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One of my roommates, Rafael, he's an expert on monsters. Not that he talks about them. I can just tell. People who have monsters recognize each other. They know each other without even saying a word.
Benjamin Alire Saenz
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But there she was, sobbing for Yolie, and he wondered why some people stayed soft no matter what happened to them.
Benjamin Alire Saenz
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That was the first time that I really saw my mother as a person. A person who was so much more than just my mother. It was strange to think of her that way.
Benjamin Alire Saenz
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I do not know what it means to be okay. I have never known and maybe I will never know. Okay is just a word I use so I won't have to talk about what's inside. Okay is a word that means I am going to keep my secrets.
Benjamin Alire Saenz
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When I hung up the phone, I felt a little sad. And a little happy. For a few minutes I wished that Dante and I lived in the universe of boys instead of the universe of almost-men.
Benjamin Alire Saenz
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If you want to be alive, you can’t avoid pain.
Benjamin Alire Saenz
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I hated being volunteered. The problem with my life was that it was someone else's idea.
Benjamin Alire Saenz
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Words were not things you could control. Not always.
Benjamin Alire Saenz
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What did school matter compared to a sister?
Benjamin Alire Saenz
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I’ll leave a note to the rector of the cathedral and remind him that a woman gave him birth. Something for him to think about the next time he gives one of his sermons. I’m writing all this down.
Benjamin Alire Saenz
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You know, the thing about not talking very much is that people think you’re mature. They make things up about you.
Benjamin Alire Saenz
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Dogs don't censor themselves. Maybe animals were smarter than people. The dog was so happy. My mom and dad too. It felt good to know that they loved the dog, that they let themselves do that. And somehow it seemed that the dog helped us be a better family.
Benjamin Alire Saenz
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We work together in publishing--big publishers, small publishers. We are a community and must think of ourselves as a community, instead of being in love with the idea of the talented individual. Language belongs to us.
Benjamin Alire Saenz
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Her fading voice was the one I heard the loudest.
Benjamin Alire Saenz
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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 Saenz
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My mother watched me. It was true. I had never loved her more.
Benjamin Alire Saenz
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Some day we’ll all be happy. I promise you. And there won’t be any more fighting.
Benjamin Alire Saenz
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I had this image stuck in my mind. I was four and I was walking down the street, holding my brother’s hand. I wondered if it was a memory or a dream. Or a hope.
Benjamin Alire Saenz
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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 Saenz
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What will it be like, to die? What kind of light is there in death? Perhaps there will only be darkness. Perhaps there is nothing but a long, long night. Nothing but a long, long night.
Benjamin Alire Saenz
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It made me smile, the way they got along, the easy and affectionate way they talked to each other as if love between a father and a son was simple and uncomplicated. My mom and I, sometimes what we had was easy and uncomplicated. Sometimes. But me and my dad, we didn't have that. I wondered what that would be like, to walk into a room and kiss my father.
Benjamin Alire Saenz
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Living is an art, not a science.
Benjamin Alire Saenz
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I guess I didn't have it so bad.Maybe everybody didn't love me,but i wasn't one of those kids that everyone hated,either. I was good in a fight.So people left me alone. i was almost invisible.i think i liked it that way. And then Dante came along.
Benjamin Alire Saenz
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And then I just couldn’t stand it anymore, and I took Fito’s fists and I was stronger than he was, and I held his arms and kept him from hitting himself. And then I just pulled him in to me, and I held him and he cried and he cried and he cried. And I couldn’t do anything about all the hurt, but I could hold him.
Benjamin Alire Saenz
