Lexus > Lexus's Quotes

“It's like when my doctor told me the story of these two brothers whose dad was a bad alcoholic. One brother grew up to be a successful carpenter and never drank. The other brother ended up being a drinker as bad as his dad was. When they asked the first brother why he didn't drink, he said that after he saw what it did to his father, he could never bring himself to even try it. When they asked the other brother, he said that he guessed he learned how to drink on his father's knee. So, I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we'll never know most of them. But even if we don't have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“Girls are weird, and I don't mean that offensively. I just can't put it any other way.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“Patrick started running after the sunset. And Sam immediately followed him. And I saw them in silhouette. Running after the sun.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“I want to make sure that the first person you kiss loves you, okay?”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“She took me to her room and stood me in front of her dresser, which was covered in a pillowcase with pretty colors. She lifted off the pillowcase, and there I was, standing in my old suit, looking at an old typewriter with a fresh ribbon. Inside the typewriter was a piece of white paper.
On that piece of white paper, Sam wrote, "Write about me sometime." And I typed something back to her, standing right there in her bedroom. I just typed.
"I will."
And I felt good that those were the first two words that I ever typed on my new old typewriter that Sam gave me. We just sat there quiet for a moment, and she smiled. And I moved to the typewriter again, and I wrote something.
"I love you, too."
And Sam looked at the paper, and she looked at me.
"Charlie . . . have you ever kissed a girl?"
I shook my head no. It was so quiet.
"Not even when you were little?"
I shook my head no again. And she looked very sad.
She told me about the first time she was kissed. She told me that it was with one of her dad's friends. She was seven. And she told nobody about it except for Mary Elizabeth and then Patrick a year ago. And she started to cry. And she said something that I won't forget. Ever.
"I know that you know that I like Craig. And I know that I told you not to think of me that way. And I know that we can't be together like that. But I want to forget all those things for a minute. Okay?"
"Okay."
"I want to make sure that the first person you kiss loves you. Okay?"
Okay." She was crying harder now. And I was, too, because when I hear something like that I just can't help it.
"I just want to make sure of that. Okay?"
"Okay."
And she kissed me. It was the kind of kiss that I could never tell my friends about out loud. It was the kind of kiss that made me know that I was never so happy in my whole life.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“He's a wallflower.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“I didn't know that other people thought things about me. I didn't know that they looked.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“I guess I'm pretty emotional.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“but my dad said it was no excuse.
"But I love him!" I had never seen my sister cry that much.
"No, you don't."
"I hate you!"
"No, you don't." My dad can be very calm sometimes.
"He's my whole world."
"Don't ever say that about anyone again. Not even me." That was my mom.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“And things were back to normal except we were just friends.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“Charlie, don’t you get it? I can’t feel that. It’s sweet and everything, but it’s like you’re not even there sometimes. It’s great that you can listen and be a shoulder to someone, but what about when someone doesn’t need a shoulder? What if they need the arms or something like that? You can’t just sit there and put everybody’s lives ahead of yours and think that counts as love. You just can’t. You have to do things.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“I love my mom. And this time, I told her I loved her. And she told me she loved me, too. And things were okay for a little while.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“I really do love my sister. Especially when she's nice.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“I think on my next birthday, I'm going to buy her a present. I think that should be the tradition. The kid gets gifts from everybody, and he buys one present for his mom since she was there, too. I think that would be nice.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“I must have been in the car for a long time because eventually my sister found me there. I was chain-smoking cigarettes and crying still. My sister knocked on the window. I rolled it down. She looked at me with this curious expression. Then, her curiosity turned to anger.
"Charlie, are you smoking?!"
She was so mad. I can't tell you how mad she was.
"I can't believe you're smoking!"
That's when I stopped crying. And started laughing. Because of all the things she could have said right after she got out of there, she picked my smoking. And she got angry about it. And I knew if my sister was angry, then her face wouldn't be that different. And she would be okay.
