David Levithan quotes
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“Remember that at any given moment there are a thousand things you can love.”
-- David Levithan -
“You can't actually have a romance between friends. That sort of defeats the definition of the word "romance." The word you're looking for is "love." It's a love between friends, just as there's also love between lovers, or possible lovers, or even ex-lovers. Same holds true for "bromance" - it's just a clever word used to avoid the word love, for straight boys who don't want that old-fashioned taint of gayness. Dudes, you love each other. Deal with it.”
-- David Levithan -
“The words that matter always stay.”
-- David LevithanSource : David Levithan (2008). “The Realm of Possibility”, p.143, Knopf Books for Young Readers
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“If there's one thing I've learned, it's this: We all want everything to be okay. We don't even wish so much for fantastic or marvelous or outstanding. We will happily settle for okay, because most of the time, okay is enough.”
-- David LevithanSource : Robin Jones Gunn (2009). “Sierra Jensen Collection”, p.329, Multnomah
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“We always see our worst selves. Our most vulnerable selves. We need someone else to get close enough to tell us we’re wrong. Someone we trust.”
-- David Levithan -
“What separates us from the animals, what separates us from the chaos, is our ability to mourn people we’ve never met.”
-- David Levithan -
“You have to believe there are kisses and laughs and risks worth taking.”
-- David LevithanSource : David Levithan (2014). “How They Met and Other Stories”, p.138, Egmont UK
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“I no longer think she's just being nice. She's being kind. Which is much more a sign of character than mere niceness. Kindness connects to who you are, while niceness connects to how you want to be seen.”
-- David LevithanSource : David Levithan (2013). “Every Day”, p.38, Egmont UK
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“It was a mistake," you said. But the cruel thing was, it felt like the mistake was mine, for trusting you.”
-- David Levithan -
“Kindness connects to who you are, while niceness connects to how you want to be seen.”
-- David Levithan -
“And maybe it is only by finding yourself that you can feel the true intensity of becoming close to another person.”
-- David Levithan -
“The moment you fall in love feels like it has centuries behind it, generations - all of them rearranging themselves so this precise, remarkable intersection could happen. In your heart, in your bones, no matter how silly you know it is, you feel that everything has been leading to this, all the secret arrows were pointing here, the universe and time itself crafted this long ago, and you are just now realizing it, you are just now arriving at the place you were always meant to be.”
-- David Levithan -
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“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.”
-- David Levithan -
“For the Jesus Revolutionaries, the answer was clear: Jesus would not be out waging "preventative" wars. Jesus would not be withholding medicine from people who could not afford it. Jesus would not cast stones at people of races, sexual orientatons, or genders other than His own. Jesus would not condone the failing, viperous, scandalplagued hierarchy of some churches. Jesus would welcome everyone to his his table. He would love them, and he would find peace.”
-- David Levithan -
“I am a drifter, and as lonely as that can be, it is also remarkably freeing. I will never define myself in terms of anyone else. I will never feel the pressure of peers or the burden of parental expectation. I can view everyone as pieces of a whole, and focus on the whole, not the pieces. I have learned to observe, far better than most people observe. I am not blinded by the past or motivated by the future. I focus on the present because that is where I am destined to live.”
-- David LevithanSource : David Levithan (2013). “Every Day”, p.10, Egmont UK
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“Luckily, I always travel with a book, just in case I have to wait on line for Santa, or some such inconvenience.”
-- David Levithan -
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“There is no such thing as no choice. There is always a choice. The only question is whether it's a bearable one.”
-- David Levithan -
“Part of growing up is making sure your sense of reality isn't entirely grounded in your own mind.”
-- David Levithan -
“But I think we both knew, even then, that what we had was something even more rare, and even more meaningful. I was going to be his friend, and was going to show him possibilities. And he, in turn, would become someone I could trust more than myself.”
-- David Levithan -
“Every relationship has a hard part at the beginning. This is our hard part. It's not like a puzzle piece where there's an instant fit. With relationships, you have to shape the pieces on each end before they go perfectly together.”
-- David LevithanSource : David Levithan (2013). “Every Day”, p.158, Egmont UK
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“Void is when there is absolutely nothing there and the nothing is natural, a complete vacuum. But empty - with empty, you are aware of what's supposed to be there. Empty means something is missing.”
