Benjamin Alire Saenz Quotes
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Sometimes parents loved their sons so much that they made a romance out of their lives. They thought our youth could help us overcome everything. Maybe moms and dads forgot about this one small fact: being on the verge of seventeen could be harsh and painful and confusing. Being on the verge of seventeen could really suck.
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Dante and I were the last two boys in America who grew up without television.
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Show me a man without regrets and I’ll show you a man without a conscience.
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You can’t expect to go both ways when you’re driving on a one-way street.
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Do you think, Ari, that love has anything to do with the secrets of the universe? I don’t know. Maybe.
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I wanted to tell him that all the awful things that happened in the old world were dead. And the new world, the world we lived in now, the world we were creating, that world would be better. But I didn’t say it, because I wasn’t sure it was true.
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Everyone was becoming someone else. Sometimes, when you were older, you became someone younger. And me, I felt old.
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Because you didn’t need words when you were sitting in the light.
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Her eyes were as sad as they were fierce.
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It all happened in an instant, like a flash of lightning, only the lightning wasn’t coming from the sky, it was coming from somewhere inside of me.
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No extra credit for being decent human beings.
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And then I don't know why, but I felt sad. And then I started thinking about my brother. Every time I felt sad, I thought about him. Maybe deep down a part of me was always thinking about him. Sometimes, I caught myself spelling out his name. B-E-R-N-A-R-D-O. What was my brain doing, spelling out his name without my permission?
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I noticed his smile was a little sad. Maybe everyone was a little sad. Maybe so.
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So if I don’t write as many letters as you do, don’t be upset. I’m not doing it to upset you, okay? This is my problem. I want other people to tell me how they feel. But I’m not so sure I want to return the favor.
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When is the right time for anything? Who knows? Living is an art, not a science.
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And prayer? How could you pray to a God you wanted to hit?
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Maybe we just lived between hurting and healing.
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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.
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Were you afraid Dad wouldn’t come back? I didn’t think about it. I made myself not think about it. I’m good at that.
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Maybe dogs were one of the secrets of the universe.
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There was something about the sound of a man in pain that resembled the sound of a wounded animal.
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The problem is not that I don't love my mother and father. The problem is that I don't know how to love them.
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People can be cruel. People hate what they don’t understand.” “But, Dad, they don’t want to understand.” “Maybe they don’t. But we have to find a way to discipline our hearts so that their cruelty doesn’t turn us into hurt animals.
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Sometimes, all you have to do is tell people the truth. They won't believe you. After that, they'll leave you alone.