Well, I Think That Part Of Being Young Is Not Exactly Knowing Why You Do Some Of The Things That You Do. And It's By Exploring Your Life Or Experimenting Or Making Mistakes And Learning From Them Hopefully That You Start To Forge An Identity.

-Stephen Chbosky

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Well, I Think That

Stephen Chbosky

Topic

Mistake

Thinking

Knowing

More From Stephen Chbosky

Patrick Started Driving Really Fast, And Just Before We Got To The Tunnel. Sam Stood Up, And The Wind Turned Her Dress Into Ocean Waves. When We Hit The Tunnel, All The Sound Got Scooped Up Into A Vacuum, And It Was Replaced By A Song On The Tape Player. A Beautiful Song Called “landslide.” When We Got Out Of The Tunnel, Sam Screamed This Really Fun Scream, And There It Was. Downtown. Lights On Buildings And Everything That Makes You Wonder. Sam Sat Down And Started Laughing. Patrick Started Laughing. I Started Laughing. And In That Moment, I Swear We Were Infinite.

Beautiful

Song

Fun

She Wasn't Bitter. She Was Sad, Though. But It Was A Hopeful Kind Of Sad. The Kind Of Sad That Just Takes Time.

Sad

I Hate You

Hopeful

He's A Wallflower. You See Things. You Keep Quiet About Them. And You Understand.

Quiet

Introvert

Perks Of A Wallflower

I Guess When You See Somebody In The Hallway Or On The Field Or Something, It's Nice To Know That They Are A Real Person.

Real

Nice

Fields

But Right Now I’m Here With You. And I Want To Know Where You Are, What You Need, And What You Want To Do.

Needs

Want

Where You Are

He Was The Boy That Made Mix Tapes With Themes And Hand-colored Covers Until The Day He Hit My Sister And Stopped Crying.

Boys

Hands

Tape

And Things Were Back To Normal Except We Were Just Friends.

Everyone Is Special In Their Own Way.

Special

Way

Perks Of A Wallflower

It’s Much Easier Not To Know Things Sometimes. And To Have French Fries With Your Mom Be Enough.

Mom

Sometimes

Enough

I Wish I Knew. It Might Make Me Miss Him More Clearly. It Might Have Made Sad Sense.

Missing

Wish

Might

I Was In My Bed Trying To Figure Out Why Sometimes You Can Wake Up And Go Back To Sleep And Other Times You Can't

Sleep

Trying

Bed

Personally, I Like To Think My Brother Is Having A College Experience Like They Do In The Movies. I Don't Mean The Big Fraternity Party Kind Of Movie. More Like The Movie Where The Guy Meets A Smart Girl Who Wears A Lot Of Sweaters And Drinks Cocoa. They Talk About Books And Issues And Kiss In The Rain. I Think Something Like That Would Be Very Good For Him, Especially If The Girl Were Unconventionally Beautiful. They Are The Best Kind Of Girls, I Think. I Personally Find 'super Models' Strange. I Don't Know Why This Is.

Beautiful

Girl

Brother

I Didn't Know That Other People Thought Things About Me. I Didn't Know That They Looked.

People

Knows

It's Nice To Have Things To Look Forward To.

Nice

Looks

It’s Much Easier Not To Know Things Sometimes.

Ignorance

Sometimes

Perks Of A Wallflower

The Inside Jokes Weren't Jokes Anymore. They Had Become Stories

Stories

Jokes

Inside Jokes

When I Was Driving Home, I Just Thought About The Word 'special'. And I Thought The Last Person Who Said That About Me Was My Aunt Helen. I Was Very Grateful To Have Heard It Again. Because I Guess We All Forget Sometimes. And I Think Everyone Is Special In Their Own Way. I Really Do.

Grateful

Home

Aunt

It's Like Looking At All The Students And Wondering Who's Had Their Heart Broken That Day, And How They Are Able To Cope With Having Three Quizzes And A Book Report On Top Of That.

Book

Heart

Broken

There's Nothing Like Deep Breaths After Laughing That Hard. Nothing In The World Like A Sore Stomach For The Right Reasons.

Happiness

Bad Day

Laughing

I Don't Know The Significance Of This, But I Find It Very Interesting.

Interesting

Significance

Very Interesting

I Found, Through The Process Of Doing 'the Perks Of Being A Wallflower,' That I Really Love Directing Movies And I Love Writing Books And So This Will Become The Centerpiece Of My Career For The Next Ten Or Twenty Years. Doing These Adaptations.

Book

Writing

Years

So, This Is My Life. And I Want You To Know That I Am Both Happy And Sad And I'm Still Trying To Figure Out How That Could Be.

