Quotes from David Levithan

People are always separable.

But I want to feel like life matters. I had something real with you, but then the realness scared me. I decided to go for other things instead.

You existed. You existed now as a fractal. Definition: A fractal is generally a rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be broken into parts, each of which is (at least approximately) a reduced-size copy of the whole. Maybe I was a fractal. Maybe the photographer was a fractal. Maybe we were all fractals.

That word again. Happy. It's a curse. The pursuit of happiness makes us deeply unhappy. It's a trap.Before anything else happened, there was me in bed, thinking of who you used to be. I don't want you to think I forgot.

But he can also be incredibly sweet. And I know that, deep down, I mean the world to him. Deep down? That sounds like settling to me. You shouldn't have to venture deep down in order to get to love.

You will always be my always, he assured me.

You can be naked with someone and remain unknowable. You can be someone's secret without ever knowing what the full secret is. You can know he's even more scared than you are, but that doesn't make you any less scared yourself.

What did it matter to me? Did I think that by making you rational about one thing, I could make you rational about everything? Maybe. Or maybe I just wanted to save you from your fears

And I'm moved, it's so beautiful. Not what I wrote, but to have it given back like this. To have her remember the words and the tune. To hear it in her voice.

There has to be a moment at the beginning when you wonder whether you're in love with the person or in love with the feeling of love itself.

I hope that George doesn't internalize her scare tactics. I want to argue with her, tell her that sins of the flesh is just a control mechanism -- if you demonize a person's pleasure, then you can control his or her life. I can't say how many times this tool has been wielded against me, in a variety of forms. But I see no sin in a kiss. I only see sin in the condemnation.

Enlightenment is scary. Sometimes things look better in the dark.

The thing about possibilities: there are some you want much more than others. Or only one you want much more than everything else.

I should talk to him I know I should talk to him. But I do not talk to him. I watch after him from afar and love him.

They should be going to sleep, but good company is the enemy of sleep.

Dispel, v. It was the way you said, "I have something to tell you." I could feel the magic drain from the room.

Let me hold on to this the way it was, before I knew anything else.

autonomy , n . I want my books to have their own shelves, you said, and that's how I knew it would be okay to live together.

composure , n . You told me anyway, even though I didn't want to know. A stupid drunken fling while you were visiting Toby in Austin. Months ago. And the thing I hate the most is knowing how much hinges on my reaction, how your unburdening can only lead to me being burdened. If I lose it now, I will lose you, too. I know that. I hate it. You wait for my response.

Tell me a way you think this can work. We'll find a way, I tell her. That's not an answer. It's a hope. Hope's gotten us this far. Not answers.

I shouldn't want the song to end. I always think of each night as a song. Or each moment as a song. But now I'm seeing we don't live in a single song. We move from song to song, from lyric to lyric, from chord to chord. There is no ending here. It's an infinite playlist.

I never have people tell me their stories. I usually have to figure them out myself. Because I know that if people tell me stories, they will expect them to be remembered. And I cannot guarantee that. There is no way to know if the stories stay after I'm gone. And how devastating would it be to confide in someone and have the confidence disappear? I don't want to be responsible for that.

Hell, yes, Dev says, sitting up now. Don't get me wrong - we're totally going to make the beast with two backs tonight. But if we do it right, it's going to feel like holding hands.

There is something so intimate about saying the truth out loud. There is something so intimate about hearing the truth said. There is something so intimate about sharing the truth, even if you are not entirely sure what it means.