Rebecca Stead > Quotes

“Well, it's simple to love someone," she said. "But it's hard to know when you need to say it out loud.”
― Rebecca Stead, When You Reach Me

“Mom says each of us has a veil between ourselves and the rest of the world, like a bride wears on her wedding day, except this kind of veil is invisible. We walk around happily with these invisible veils hanging down over our faces. The world is kind of blurry, and we like it that way. But sometimes our veils are pushed away for a few moments, like there's a wind blowing it from our faces. And when the veil lifts, we can see the world as it really is, just for those few seconds before it settles down again. We see all the beauty, and cruelty, and sadness, and love. But mostly we are happy not to. Some people learn to lift the veil themselves. Then they don't have to depend on the wind anymore.”
― Rebecca Stead, When You Reach Me

“Trying to forget really doesn't work. In fact, it's pretty much the same as remembering. But I tried to forget anyway, and to ignore the fact that I was remembering you all the time.”
― Rebecca Stead

“Sometimes you never feel meaner than the moment you stop being mean. It's like how turning on a light makes you realize how dark the room had gotten. And the way you usually act, the things you would have normally done, are like these ghosts that everyone can see but pretends not to.”
― Rebecca Stead, When You Reach Me

“I don't know. I just feel stuck, like I'm afraid to take any steps, in case they're the wrong ones.”
― Rebecca Stead, When You Reach Me

“Pajamas are good for the soul.”
― Rebecca Stead, When You Reach Me

“Trying to forget really doesn't work. In fact, it's pretty much the same as remembering.”
― Rebecca Stead, When You Reach Me

“Who's the real you? The person who did something awful, or the one who's horrified by the awful thing you did? Is one part of you allowed to forgive the other?”
― Rebecca Stead, Goodbye Stranger

“Sometimes you never feel meaner than the moment you stop being mean.”
― Rebecca Stead, When You Reach Me

“Life is a million different dots making one gigantic picture. And maybe the big picture is nice, maybe it's amazing, but if you're standing with your face pressed up against a bunch of black dots, it's really hard to tell.”
― Rebecca Stead, Liar & Spy

“If I'm afraid of someone on the street, I'll turn to him (it's always a boy) and say, "Excuse me, do you happen to know what time it is?" This is my way of saying to the person, "I see you as a friend, and there is no need to hurt me or take my stuff. Also, I don't even have a watch and I am probably not worth mugging." So far, it's worked like gangbusters... And I've discovered that most people I'm afraid of are actually very friendly.”
― Rebecca Stead, When You Reach Me

“Common sense is just a name for the way we’re used to thinking.”
― Rebecca Stead, When You Reach Me

“Didn't you ever have a father yourself? You don't want him for a reason. You want him because he's your father.' So I figured it's because I never had a father that I don't want one now. A person can't miss something she never had.”
― Rebecca Stead, When You Reach Me

“Nice tights," I snorted. Or I tried to snort, anyway. I'm not exactly sure how, though people in books are always doing it.”
― Rebecca Stead, When You Reach Me

“Boredom is what happens to people who have no control over their minds.”
― Rebecca Stead, Liar & Spy

“Life is where you sleep and what you see when you wake up in the morning, and who you tell about your weird dream, and what you eat for breakfast and who you eat it with. Life isn’t something that happens to you. It’s something you make yourself, all the time.”
― Rebecca Stead, Goodbye Stranger

“I'm an old man, and she's gone now. So don't worry, okay?”
― Rebecca Stead, When You Reach Me

“I still think about the letter you asked me to write. It nags at me, even though you're gone and there's no one to give it to anymore. Sometimes I work on it in my head, trying to map out the story you asked me to tell, about everything that happened this past fall and winter. It's all still there, like a movie I can watch when I want to. Which is never.”
― Rebecca Stead, When You Reach Me

“Bookbag, Pocketshoe.”
― Rebecca Stead, When You Reach Me

“Mom. She always says to look at the big picture. How all of the little things don't matter in the long run. . . I know that Mom is right about the big picture. But Dad is right too: Life is really just a bunch of nows, one after the other. The dots matter.”
― Rebecca Stead, Liar & Spy

“Einstein says common sense is just habit of thought. It's how we're used to thinking about things, but a lot of the time it just gets in the way.”
― Rebecca Stead

“[she used to say that] each of us has a veil between ourselves and the rest of the world – like a bride wears on her wedding day—except this kind of veil is invisible. we walk around happily with these invisible veils hanging down over our faces. the world is kind of blurry. we like it that way. but sometimes our veils are pushed away for a few moments – like there’s a wind blowing it from our faces – and when the veil lifts, we can see the world as it really is, just for those few seconds before it settles down again. we see all the beauty and cruelty and sadness and love, but mostly we are happy not to. some people learn to lift the veils themselves. then they don’t have to depend on the wind anymore. ...it’s just her way of saying that most of the time people get distracted by little stuff, and ignore the big stuff.”
― Rebecca Stead, When You Reach Me

“Love is when you like someone so much that you can’t just call it “like,” so you have to call it “love.”
― Rebecca Stead, Goodbye Stranger

“I think that when you don’t know, you should just wait until you do.”
― Rebecca Stead, Goodbye Stranger

“She's called the secretary, but as far as I can tell she basically runs the school.”
― Rebecca Stead, When You Reach Me

“Mom's always telling me to smile and hoping I'll turn into a smiley person, which, to be honest, is kind of annoying.”
― Rebecca Stead, Liar & Spy

“And when the veil lifts, we can see the world as it really is, just for those few seconds before it settles down again. We see all the beauty, and cruelty, and sadness, and love.”
― Rebecca Stead, When You Reach Me

“Bridge knew why she was here. It’s why we’re all here, she thought. Call it Mr. Partridge with his black-and-white cookies. Call it Em standing on that stage with her knees shaking but her voice strong. Call it Jamie looking awkward in the doorway of her bedroom after she’d had the mummy nightmare. Call it love.”
― Rebecca Stead, Goodbye Stranger

“Some feeling had started in my stomach and was traveling up to my face, and I knew that when it got there I would turn bright red and hear the ocean, which is what happens when I get put on the spot. If I don't cry, I turn red and hear the ocean. It's a lose-lose situation.”
― Rebecca Stead, When You Reach Me

“Life was a too-tall stack of books that had started to lean to one side, and each new day was another book on top.”
― Rebecca Stead, Goodbye Stranger