Stephanie > Stephanie's Quotes

“I’m a creature driven by a combination of guilt and FOMO, which often overrides any sense of self-preservation”
― Colin Jost, A Very Punchable Face

“What I realized was: I might never have this chance again. In fact, I almost certainly would never have this chance again. Did I really want to look back and think: I could have done more, but I was afraid people would think I was lame for trying too hard?

I decided to try really hard.”
― Colin Jost, A Very Punchable Face

“That’s two lessons I learned very quickly: (1) You don’t need to do anything in life—if it feels wrong or unnatural, it probably is. And (2) I had no one but myself to blame for not trusting my own instincts and pushing back when I felt something was wrong.”
― Colin Jost, A Very Punchable Face

“Super religious people are basically saying, “You have to see Jesus! Otherwise you’ll never get to heaven!” And I keep thinking, Yeah... but I don’t want to go to heaven if you’re gonna be there...”
― Colin Jost, A Very Punchable Face

“We have to remember that progress isn’t just a straight line upwards, O.K.?
It’s a weird roller coaster where sometimes you’re screaming for joy, and other times you’re barfing in your own face.”
― Colin Jost

“All you have to do is stay. And when you feel the urge to flee in fear, you don't. You stand firm. And you choose courage. You keep choosing courage over fear, until it feels natural. Until you realize you're the bravest person in the room.”
― Jamie Varon, Main Character Energy

“I thought that I had to wait until I didn't feel afraid. I always thought that fear meant inadequacy, that confident people just feel capable all the time. But maybe I've had it all wrong...Maybe the fear never goes away. Maybe what changes is your response to it. Maybe you just keep choosing to be brave, every single day.”
― Jamie Varon, Main Character Energy

“She got disappointed and life didn't always go her way, but she kept going. She kept trying. She didn't let herself get defeated for too long. And there is no doubt in my mind that you are stronger than your fear. Margot made a choice to live boldly, because she knew at any point she only had two choices: back away in fear or choose courage.”
― Jamie Varon, Main Character Energy

“When Margot decided to choose courage, a funny thing happened: she always got braver. Fear doesn't like boldness. And regardless of what decisions you've made in the past, you can choose again. Choose courage.”
― Jamie Varon, Main Character Energy

“That doesn't mean you won't doubt yourself or be afraid. Margot was always afraid when she took a leap of faith, but she just didn't let that stop her. She always said it's not about being fearless - its about doing it afraid.”
― Jamie Varon, Main Character Energy

“She always said it's not about being fearless - its about doing it afraid.”
― Jamie Varon, Main Character Energy

“How do I tap into that courage?

All you have to do is stay. And when you feel the urge to flee in fear, you don't. You stand firm.”
― Jamie Varon, Main Character Energy

“Life can continue to surprise you right up until the end, if you're brave enough to take risks.”
― Jamie Varon, Main Character Energy

“I have been living in service of my fear for too long. And I did it again. Cowered in the face of it.”
― Jamie Varon, Main Character Energy

“I need to be the main character in my own life. For good this time. No matter what external circumstances might get me down. All it takes is one loving and brave step at a time.”
― Jamie Varon, Main Character Energy

“I've realized that another person's greatness takes nothing from my own. And that the bravest thing you can do is support people and celebrate their success with as much excitement as it deserves. It's funny, the more you celebrate others, the more you celebrate yourself.”
― Jamie Varon, Main Character Energy

“Yeah, I feel like, as women, we have to choose between two different dire4ctions to make it in this world, either we try to split from convention, set ourselves apart, break the rules. or we accept the rules and play along in order to make sure those doors open. And I can't blame any woman for whatever path she chooses.”
― Jamie Varon, Main Character Energy

“This makes me think of my mom and Margot. One who chose the traditional path, the other an unconventional one. They were both trying to survive in their own way. I wish they had been able to see that and reconcile their differences.”
― Jamie Varon, Main Character Energy

“If you interpret every difficult experience as a reason to not try, or have hope, or not believe in people and love, that's what life will become. You'll look for evidence for why something isn't working for you. I choose to stay open, I don't want to spend my life afraid and guarded.”
― Jamie Varon, Main Character Energy

“Life is all about where you focus. I've been through a lot of tragedy and pain but I can't let it define me. I want to take chances, even if the outcome is uncertain or I could get hurt - or left at the dam alter.”
― Jamie Varon, Main Character Energy

“You can't think your way into loving yourself or feeling confident. So maybe I need to keep making one bold decision after another. Maybe I need to act in loving ways.”
― Jamie Varon, Main Character Energy

“If you interpret every difficult experience as a reason to not try, or have hope, or not believe in people and love, that's what life will become.”
― Jamie Varon, Main Character Energy

“It's so frustrating that all we want is to be understood and yet it sometimes feel impossible to find the people who do.”
― Jamie Varon, Main Character Energy

“How many summer days I missed out on - it's too many to count. I hate that I still care more about how other people perceive my body, rather than how I feel about my body. I want so desperately to be someone who is unapologetic, who loves herself, who doesn't have to analyze every moment.

I want to be be bold, adventurous - to say yes to life.”
― Jamie Varon, Main Character Energy

“I guess confidence really is attractive.”
― Jamie Varon, Main Character Energy

“Words have always swirled around me like snowflakes-each one delicate and different, each one melting untouched in my hands.”
― Sharon M. Draper, Out of My Mind

“[A] person is so much more than the name of a diagnosis on a chart.”
― Sharon M. Draper, Out of My Mind

“Words.

I’m surrounded by thousands of words. Maybe millions.

Cathedral. Mayonnaise. Pomegranate.
Mississippi. Neapolitan. Hippopotamus.
Silky. Terrifying. Iridescent.
Tickle. Sneeze. Wish. Worry.

Words have always swirled around me like snowflakes—each one delicate and different, each one melting untouched in my hands.

Deep within me, words pile up in huge drifts. Mountains of phrases and sentences and connected ideas. Clever expressions. Jokes. Love songs.

From the time I was really little—maybe just a few months old—words were like sweet, liquid gifts, and I drank them like lemonade. I could almost taste them. They made my jumbled thoughts and feelings have substance. My parents have always blanketed me with conversation. They chattered and babbled. They verbalized and vocalized. My father sang to me. My mother whispered her strength into my ear.

Every word my parents spoke to me or about me I absorbed and kept and remembered. All of them.

I have no idea how I untangled the complicated process of words and thought, but it happened quickly and naturally. By the time I was two, all my memories had words, and all my words had meanings.

But only in my head.

I have never spoken one single word. I am almost eleven years old.”
― Sharon M. Draper, Out of My Mind

“Maybe I'm not so different from everyone else after all. It's like somebody gave me a puzzle, but I don't have the box with the picture on it. So I don't know what the final thing is supposed to look like. I'm not even sure if I have all the pieces.”
― Sharon M. Draper, Out of My Mind

“Everybody thinks they know me,”
― Sharon M. Draper, Out of My Heart