"I'm going to tell Mom and Dad, you know?"
"No, you're not." God, I couldn't stop laughing.
When my sister thought about it for a second, I think she figured out why she wouldn't tell Mom or Dad. It's like she suddenly remembered where we were and what had just happened and how crazy our whole conversation was considering at all. Then, she started laughing.
But the laughing made her feel sick, so I had to get out of the car and help her into the backseat. I had already set up the pillow and the blanket for her because we figured it was probably best for her to sleep it off a little in the car before we went home.
Just before she feel asleep, she said, "Well, it you're going to smoke, crack the window at least."
Which made me start laughing again.
"Charlie, smoking. I can't believe it."
Which made me laugh harder, and I said, "I love you."
And my sister said, "I love you too. Just stop it with the laughing already.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“Charlie, we accept the love we think we deserve.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“on that piece of white paper, sam wrote, "write about me sometime." and i typed something back to her, standing right there in her bedroom. i just typed. "i will.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“Things get worse before they get better, but this is a worse that feels too big.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“How about your favorite book?"
"This Side of Paradise by From. Scott Fitzgerald."
"Why?"
"Because it was the last one I read."
This made them laugh because they knew I meant it honest, not show-off. Then they told me their favorites, and we sat quiet.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“We accept the love we think we deserve.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“I have decided that maybe I want to write when I grow up. I just don't know what I would write.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“I hate you."
I love you."
You're a freak, you know that? Everyone says so. They always have."
I'm trying not to be.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“It's kind of like when you look at yourself in the mirror and you say your name. And it gets to a point where none of it seems real. Well, sometimes I can do that, but I don't need an hour in front of a mirror. It just happens very fast, and things start to slip away. And I just open my eyes, and I see nothing. And then I start to breathe really hard trying to see something, but I can't. It doesn't happen all the time, but when it does, it scares me.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“It’s strange how things can change back as suddenly as they changed originally. When one thing happens and suddenly, things are back to normal.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“As you enter the tunnel, the wind gets sucked away, and you squint from the lights overhead. When you adjust the lights, you can see the other side in the distance just as the sound of the radio fades to nothing because the waves just can’t reach. Then, you’re in the middle of the tunnel, and everything becomes a calm dream. As you see the opening get closer, you just can’t get there fast enough. And finally, just when you think you’ll never get there, you see the opening right in front of you. And the radio comes back even louder than you remember it. And the wind is waiting. And you fly out of the tunnel onto the bridge. And there it is. The city. A million lights and buildings and everything seems as exciting as the first time you saw it.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“I don't know if it's better to be close with your daughter or make sure that she has a better life than you do.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“Charlie, you’re one of the most gifted people I’ve ever known. And I don’t mean in terms of my other students. I mean in terms of anyone I’ve ever met.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“I am really in love with Sam, and it hurts very much.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“I guess what I’m saying is that this all feels very familiar. But it’s not mine to be familiar about. I just know that another kid has felt this. This one time when it’s peaceful outside, and you’re seeing things move, and you don’t want to, and everyone is asleep. And all the books you’ve read have been read by other people. And all the songs you’ve loved have been heard by other people. And you know that if you looked at these when you were happy, you would feel great because you are describing “unity”.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“That's when Sam grabbed my hand. "I love this song!" She led me to the dance floor. And she started dancing. And I started dancing. It was a fast song, so I wasn't very good, but she didn't seem to mind. We were just dancing, and that was enough. The song ended, and then a slow one came on. She looked at me. I looked at her. Then, she took my hands and pulled me in to dance slow. I don't know how to dance slow very well either, but I do know how to sway. Her whisper smelled like cranberry juice and vodka. "I looked for you in the parking lot today." I hoped mine still smelled like toothpaste. "I was looking for you, too." Then, we were quiet for the rest of the song. She held me a little closer. I held her a little closer. And we kept dancing. It was the one time all day that I really wanted the clock to stop. And just be there for a long time.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower