Justin A. Reynolds > Quotes

“Don’t be afraid. Take chances. And when those don’t work out, take more.”
― Justin A. Reynolds, Opposite of Always

“Maybe it’s not how something ends that matters. Maybe it’s about having something good, even for a little while.”
― Justin A. Reynolds, Opposite of Always

“The things is, you don't forfeit your whole world to prove your feelings to someone. You bring your worlds together. You get more world, not less.”
― Justin A. Reynolds, Opposite of Always

“You can try your hardest to change something - exhaust every possibility- and sometimes it's still not enough.
But almost means you were there. You did all you could.
In the end, it's the smallest decisions that matter the most.
The seemingly insignificant choices we make every day-
To be honest with the people we love and ourselves-
To let go of the things we can't control, and appreciate the things we can.
Sometimes it's hard to see how much these things mean.
But they add up.
They mean everything.”
― Justin A. Reynolds, Opposite of Always

“Nothing good in life comes easy, but it’s about deciding each day that you will stick with it.”
― Justin A. Reynolds, Opposite of Always

“You are an incredible young man. No one gets to decide your worth except you. And you are worth anything and everything,”
― Justin A. Reynolds, Opposite of Always

“The truth is you can never truly make amends for the hurt you cause; you apologize, you try to atone, at best the scars lighten but they don't disappear.
You live with the pain that you pained someone.”
― Justin A. Reynolds, Early Departures

“But sometimes you're wrong for the right reasons.”
― Justin A. Reynolds, Opposite of Always

“Remember me, remember us, as a time of day.”
― Justin A. Reynolds, Opposite of Always

“People always say they're happy you're happy until they're afraid that maybe your happiness is affecting their happiness and then they're not so happy about you being so happy.”
― Justin A. Reynolds, Opposite of Always

“And I hate the moon.

I hate the Stars. I hate the darkening sky. And rain and fog. I hate hospitals. and beds with sheets. And every machine ever made. And nurses and doctors. Keep her alive, that was the one thing they had to do. That was the one thing I had to do. And I hate myself most of all. My terrible lies. You’re gonna be okay, I told her. I had no right. I wasn’t right. I was the worst wrong.”
― Justin A. Reynolds, Opposite of Always

“We love to say everything's going to be okay, but honestly there's no way to know. And okay can mean so many different things.
Such as:
This cereal is okay.
The movie, eh, it was okay
I'm waiting for Dad to give me the okay about the road trip.
But applied to people it generally sounds terrible --
So, what do you think about the new kid?
Eh. He seems okay
Yo, I heard about your mom. How's she holding up?
She's okay.
Hey, I heard you lost a kidney. How are you doing, man?
I'm okay.
Okay isn't as comforting as I think people intend it to be.”
― Justin A. Reynolds, Opposite of Always

“Nothing good in life comes easy, but it's about deciding each day that you will stick with it. You choose to stay, to work, to love, and you keep choosing.”
― Justin A. Reynolds, Opposite of Always

“It's confusing-how your heart holds your love and your hurt in the same chamber.”
― Justin A. Reynolds, Early Departures

“You don’t strike me as a person who’d let anything dictate her plans, the world included.”
― Justin A. Reynolds, Opposite of Always

“Because, between friends, there are times when just knowing what you mean to each other isn’t enough.”
― Justin A. Reynolds

“We say spending time because time costs.
No moment's free.
Every second, a price.”
― Justin A. Reynolds, Early Departures

“The only thing worse than losing someone you love is losing them again.
People say I’d do anything to see them again, to hear their voice just once more, but what they don’t consider is losing them all over again. That it doesn’t get easier. If anything, it’s harder. So much harder.”
― Justin A. Reynolds, Opposite of Always

“That out of everyone in the world, I can't think of a single person I'd rather spend my literal dying moments with than you.”
― Justin A. Reynolds, Opposite of Always

“You have to talk to me, J."
She crosses her arms. "I am."
"No, you're talking through me and sometimes at me, but not to me.”
― Justin A. Reynolds, Opposite of Always

“But that’s the thing about expectation. Most times it’s just a setup.”
― Justin A. Reynolds, Opposite of Always

“People always say they’re happy you’re happy until they’re afraid that maybe your happiness is affecting their happiness and then they’re not so happy about you being so happy.”
― Justin A. Reynolds, Opposite of Always

“You can try your hardest to change something-exhaust every possibility-and sometimes it's still not enough.
But almost means you were there. You did all you could.”
― Justin A. Reynolds, Opposite of Always

“IRL, there are no video game power ups for broken hearts.

But this is something

It’s not nothing”
― Justin A. Reynolds, Opposite of Always

“People love to say, “There’s someone for everyone.”
It’s one of those ‘feel better’ things your mom tells you after your relationship has crashed and burned, or your normally noncommunicative dad mumbles as he slaps you between your shoulder blades, then announces “good talk.”
But it’s mostly true. If you consider how many people are walking around this planet, there has to be someone you could fit perfectly with, right? The person who makes your heart say super-cray things like “I’ll love you forever” and “I can’t wait to meet your parents” and “Oh, sure, let’s definitely get each other’s names tattooed on our necks.” The problem is we spend most of our puny lives chasing someone else’s someone, and, if we’re lucky, we end up with only a third of the time we could’ve spent with the person truly meant for us.
That is, if we don’t wind up missing them altogether.”
― Justin A. Reynolds, Opposite of Always

“Autumn, you’re my favorite line in my favorite song. Autumn, you are the melody that never leaves me.”
― Justin A. Reynolds, Early Departures: A Heartbreaking YA Novel About Friendship, Love, Loss, and One Final Goodbye

“It’s odd – you put so much time and energy into something, and then it’s over, a new thing already forming in its place.”
― Justin A. Reynolds, Opposite of Always

“So the earth rotates around the sun, right? And it would be super weird for it to start happening the other way around, right? Like, suddenly the sun starts revolving around the earth-
Except that sorta like what loving someone is all about –
You’re moving along life, doing your thing, managing your priorities and commitments-
And then suddenly you meet THE ONE.
And you fall completely out of the orbit you’ve been spinning in.
And now you’re doing laps around this new world.
And you’re hoping gravity can sustain you.
But there’s no way of knowing if it can until you realise it can’t.
Guess it’s all an orbit of faith.”
― Justin A. Reynolds, Opposite of Always

“You know the crazy thing is, at the hospital, they’re always asking you to rate your pain, one to ten. Except no one’s asking about the pain in here.” Kate points to her head. “Or here.” She moves her finger to her chest, left of centre. “Because there’s no rating for that. Numbers don’t go high enough.”
― Justin A. Reynolds, Opposite of Always

“You have your whole life to live, to find what truly makes you happy. There’s no rush –“
“Who says I’m rushing? Why can’t I have the real thing now? What if Kate’s the one? People act as though you have to wait for everything good in life. Sometimes good things happen earlier than you expected. Sometimes you don’t have to wait.”
‘…because love is knowing the bad is there but choosing to appreciate the good.”
― Justin A. Reynolds, Opposite of Always