-- David Levithan -
“It is an awful thing to be betrayed by your body. And it's lonely, because you feel you can't talk about it. You feel it's something between you and the body. You feel it's a battle you will never win . . . and yet you fight it day after day, and it wears you down. Even if you try to ignore it, the energy it takes to ignore it will exhaust you.”
-- David LevithanSource : David Levithan (2013). “Every Day”, p.154, Egmont UK
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“Maybe your history just repeats and repeats until it batters you enough to snap the seams that hold you together”
-- David Levithan -
“You could be the leaf that never falls from the tree you could be the sun that never leaves the sky this might be the happy ending without the ending this might be a reason to try”
-- David Levithan -
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“If we actually thought about every decision we made, we'd be paralyzed ... You have to decide which decisions you're actually going to make, and then you have to let the rest of them go.”
-- David Levithan -
“The terrorists-those nineteen people, with hundreds or maybe thousands behind them-did the worst thing you can possibly imagine. But tens of millions people did the right thing...On 9/11, all the hatred and murder could not compare with the weight of love, of bravery, of caring.”
-- David Levithan -
“Here’s what I know about the realm of possibility— it is always expanding, it is never what you think it is. Everything around us was once deemed impossible. From the airplane overhead to the phones in our pockets to the choir girl putting her arm around the metalhead. As hard as it is for us to see sometimes, we all exist within the realm of possibility. Most of the limits are of our own world’s devising. And yet, every day we each do so many things that were once impossible to us.”
-- David Levithan -
“You think fairy tales are only for girls? Here's a hint - ask yourself who wrote them. I assure you, it wasn't just the women. It's the great male fantasy - all it takes is one dance to know that she's the one. All it takes is the sound of her song from the tower, or a look at her sleeping face. And right away you know - this is the girl in your head, sleeping or dancing or singing in front of you. Yes, girls want their princes, but boys want their princesses just as much. And they don't want a very long courtships. They want to know immediately.”
-- David Levithan -
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“But there was something about you that made me think of sparks and motion.”
-- David Levithan -
“Falling in love with someone doesn’t mean you know any better how they feel. It only means you know how you feel.”
-- David LevithanSource : David Levithan (2013). “Every Day”, p.62, Egmont UK
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“The more kindness and justice are challenged, the more we must embrace them. Only when you are challenged - and only when you challenge yourself - do you discover what truly matters.”
-- David Levithan -
“You have to trust the words. They do not create anything more than themselves.”
-- David Levithan -
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“We'd said we'd keep in touch. But touch is not something you can keep; as soon as it's gone, it's gone. We should have said we'd keep in words, because they are all we can string between us--words on a telephone line, words appearing on a screen.”
-- David Levithan -
“When you live as I do, you cannot indulge in jealousy. If you do, it will rip you apart.”
-- David Levithan -
“There's no way for them to take away my sadness, but they can make sure I am not empty of all the other feelings.”
-- David Levithan -
“Answerless questions can destroy you. Move on.”
-- David LevithanSource : David Levithan (2013). “Every Day”, p.129, Egmont UK
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“this is why we call people exes, I guess - because the paths that cross in the middle end up separating at the end. it's too easy to see an X as a cross-out. it's not, because there's no way to cross out something like that. the X is a diagram of two paths.”
-- David Levithan -
“She is so lost in her sadness that she has no idea how visible it is.”
-- David LevithanSource : David Levithan (2013). “Every Day”, p.9, Egmont UK
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“You like him because he's a lost boy. Believe me, I've seen it happen before. But do you know what happens to girls who love lost boys? They become lost themselves. Without fail.”
-- David Levithan -
“Things that matter are not easy. Feelings of happiness are easy. Happiness is not. Flirting is easy. Love is not. Saying you’re friends is easy. Being friends is not.”
-- David LevithanSource : Rachel Cohn, David Levithan (2014). “Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List”, p.118, Egmont UK
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“It would be too easy to say that I feel invisible. Instead, I feel painfully visible, and entirely ignored.”
-- David LevithanSource : David Levithan (2013). “Every Day”, p.78, Egmont UK
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“I wake up thinking of yesterday. The joy is in remembering; the pain is in knowing it was yesterday.”
-- David Levithan -
“I don’t want you to think I got through this undamaged, okay? But I’m learning to live with it. Because otherwise, the damage is all you are.”