Love

Inspirational

Sadness

He's A Wallflower." And Bob Nodded His Head. And The Whole Room Nodded Their Head. And I Started To Feel Nervous In The Bob Way, But Patrick Didn't Let Me Get Too Nervous. He Sat Down Next To Me. "you See Things. You Keep Quiet About Them. And You Understand.

Bob

Way

Rooms

I Said No To Having A Beer. I Once Had A Beer With My Brother When I Was Twelve, And I Just Didn't Like It. It's Really That Simple For Me. [pp.37]

Brother

Beer

Simple

So, I Guess We Are Who We Are For A Lot Of Reasons. And Maybe We'll Never Know Most Of Them.

Where We Come

Who We Are

Perks Of A Wallflower

We Accept The Love We Think We Deserve.

Love

Inspirational

Tattoo

The Thing Is, Some Girls Think They Can Actually Change Guys. And What’s Funny Is That If They Actually Did Change Them, They’d Get Bored. They’d Have No Challenge Left. You Just Have To Give Girls Some Time To Think Of A New Way Of Doing Things, That’s All. Some Of Them Will Figure It Out Here. Some Later. Some Never. I Wouldn’t Worry About It Too Much.

Girl

Thinking

Giving

The Girl That Introduced The Smiths' Song 'asleep' To Me Was An Important Musical Influence That I Met In College. From There It's Been An Ongoing Journey Of Different Bands At Different Times, Introducing Bands And Songs To Me.

Girl

Song

Journey

As People Get Older, We All Know, You Get Married And You Have A Child And That Becomes Your Family, But When You're 16 Years Old, Especially, Your Family Is Your Friends.

Children

Years

People

So, I Heard You're This Ninja Or Something.

Ninja

Heard

Writing Screenplays Is Incredibly Hard. I Can't Call It Joy. Writing Novels? Joy. Directing? Joy. Writing Screenplays? That's Where You Pay All Your Dues.

Writing

Joy

Pay

The Gift From My Secret Santa Wasn't Anything Special. That Makes Me Sad. I Bet You Anything That Mary Elizabeth Is My Secret Santa Because Only She Would Give Me Socks.

Giving

Secret

Special

I'm Only Being Cute Here. I Don't Really Mean It. I Just Wanted To Make You Smile.

Cute

Mean

Make You Smile

They Just Knew. And I Think That's All You Can Ever Ask From A Friend.

Thinking

Perks Of A Wallflower

Perks

I Remembered This One Time That I Never Told Anybody About. The Time We Were Walking. Just The Three Of Us. I Was In The Middle. I Don't Remember Where We Were Walking To Or Where We Were Walking From. I Just Remember The Season. I Just Remember Walking Between Them And Feeling For The First Time That I Belonged Somewhere

Feelings

Three

Firsts

I Would Die For You. But I Won't Live For You.

Love

Perks Of A Wallflower

Dies

And She Says She Wants To Expose Me To All These Great Things. And To Tell You The Truth, I Don't Really Want To Be Exposed To All These Great Things If It Means That I'll Have To Hear Mary Elizabeth Talk About All The Great Things She Exposed Me To All The Time. I Don't Understand That. I Would Give Someone A Record So They Could Love The Record, Not So They Would Always Know That I Gave It To Them.

Mean

Giving

Records

When The Police Came, They Found My Brother Asleep On The Roof. Nobody Knows How He Got There.

Brother

Police

Found

Girls Like Guys To Be A Challenge. It Gives Them Some Mold To Fit In How They Act. Like A Mom. What Would A Mom Do If She Couldn't Fuss Over You And Make You Clean Your Room? And What Would You Do Without Her Fussing And Making You Do It? Everyone Needs A Mom. And A Mom Knowns This. And It Gives Her A Sense Of Purpose. You Get It?

Girl

Mom

Mother

I Am Writing To You Because She Said You Listen And Understand And Didn't Try To Sleep With That Person At That Party Even Though You Could Have.

Party

Writing

Sleep

Sometimes, I Think Bill Forgets That I Am Sixteen. But I Am Very Happy That He Does.

Thinking

Doe

Bills

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.

Hate

Love You

Trying

I Was In The Shopping Mall Because That's Where I Go Lately. For The Last Couple Of Weeks, I've Been Going There Every Day, Trying To Figure Out Why People Go There. It's Kind Of A Personal Project.

Couple

Shopping

People

And She Looked At Me Like She Couldn't Believe I Knew She Loved Anne Rice. I Guess He Didn't Know How Much She Talked Or How Much I Listened.

Believe

Know How

Rice

I Really Think That Everyone Should Have Watercolors, Magnetic Poetry, And A Harmonica.

Thinking

Should Have

Harmonicas

I Love Twinkies, And The Reason I Am Saying That Is Because We Are All Supposed To Think Of Reasons To Live.

Thinking

Reason

Reason To Live

But At One Point, Craig Was Talking About Something, And Sam Turned To Me And Smiled. It Was A Movie Smile In Slow Motion, And Then Everything Was Okay.

Talking

Slow Motion

Okay

I Guess I'm Pretty Emotional.

Emotional

I Look At The Field, And I Think About The Boy Who Just Made The Touchdown. I Think That These Are The Glory Days For That Boy, And This Moment Will Just Be Another Story Someday Because All The People Who Make Touchdowns And Home Runs Will Become Somebody's Dad. And When His Children Look At His Yearbook Photograph, They Will Think That Their Dad Was Rugged And Handsome And Looked A Lot Happier Than They Are. I Just Hope I Remember To Tell My Kids That They Are As Happy As I Look In My Old Photographs. And I Hope That They Believe Me.

Running

Dad

Children

I Don't Even Remember The Season. I Just Remember Walking Between Them And Feeling For The First Time That I Belonged Somewhere.

Feelings

Firsts

Remember

It's Strange Because Sometimes, I Read A Book, And I Think I Am The People In The Book.

Book

Thinking

People

I Would Give Someone A Record So They Could Love The Record, Not So They Would Always Know That I Gave It To Them.

Giving

Records

Knows

I'm Just Thinking Too Fast-- Much Too Fast.

Thinking

Maybe It's Good To Put Things In Perspective, But Sometimes, I Think That The Only Perspective Is To Really Be There.

Thinking

Perspective

Sometimes

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.

Mom

Dad

Hate

Sam Dropped Me Off. When She Was Too Far Away To See Me, I Started To Cry Again. Because She Was My Friend Again. And That Was Enough For Me.

Cry

Far Away

Enough

I Just Want You To Know That You’re Very Special… And The Only Reason I’m Telling You Is That I Don’t Know If Anyone Else Ever Has.

Inspiration

Cheer Up

Special

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.

Writing

White

Pieces

Incidentally, I Only Have One Cavity, And As Much As My Dentist Asks Me To, I Just Can't Bring Myself To Floss.

Dentist

Ask Me

Asks

What's Your Favorite Book? "the Last One I Read.

Book

Lasts

Favorite Book

I Really Do Love My Sister. Especially When She's Nice.

Nice

My Sister

I Think That If I Ever Have Kids, And They Are Upset, I Won't Tell Them That People Are Starving In China Or Anything Like That Because It Wouldn't Change The Fact That They Were Upset. And Even If Somebody Else Has It Much Worse, That Doesn't Really Change The Fact That You Have What You Have.

Honesty

Kids

Thinking

Five Minutes Of A Lifetime Were Truly Spent, And We Felt Young In A Good Way.

Way

Lifetime

Minutes

Why Would I Care Whether Or Not He Loved Me When He Didn't Even Really Know Me?

Care

Think Different

Know Me

I Wonder What It Will Be Like When I Leave This Place.

Wonder

I Have Finished To Kill A Mockingbird. It Is Now My Favorite Book Of All Time, But Then Again, I Always Think That Until I Read Another Book.

Book

Thinking

My Favorite

I'm Going To Be Who I Really Am. I'm Going To Figure Out What This Is.

Figures

Watson

To Tell You The Truth I Love Sam. It's Not A Movie Kind Of Love Either. I Just Look At Her Sometimes And I Think She Is The Prettiest And Nicest Person In The Whole World.

Thinking

Looks

World

I Wish I Could Stop Being In Love With Sam. I Really Do.

Being In Love

Wish

Craig Said The Problem With Things Is That Everyone Is Always Comparing Everyone With Everyone

Problem

Said

Compare

You Get The Right Collection Of People Together And You Get The Atmosphere Together That It Is Very Free Where There Is No Judgment. If You Create An Atmosphere That Is Very Open You Steer The Ship.

People

Atmosphere

Together

So, I Guess We Are Who We Are For Alot 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.

Inspiring

Hard Times

Trying

I Don't Know What's Wrong With Me. It's Like All I Can Do Is Keep Writing This Gibberish To Keep From Breaking Apart.

Writing

Breaking Apart

Knows

Patrick Started Running After The Sunset. And Sam Immediately Followed Him. And I Saw Them In Silhouette. Running After The Sun.

Running

Sunset

Saws

I've Never Understood The Need People Have To Dictate Morality To Other People. I Really Don't Know What It Is. I Don't Know If It's Fear Or The Belief That They Know The Only Right Way. Or Maybe They See A Lot Of Social Ills And Social Decline, And They Really Think They Have The Elixir For It.

