Joey > Joey's Quotes

“I want to hug him, but he doesn't want to be touched right now. Like any affection is going to become a target sign on our backs. Like we'll get punished because our hearts are different”
― Adam Silvera, What If It's Us

“Maybe everyone loves differently. Maybe that’s all that matters.”
― Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

“The day he came home from the hospital, he cried. I held him. I thought he would never stop.
I knew that a part of him would never be the same.
They cracked more than his ribs.”
― Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

“Ari?” My father’s voice was soft. “Ari, Ari, Ari. You’re fighting this war in the worst possible way.”

“I don’t know how to fight it, Dad.”

“You should ask for help,” he said.

“I don’t know how to do that, either.”
― Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

“One of the secrets of the universe was that our instincts were sometimes stronger than our minds. Another secret of the universe: Sometimes pain was like a storm that came out of nowhere.”
― Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

“When I was a boy, I used to wake up thinking that the world was ending. I'd get up and look in the mirror and my eyes were sad.”
― Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

“We stood there for long time. Neither one of us said anything. I felt small and insignificant and inadequate. I hated feeling that way. I was going to stop feeling that way. I was going to stop.”
― Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

“Why do we smile? Why do we laugh? Why do we feel alone? Why are we sad and confused? Why do we read poetry? Why do we cry when we see a painting? Why is there a riot in the heart when we love? Why do we feel shame? What is that thing in the pit of your stomach called desire?”
― Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

“I wondered what that was like, to hold someone’s hand. I bet you could sometimes find all of the mysteries of the universe in someone’s hand.”
― Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

“There are worse things in the world than a boy who likes to kiss other boys.”
― Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

“But I had learned to hide what I felt. No, that's not true. There was no learning involved. I had been born knowing how to hide what I felt.”
― Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

“Try it again," I said. "Kiss me."
"No," he said.
"Kiss me."
"No," And then he smiled. "You kiss me."
I placed my hand on the back of his neck. I pulled him toward me. And kissed him. I kissed him. And I kissed him. And I kissed him. And I kissed him. And he kept kissing me back.”
― Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

“Birds exist to teach us things about the sky.”
― Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

“All this time.

This was what was wrong with me. All this time I had been trying to figure out the secrets of the universe, the secrets of my own body, of my own heart. All of the answers had always been so close and yet I'd always fought them without even knowing it. From the minute I'd met Dante, I had fallen in love with him. I just didn't let myself know it, think it, feel it. My father was right. And it was true what my mother said. We all fight our own private wars.”
― Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

“One summer night I fell asleep hoping the world would be different when I woke. In the morning, when I opened my eyes, the world was the same.”
― Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

“I would do my damn best to be more happy than not.”
― Adam Silvera, More Happy Than Not

“White shouldn't be the default any more than straight should be the default. There shouldn't even be a default.”
― Becky Albertalli, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

“Why is straight the default? Everyone should have to declare one way or another, and it shouldn't be this big awkward thing whether you're straight, gay, bi, or whatever. I'm just saying.”
― Becky Albertalli, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

“People really are like house with vast rooms and tiny windows. And maybe it's a good thing, the way we never stop surprising each other.”
― Becky Albertalli, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

“He talked about the ocean between people. And how the whole point of everything is to find a shore worth swimming to.”
― Becky Albertalli, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

“Sometimes it seems like everyone knows who I am except me.”
― Becky Albertalli, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

“But I'm tired of coming out. All I ever do is come out. I try not to change, but I keep changing, in all these tiny ways. I get a girlfriend. I have a beer. And every freaking time, I have to reintroduce myself to the universe all over again.”
― Becky Albertalli, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

“I mean, I feel secure in my masculinity, too. Being secure in your masculinity isn't the same as being straight.”
― Becky Albertalli, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

“And then I kiss him for real, and he kisses me back, and his hands fist my hair. And we're kissing like it's breathing. My stomach flutters wildly. And somehow we end up horizontal, his hands curved up around my back.

"I like this," I say, and my voice comes out breathless. "We should do this. Every day."
"Okay."
"Let's never do anything else. No school. No meals. No homework."
"I was going to ask you to see a movie," he says, smiling. When he smiles, I smile.
"No movies. I hate movies."
"Oh, really?"
"Really, really. Why would I want to watch other people kissing," I say, "when I could be kissing you?”
― Becky Albertalli, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

“And you know what? You don’t get to say it’s not a big thing. This is a big fucking thing, okay? This was supposed to be—this is mine. I’m supposed to decide when and where and who knows and how I want to say it.”
― Becky Albertalli, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

“Nothing is worse than the secret humiliation of being insulted by proxy.”
― Becky Albertalli, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

“I like no endings. I like things that don't end.”
― Becky Albertalli, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

“And this gay thing. It feels so big. It's almost insurmountable. I don't know how to tell them something like this and still come out of it feeling like Simon. Because if Leah and Nick don't recognize me, I don't even recognize myself anymore.”
― Becky Albertalli, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

“I've spent years living safely to secure a longer life, and look where that's gotten me. I'm at the finish line but I never ran the race.”
― Adam Silvera, They Both Die at the End

“I wasted all those yesterdays and am completely out of tomorrows.”
― Adam Silvera, They Both Die at the End