-- David Levithan -
“Trying to write about love is ultimately like trying to have a dictionary represent life. No matter how many words there are, there will never be enough.”
-- David Levithan -
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“when things break, it's not the actual breaking that prevents them from getting back together again. it's because a little piece gets lost -- the two remaining ends couldn't fit together even if they wanted to. the whole shape has changed.”
-- David Levithan -
“I get it. The things you hope for the most are the things that destroy you in the end.”
-- David LevithanSource : John Green, David Levithan (2010). “Will Grayson, Will Grayson”, p.80, Penguin
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“You can't know what it is like for us now--you will always be one step behind. Be thankful for that. You can't know what it was like for us then--you will always be one step ahead. Be thankful for that, too.”
-- David Levithan -
“I am a firm believer in serendipity- all the random pieces coming together in one wonderful moment, when suddenly you see what their purpose was all along.”
-- David Levithan -
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“I never felt the urge to jump off a bridge, but there are times I have wanted to jump out of my life, out of my skin.”
-- David Levithan -
“Music is everywhere. It’s in the air between us, waiting to be sung.”
-- David Levithan -
“Even when I detach, I care. You can be separate from a thing and still care about it. If I wanted to detach completely, I would move my body away. I would stop the conversation midsentence. I would leave the bed. Instead, I hover over it for a second. I glance off in another direction. But I always glance back at you.”
-- David Levithan -
“this blue shirt i have is practically the same color as my jeans, and looking all-blue is something only cookie monster can pull off.”
-- David Levithan -
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“The key to a successful relationship isn’t just in the words, it’s in the choice of punctuation. When you’re in love with someone, a well-placed question mark can be the difference between bliss and disaster, and a deeply respected period or a cleverly inserted ellipsis can prevent all kinds of exclamations.”
-- David Levithan -
“She is my first and only love. Most people know that their first love will not be their only love. But for me, she is both.”
-- David LevithanSource : David Levithan (2013). “Every Day”, p.190, Egmont UK
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“Do not just seek happiness for yourself. Seek happiness for all. Through kindness. Through mercy.”
-- David Levithan -
“People often say that when couples are married for a long time, they start to look alike. I don't believe that. But I do believe their sentences start to look alike.”
-- David Levithan -
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“This is a difference between us: you desire what other people have, while I desire the things I used to have, or think I might have one day.”
-- David Levithan -
“I am constantly torn between killing myself and killing everyone around me.”
-- David Levithan -
“If you stare at the center of the universe, there is coldness there. A blankness. Ultimately, the universe doesn't care about us. Time doesn't care about us. That's why we have to care about each other.”
-- David Levithan -
“People are rarely as attractive in reality as they are in the eyes of the people who are in love with them. Which is, I suppose, as it should be.”
-- David Levithan -
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“We are not taught "love thy neighbor unless their skin is a different color from yours " or "love thy neighbor unless they don't make money as you do" or "love thy neighbor unless they don't share your belies." We are taught "love thy neighbor". No exceptions. We are all in this together - every single one of us. And the only way we are going to survive as a society is through compassion. A Great Community does not mean we all think the same things or do the same things. It simply means we are willing to work together and are willing to love despite our differences.”
-- David Levithan -
“I am proud that I defy your categories. I am proud that I don't fit easily into any box. I am proud of all the things I am and all the things i can be. Question yourself every time you think you only see one thing in me.”
-- David Levithan -
“Here's what breaks us: Even though we know better, we still want everything to be all right.”
-- David Levithan -
“I know from experience that beneath every peripheral girl is a central truth. She’s hiding hers away, but at the same time she wants me to see it.”
-- David Levithan -
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“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.”
-- David Levithan -
“She is carrying herself through the day, and it’s not an easy task.”
-- David Levithan -
“There comes a time when the body takes over the life. There comes a time when the body’s urges, the body’s needs, dictate the life. You have no idea you are giving the body the key. But you hand it over. And then it’s in control. You mess with the wiring and the wiring takes charge.”
-- David Levithan -
“I find faith in human perseverance, even as the universe throws challenge after challenge our way.”
-- David Levithan -
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“It is an awful thing to be betrayed by your body. And it’s lonely, because you feel you can’t talk about it.”
-- David Levithan -
“They don’t have silences together; they have noise. Mostly his.”