Thinking

People

Needs

I Walked Over To The Hill Where We Used To Go And Sled. There Were A Lot Of Little Kids There. I Watched Them Flying. Doing Jumps And Having Races. And I Thought That All Those Little Kids Are Going To Grow Up Someday. And All Of Those Little Kids Are Going To Do The Things That We Do. And They Will All Kiss Someone Someday. But For Now, Sledding Is Enough. I Think It Would Be Great If Sledding Were Always Enough, But It Isn't.

Growing Up

Kids

Kissing

And I Wonder If Anyone Is Really Happy. I Hope They Are. I Really Hope They Are.

Wonder

Perks Of A Wallflower

Really Happy

And We Could All Sit Around And Wonder And Feel Bad About Each Other And Blame A Lot Of People For What They Did Or Didn’t Do Or What They Didn’t Know. I Don’t Know. I Guess There Would Always Be Someone To Blame.

People

Blame

Wonder

Do You Know What 'masturbation' Is? I Think You Probably Do Because You Are Older Than Me. But Just In Case, I Will Tell You. Masturbation Is When You Rub Your Genitals Until You Have An Orgasm. Wow!

Thinking

Wow

Masturbation

Just Tell Me How To Be Different In A Way That Makes Sense.

Different

Way

Perks

I Can See It. This One Moment When You Know You’re Not A Sad Story. You’re Alive. And You Stand Up And See The Lights And The Buildings And Everything That Makes You Wonder. And You’re Listening To That Song In That Drive With The People You Love Most In This World. And In This Moment I Swear… We Are Infinite.

Song

Light

People

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.

Love You

Thinking

What If

Sometimes, I Look Outside, And I Think That A Lot Of Other People Have Seen This Snow Before. Just Like I Think That A Lot Of Other People Have Read Those Books Before. And Listened To Those Songs. I Wonder How They Feel Tonight.

Song

Book

Thinking

So What's The Point Of Using Words Nobody Else Knows Or Can Say Comfortably? I Just Don't Understand That.

Using Words

Knows

Five Minutes Of A Lifetime Were Truly Spent, And We Felt Young In A Good Way.

Way

Lifetime

Minutes

All I Could Do Is Lie There And Think About How Much Her Voice Changed When She Asked Me If She Was Pretty, And How Much She Changed When I Answered.

Lying

Thinking

Voice

Calls Her Beautiful, But She Cannot Hear.

Beautiful

Part Of The Reason I Wrote The Book Was I Wanted To Understand For Myself Why Such Good People Let Themselves Get Treated So Badly.

Book

People

Reason

The Fights Are Always The Same

Fighting

And For The First Time In My Life I Understand The End Of That Poem. And I Never Wanted To. You Have To Believe Me.

Believe

Firsts

Ends

You Should Tell Her How Nice Her Outfit Is Because Her Outfit Is Her Choice Whereas Her Face Isn't.

Nice

Choices

Faces

I Feel Like A Big Faker Because I've Been Putting My Life Back Together, And Nobody Knows.

Together

Bigs

Nobody Knows

We Didn't Talk About Anything Heavy Or Light. We Were Just There Together. And That Was Enough

Light

Together

Perks Of A Wallflower

It's Okay To Feel Things. And Be Who You Are About Them.

Be Who You Are

Okay

Feels

You Know . . . A Lot Of Kids At School Hate Their Parents. Some Of Them Got Hit. And Some Of Them Got Caught In The Middle Of Wrong Lives. Some Of Them Were Trophies For Their Parents To Show The Neighbors Like Ribbons Or Gold Stars. And Some Of Them Just Wanted To Drink In Peace.

Stars

Hate

School

The Thing Is Some Girls Think They Can Actually Change Guys

Girl

Thinking

Guy

Not Everyone Has A Sob Story, Charlie, And Even If They Do, It's No Excuse.

Stories

No Excuses

Perks Of A Wallflower

Why Do I And Everyone I Love Pick People Who Treat Us Like We're Nothing"; - "we Accept The Love We Think We Deserve.

Thinking

People

Perks Of A Wallflower

Old Pictures Look Very Rugged And Young, And The People In The Photographs Always Seem A Lot Happier Than You Are.

People

Looks

Photograph

I Think They Were Afraid That Some Of Us Would Try To Kill Ourselves Or Something Because They Looked Very Tense And One Of Them Kept Touching His Beard.

Thinking

Touching

Trying

Maybe These Are My Glory Days, And I'm Not Ever Realizing It Because They Involve A Ball.

