Bill Konigsberg Quotes

“With my white friends, I’m always half Mexican. They never say I’m half Irish. Never say I’m half white. Like I’m tainted halfway from the standard. It’s like when I was a kid and I thought vanilla ice cream meant no flavor, like it was the base of all of the flavors. But vanilla is a bean. Like chocolate is a bean. Like cinnamon is a root. All roots and beans. All flavors. There is no base. No ice cream without a flavor.”
― Bill Konigsberg, The Music of What Happens

“Then Albie reached into his pocket and pulled out one shiny Jonathan apple.
“Hungry?” he asked us.
“How’d you do that?” I asked, wondering when he’d had time to pocket an apple.
“Oh, I have four of them,” he said, patting his megalarge pockets. “Next time you won’t laugh when I tell you to watch Survival Planet.”
― Bill Konigsberg, Openly Straight

“Actually, tolerance and acceptance are different. To tolerate seems to mean that there is something negative to tolerate, doesn't it?”
― Bill Konigsberg, Openly Straight

“I'm not getting this. How do you take a break from who you are, Shay Shay?”
― Bill Konigsberg, Openly Straight

“Mom always says all sorts of shit goes down in the world, and it’s up to me to decide how to take it. The one way you’re sure to be unhappy is to frown your way through life, she says, and she’s right. Always look for the bright, vibrant color through the darkness. It’s always there, but sometimes hard to see.”
― Bill Konigsberg, The Music of What Happens

“Just smile, Max. The paint cannot be stronger than a smile. But it is.”
― Bill Konigsberg, The Music of What Happens