always thought said aloud?

I still felt unformed, like a cake half baked with edges crisp, but still mushy in the middle.

Most people think a girl and a guy can't just be friends, there has to be something else going on.

But sometimes, we just have to be happy with what people can offer us. Even if it's not what we want, at least it's something. You know?