Balls

Realizing

Glory

Standing On The Fringes Of Life... Offers A Unique Perspective. But There Comes A Time To See What It Looks Like From The Dance Floor.

Unique

Perspective

Looks

It's Just Hard To See A Friend Hurt This Much. Especially When You Can't Do Anything Except 'be There.' I Just Want To Make Him Stop Hurting, But I Can't. So I Just Follow Him Around Whenever He Wants To Show Me His World.

Hurt

World

Want

And In That Moment, I Swear We Were Infinite.

Infinity

Infinite

Moments

I Want To Be An Author/director And I'm Writing My Second Book Now And I Want To Make A Movie Of It, And I Hope I Get To Do This For The Rest Of My Life.

Book

Writing

Directors

So, I Looked Up, And We Were In This Giant Dome Like A Glass Snowball, And Mark Said That The Amazing White Stars Were Really Only Holes In The Black Glass Of The Dome, And When You Went To Heaven, The Glass Broke Away, And There Was Nothing But A Whole Sheet Of Star White, Which Is Brighter Than Anything But Doesn't Hurt Your Eyes. It Was Vast And Open And Thinly Quiet, And I Felt So Small.

Hurt

Stars

Eye

I Am Very Interested And Fascinated How Everyone Loves Each Other, But No One Really Likes Each Other.

Likes

Perks Of A Wallflower

Love Each Other

There Is This One Photograph... That Is Just Beautiful. It Would Be Impossible To Describe How Beautiful It Is, But I’ll Try. If You Listen To The Song “asleep,” And You Think About Those Pretty Weather Days That Make You Remember Things, And You Think About The Prettiest Eyes You’ve Known, And You Cry And The Person Holds You Back, Then I Think You Will See The Photograph.

Beautiful

Song

Eye

I'm Not Saying She Was Lying To Me, But She Just Acted So Different Before I Got To Know Her, And If She Really Isn't Like What She Was At The Beginning, I Wish She Could Have Just Said So.

Lying

Wish

Different

It's Like He Would Take A Photograph Of Sam, And The Photograph Would Be Beautiful. And He Would Think That The Reason The Photograph Was Beautiful Was Because Of How He Took It. If I Took It, I Would Know That The Only Reason It's Beautiful Is Because Of Sam. I Just Think It's Bad When A Boy Looks At A Girl And Thinks That The Way He Sees The Girl Is Better Then The Girl Actually Is. And I Think It's Bad When The Most Honest Way A Boy Can Look At A Girl Is Through A Camera. It's Very Hard For Me To See Sam Feel Better About Herself Just Because A Boy Sees Her That Way.

Beautiful

Girl

Feel Better

They Are All My Favourites. All Of Them.

Do You Think If People Knew How Crazy You Really Were, No One Would Ever Talk To You?

Crazy

Thinking

People

Love Pats Are Soft Punches Of Encouragement That Are Admistered On The Knee, Shoulder, And Arm.

Encouragement

Arms

Knees

It's Strange To Describe Reading A Book As A Really Great Experience, But That's Kind Of How It Felt.

Book

Reading

Strange

It's Too Bad You're Not Gay. Then Again, If You Were Gay, I Would Never Date You. You're A Mess." You Know, Patrick? If I Were Gay, I'd Want To Date You." Of Course.

Gay

Want

Mess

He’s My Whole World.” “don’t Ever Say That About Anyone Again. Not Even Me.

World

Whole

Whole World

The Juniors Were Acting Different Because They Are Now The Seniors. They Even Had T-shirts Made. I Don't Know Who Plans These Things.

Senior

Acting

Different

Nobody Felt Sad As Long As We Could Postpone Tomorrow With More Nostalgia.

Long

Nostalgia

Tomorrow

Enjoy It. Because It's Happening.

Inspirational

Meaningful

Enjoy

It Was The Kind Of Kiss That Made Me Know That I Was Never So Happy In My Whole Life.

Kissing

Kind

Perks Of A Wallflower

I Just Think It's Bad When A Boy Looks At A Girl And Thinks That The Way He Sees Her Is Better Than She Actually Is. And I Think It's Bad When The Most Honest Way A Boy Can Look At A Girl Is Through A Camera.

Girl

Boys

Thinking

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.

Real

Eye

Names

In The Last Month Or So, I Have Read The Great Gatsby And A Separate Peace. I Am Starting To See A Real Trend In The Kind Of Books Bill Gives Me To Read. And Just Like The Tape Of Songs, It Is Amazing To Hold Each Of Them In The Palm Of My Hand. They Are All My Favorites. All Of Them.

