Quotes from Ned Vizzini

I'm still a nobody. When am I going to not be a nobody?

And what is that nightmare, Craig? Life Life is a nightmare Yes

I can smell the sex on her. I hope she smells the love on me.

At least I'm giving someone an example not to follow.

I was already obsessed. The test had offended me by giving me questions I couldn't answer. I intended to kill it.

I'm not afraid of dying; I'm afraid of living.

Well, my dad died when I was three." Shoot. That's right. Some of us have actual things to complain about.

Because if you keep living like this you'll die.

Math. Are you able to turn off your mind to the world and fill it with symbols that follow rules?

A doctor comes into 22. She has long, dark hair and a pudgy face and bright green eyes. "Hey." "I'm Dr. Data." "Dr. Data?" "Yes." Huh. I want to ask her if she's an android, but that wouldn't be very respectful; and besides, I'm not up to it.

How could I ask for "horse" with a straight face? And, if I were doing heroin, then I'd be a depressed teenager on heroin. I didn't need to be that cliché.

A working brain is probably a lot like a map, where anybody can get from one place to another on the freeways. It's the nonworking brains that get blocked, that have dead ends, that are under construction like mine.

Something deep in my guts, below my heart, has made a shift to the left and settled in a more comfortable place. It's not the Shift, but it's a shift. I picture Nia with her gorgeous face and little body and black hair and pouty lips and Aaron's hands all over her but also with her pot smoking and the pimples on her forehead and making fun of people all the time and the way she's always so proud of how she's dressed. And I picture her fading.

found myself jealous of the people who wrote the books. They were dead and they were still taking up my time. Who did they think they were?

I'm waiting for her to say Craig, what you need to do is X and for the Shift to occur. I want there to be a Shift so bad.

They take away your options and all you can do is live, and it's just like Humble said: I'm not afraid of dying; I'm afraid of living. I was afraid before, but I'm afraid even more now that I'm a public joke.

The people are Anchors, I say. People don't make good Anchors, though, Craig. They change. The people here are going to change. The patients are going to leave. You can't rely on them.

Bobby sips his coffee. "If there wasn't coffee on this earth, I'd be dead.

Up next is Noelle. 'Hey, girl!' 'Don't you dare start calling me that. This is very nice of you to do.

What were you tring to do, soldier? I was trying to eat, sir! And what happened? I got caught thinking about some crap, sir! What kind of crap? How I want to live less than my parent's dog.

I smile to myself. I have a secret: I wish I was Dumbo the Octopus.

But it suddenly makes sense: I'd like to be under the sea, as an octopus.

Brooklyn is a big fat blob with its own ugly shape across from Manhattan; it looks like Jabba the Hutt counting his money.

Do you know about lock picking?" "I'm sure it's like sex." "I'm sure it's not like sex." "How would you know? Everything's like sex. It's the universal metaphor. To pick a lock, let me guess, you have to go slow at first, but then you have to pull off some fancy moves, and you have to stay concentrated, and you have to stick something in something, right?