-- David Levithan -
“As sisters, they probably have closer to 99 percent in common, but they’re not about to recognize that. They’d rather fight over what kind of pet they’re going to get … It’s an argument for its own sake.”
-- David Levithan -
“I’ve found that people tend to trust other people who dress like them.”
-- David Levithan -
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“Little less than a promise, and a little more than a chance.”
-- David Levithan -
“I am like the fish in the aquarium, thinking in a different language, adapting to a life that’s not my natural habitat. I am the people in the other cars, each with his or her own story, but passing too quickly to be noticed or understood.”
-- David Levithan -
“If other people see you differently, you’ll end up seeing them differently, too.”
-- David Levithan -
“I am breathing. In dreams, we never bother to breathe.”
-- David Levithan -
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“When we’re alone together, I’m the destination. When I’m here in her life at school, I’m the disruption.”
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“We all contain mysteries, especially when seen from the inside.”
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“He doesn’t just look upset—he looks newly blind. There is such loss in his eyes, and it permeates every other part of his body.”
-- David Levithan -
“There are many things that can keep you in a relationship," I say. "Fear of being alone. Fear of disrupting the arrangement of your life. A decision to settle for something that's okay, because you don't know if you can get any better. Or maybe there's the irrational belief that it will get better, even if you know he won't change.”
-- David Levithan -
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“Why do we feel the need to disconnect in order to connect?”
-- David Levithan -
“I have no more idea now of who I am than I did before. But at least I know that. And I'm starting to figure out who I want to be.”
-- David Levithan -
“It's the secret smile you get from knowing that, somewhere, there is someone who is yours. Not in the sense that you own her or control her. She is yours because you can say anything to her, whenever you need to. And she can do the same, whenever she needs to.”
-- David Levithan -
“I am a drifter, and as lonely as that can be, it is also remarkably freeing. I will never define myself in terms of anyone else.”
-- David Levithan -
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“being with someone for over a year can mean that you love them … but it can also mean you’re trapped.”
-- David Levithan -
“After a while, you have to be at peace with the fact that you simple are”
-- David Levithan -
“Belonging. Togetherness. These words are as complicated and confusing as the word love. It’s probably all the same thing. Or it would be if we let it be. I can only guess from observation.”
-- David Levithan -
“Some days are like this. And the only way to get through them is to remember that they are only one day, and that every day ends.”
-- David Levithan -
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“In my experience, desire is desire, love is love. I have never fallen in love with a gender. I have fallen for individuals.”
-- David LevithanSource : "Biography/Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.
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“You can't deny that there's something between us." "No. There is. When I saw you today--I didn't know I'd been waiting for you until you were there. And then all of that waiting rushed through me in a second. That's something... but I don't know if it's certainty.”
-- David Levithan -
“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.”
-- David LevithanSource : David Levithan (2013). “Every Day”, p.126, Egmont UK
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“I want you to be honest with me. Even if it hurts. Although I would prefer for it not to hurt.”
-- David Levithan -
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“Even though it was hard to see you, it was good to see you.”
-- David Levithan -
“It's goodbye to some things. And hello to others.”
-- David Levithan -
“..I've been trying to argue myself into thinking these things don't matter, A. Really,I have. But I've lost the argument. And I can't keep having it, when I know what the real answer is.”
-- David Levithan -
“It doesn't feel like a date. It doesn't feel like friendship. It feels like something that fell off the tightrope but hasn't yet hit the net.”
-- David Levithan -
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“When I say, "Be my lover", I don't mean, "Let's have an affair." I don't mean "Sleep with me." I don't mean, "Be my secret." I want us to go back down to that root. I want you to be the one who loves me. I want to be the one who loves you.”
-- David Levithan -
“As if when someone close to us dies, we momentarily trade places with them, in the moment right before. And as we get over it, we’re really living their life in reverse, from death to life, from sickness to health.”
-- David Levithan -
“He is much stronger than I think I am. He is mischievous, outgoing, ready to soar through the clouds, while I often feel like the cloud itself.”
-- David Levithan -
“Indelible, adj. That first night, you took your finger and pointed to the top of my head, then traced a line between my eyes, down my nose, over my lips, my chin, my neck, to the center of my chest. It was so surprising. I knew I would never mimic it. That one gesture would be yours forever.”
-- David Levithan -
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