Song

Real

Book

And I Could See This Boy Doing His Homework And Thinking About My Sister Naked. And I Could See Them Holding Hands At Football Games That They Do Not Watch. And I Could See This Boy Throwing Up In The Bushes At A Party House. And I Could See My Sister Putting Up With It. And I Felt Very Bad For Both Of Them.

Football

Party

Boys

It’s Like When You’re Excited About A Girl And You See A Couple Holding Hands, And You Feel So Happy For Them. And Other Times You See The Same Couple, And They Make You So Mad. And All You Want Is To Feel Happy For Them Because You Know That If You Do, Then It Means You’re Happy, Too.

Girl

Couple

Mean

When You Publish A Book, You Do So In Part To End The Silence. All Censorship Is Silence. I Would Never, As An Author, Feel Right Requiring A Young Person Whose Family Would Object To The Book To Read It. Just As I Would Never Force That Person To Read It, I Would Ask Those Folks To Not Force Others Not To Read It. To Me, That Is Just Good Manners.

Book

Silence

Good Man

There Was A Time When These Weren't Memories.

Memories

If You Are In A Movie Theater, You Can Look Two People Down And They Are Laughing While You Are Laughing Or You Can Look Three People Down And They Love That Song That You Love. It Is Living Proof That You Are Not Alone.

Song

Two

People

Downtown. Lights On Buildings And Everything That Makes You Wonder. And In That Moment, I Swear We Were Infinite.

Light

Downtown

Wonder

"i Hate You." My Sister Said It Different Than She Said It To My Dad. She Meant It With Me.she Really Did. "i Love You," Was All I Could Say In Return. "you're A Freak, You Know That? Everyone Says So. They Always Have." "i'm Trying Not To Be.” Then, I Turned Around And Walked To My Room And Closed My Door And Put My Head Under My Pillow And Let The Quiet Put Things Where They Are Supposed To Be.

Dad

Hate

Love You

The Reason I Am Thinking So Far In Advance Is Because School Is Terribly Lonely. I Think I've Said That Before, But It's Getting Harder Every Day.

Lonely

School

Thinking

What About When Someone Doesn't Need A Shoulder? What If They Need The Arms?

What If

Needs

Arms

On Friday Night, I Was Reading My New Book, But My Brain Got Tired, So I Decided To Watch Some Television Instead.

Friday

Book

Reading

Something Really Is Wrong With Me. And I Don't Know What It Is.

Romance Movie

Adjustment

Knows

Movies, By Nature, Are Not Subjective, They're Objective.

Subjective

Objectives

I Don't Know How Much Longer I Can Keep Going Without A Friend. I Used To Be Able To Do It Very Easily, But That Was Before I Knew What Having A Friend Was Like.

Able

Used

Know How

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.

Daughter

Better Life

Knows

Regardless, I Decided To Never Take Lsd Again.

Lsd

Decided

Despite Everything My Mom And Doctor And Dad Have Said To Me About Blame, I Can't Stop Thinking What I Know. And I Know That My Aunt Helen Would Still Be Alive Today If She Just Bought Me One Present Like Everybody Else. She Would Be Alive If I Were Born On A Day That Didn't Snow.

Mom

Dad

Aunt

More Like The Movie Where The Guy Meets A Smart Girl Who Wears A Lot Of Sweaters And Drinks Cocoa. They Talk About Books And Issues And Kiss In The Rain.

Girl

Smart

Rain

There Are Rules You Follow Here Not Because You Want To, But Because You Have To.

Want

Girls Are Weird, And I Don't Mean That Offensively. I Just Can't Put It Any Other Way.

Girl

Mean

Way

As Much As I Feel Sad, I Think That Not Knowing Is What Really Bothers Me.

Thinking

Knowing

I Feel Sad

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.

Book

Laughing

Scott Fitzgerald

The Most Beautiful Surprise Is That You Have These Moments Where You Connect With People On A Deep Level Without Saying A Word. It's One Of Those Wonderful Things That You Get What You Give, And I'm Grateful For It.

Beautiful

Grateful

People

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 That Girl That's Pretty To You Is Pretty To Other People. And That If You Looked At These Facts When You Were Happy, You Would Feel Great Because You Are Describing 'unity.

Girl

Song

Book

I Want To Make Sure That The First Person You Kiss Loves You, Okay?

Love You

Kissing

Want

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.

Mom

Littles

Okay

I Don’t Know If You’ve Ever Felt Like That. That You Wanted To Sleep For A Thousand Years. Or Just Not Exist. Or Just Not Be Aware That You Do Exist. Or Something Like That. I Think Wanting That Is Very Morbid, But I Want It When I Get Like This. That’s Why I’m Trying Not To Think. I Just Want It All To Stop Spinning.

Sleep

Thinking

Years

Then, I Turned Around And Walked To My Room And Closed My Door And Put My Head Under My Pillow And Let The Quiet Put Things Where They Are Supposed To Be.

Doors

Rooms

Quiet

The Fact That One Of These Ladies Was My Mom Made Me Particularly Sad Because My Mom Is Beautiful. And She’s Always On A Diet. Sometimes, My Dad Calls Her Beautiful, But She Cannot Hear Him.

Beautiful

Mom

Dad

Do You Enjoy Holidays With Your Family? I Don't Mean Your Mom And Dad Family, But Your Uncle And Aunt And Cousin Family? Personally, I Do. There Are Several Reasons For This. First, I Am Very Interested And Fascinated By How Everyone Loves Each Other, But No One Really Likes Each Other. Second, The Fights Are Always The Same.

Mom

Cousin

Uncles

And I Never Felt That Good In My Life. But I Also Felt Bad Because I Saw Her Naked Without Her Permission.

Saws

Naked

Permission

As You See The Opening Get Closer, You Just Can't Get Fast Enough. And Finally, Just When You Think You'll Never Get There, You See The Opening Right In Front Of You.

Thinking

Enough

Opening

We Are All Supposed To Think Of Reasons To Live.

Thinking

Reason

Reason To Live

This Moment Will Just Be Another Story Someday.

Life

Stories

Moments

I Have Decided That Maybe I Want To Write When I Grow Up. I Just Don't Know What I Would Write.

Growing Up

Writing

Want

The Movie Itself Was Very Interesting, But I Didn't Think It Was Very Good Because I Didn't Really Feel Different When It Was Over.

Thinking

Interesting

Different

Susan Was Very Fun To Be Around. She Liked Movies, And Her Brother Frank Made Her Tapes Of This Great Music That She Shared With Us. But Over The Summer She Had Her Braces Taken Off, And She Got A Little Taller And Prettier And Grew Breasts. Now, She Acts A Lot Dumber In The Hallways, Especially When Boys Are Around. And I Think It's Sad Because Susan Doesn't Look As Happy.

Summer

Brother

Fun

I Spent All Night Working On It, And I Hope Patrick Likes It As Much As I Do. Especially The Second Side. I Hope It's The Kind Of Second Side That He Can Listen To Whenever He Drives Alone And Feel Like He Belongs To Something Whenever He's Sad. I Hope It Can Be That For Him.

Night

Likes

Sides

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.

Mom

Nice

Kids

Some Kids Look At Me Strange In The Hallways Because I Don't Decorate My Locker.

Kids

Looks

Lockers

Except That My Father Got A Raise, And My Mother Didn't Because She Doesn't Get Paid For Housework, And My Sister Stopped Reading Those Self-esteem Books Because She Met A New Boy

Mother

Self Esteem

Father

Sometimes People Use Thought To Not Participate In Life.

People

Use

Sometimes

I Just Listened To The Music, And Breathed In The Day, And Remembered Things. Things Like Walking Around The Neighborhood And Looking At The Houses And The Lawns And The Colorful Trees And Having That Be Enough.

House

Tree

Enough

I Just Laid Around In My Bed, Looking At The Ceiling, And I Smiled Because It Was A Nice Kind Of Quiet.

Nice

Bed

Ceilings

I Would Make The Movie Industry More Like The Television Industry. Tv Is More Material Driven. In Tv, You Can Break New Stars. Tv Can Take More Chances.

Stars

Television

Tvs

When We Were All Getting Ready To Leave, I Walked Up To My Grandfather And Gave Him A Hug And Kiss On The Cheek. He Wiped My Lip Print Off With His Palm And Gave Me A Look. He Doesn't Like The Boys In The Family To Touch Him. But I'm Very Glad That I Did It Anyway In Case He Dies. I Never Got To Do That With My Aunt Helen.

Kissing

Aunt

Boys

I Know That I Brought This All On Myself. I Know That I Deserve This. I'd Do Anything Not To Be This Way. I'd Do Anything To Make It Up To Everyone. And To Not Have To See A Psychiatrist, Who Explains To Me About Being "passive Aggressive.

Way

Passive Aggressive

Psychiatrist

I Don't Know What I'm Supposed To Do Now. I Know Other People Have It A Lot Worse. I Do Know That, But It's Crashing In Anyway, And I Just Can't Stop Thinking That The Little Kid Eating French Fries With His Mom In The Shopping Mall Is Going To Grow Up And My Sister.

Mom

Growing Up

Kids

Everyone Else Is Either Asleep Or Having Sex. I’ve Been Watching Cable Television And Eating Jello.

Sex

Television

Jello

And Later That Night To Be With My Family At Dinnertime And Have Things Just Be Like They Always Were. That Was The Amazing Part. Things Just Keep Going. We Didn't Talk About Anything Heavy Or Light. We Were Just There Together. And That Was Enough.

Night

Light

Together

So I Started Shoveling Bob's Driveway, Which Is A Strange Thing To Do At A New Years Eve Party

New Year

Party

Years

You Can't Just Sit There And Put Everyone's Lives Ahead Of Yours And Think That Counts As Love. You Just Can't. You Have To Do Things.

Love You

Thinking

Perks Of A Wallflower

Dear Friend, I Feel Great! I Really Mean It. I Have To Remember His For The Next Time I'm Having A Terrible Week. Have You Wer Done That? You Feel Really Bad, And Then It Goes Away, And You Don't Know Why. I Try To Remind Myself When I Feel Great Like This That There Will Be Another Terrible Week Coming Someday, So I Should Store Up As Many Great Details As I Can, So During The Next Terrible Week, I Can Remember Those Details And Believe That I'll Feel Great Again. It Doesn't Work A Lot, But I Think It's Very Important To Try.

Believe

Mean

Thinking

Deep Down...she's A Good Woman...you Should Be Proud Of Her." When I Told My Mom About This, She Just Looked Very Sad Because He Could Never Say Those Things To Her. Not Ever. Not Even When He Walked Her Down The Aisle.

Mom

Good Woman

Proud

I Don't Think We Should Base So Much On Weight, Muscles, And A Good Hair Day, But When It Happens, It's Nice. It Really Is.

Nice

Thinking

Hair

Bridget Who Is Crazy Said That Sometimes She Thought About Suicide When Commercials Come On During Tv. She Was Sincere And This Puzzled The Guidance Counselors.

Suicide

Crazy

Tvs

There Were Other Stories And Other Names. Second Base Stace, Who Had Breasts In Fourth Grade And Let Some Of The Boys Feel Them. Vincent, Who Took Acid And Tried To Flush A Sofa Down The Toilet. Sheila, Who Allegedly Masturbated With A Hot Dog And Had To Go To The Emergency Room. The List Went On And On.

Dog

Boys

Names

But In That Moment When My Brother Took The Field, All That Washed Away, And Everyone Was Proud... I Looked Up At My Dad, And He Was Smiling. I Looked At My Mom, And She Was Smiling Even Though She Was Nervous About My Brother Getting Hurt, Which Was Strange Because It Was A Vcr Tape Of An Old Game, And She Knew He Didn't Get Hurt.

Mom

Brother

Hurt

Patrick Actually Used To Be Popular Before Sam Bought Him Some Good Music.

Funny

Music

Used

I Walk Around The School Hallways And Look At The People. I Look At The Teachers And Wonder Why They're Here. If They Like Their Jobs. Or Us. And I Wonder How Smart They Were When They Were Fifteen. Not In A Mean Way. In A Curious Way. It's Like Looking At All The Students And Wondering Who's Had Their Heart Broken That Day, And How They Are Able To Cope With Having Three Quizzes And A Book Report Due On Top Of That. Or Wondering Who Did The Heart Breaking. And Wondering Why.

Life

Teacher

Jobs

I Couldn't Believe Sam Actually Got Me A Present Because I Honestly Thought The "i Love You" Was It.

Believe

Love You

Honestly

The Perfect Song On The Perfect Drive To Make You Feel Infinite.

Song

Perfect

Infinite

As We All Know, When You're An Athlete Things Are A Little Bit Easier For You. It Didn't Mean That What Was Going On Inside My Heart Wasn't A Bit Of A Thunderstorm, But Outwardly I Got Along Ok. I Was Really Shy In Seventh Grade.

Heart

Athlete

Mean

He Realized That If He Didn't Leave, It Would Never Be His Life. It Would Be Theirs.

Would Be

Ifs

I Am Really In Love With Sam, And It Hurts Very Much.

Hurt

It Hurts

If You Care About Somebody, You Should Want Them To Be Happy. Even If You Wind Up Being Left Out.

Wind

Care

Want

Most Of The People I Know Who Were Raised To Be Accommodating Or Were Raised To Just Be Nice And Put Everybody's Needs Ahead Of Theirs, There Comes A Moment When The Pressure Builds And They Can't Do It Anymore. They Have Needs And They Feel Neglected And They Usually Explode.

Nice

People

Needs

There Are Other People Who Have It A Lot Worse

People

Have You Ever Done That? You Feel Really Bad, And Then It Goes Away, And You Don’t Know Why.

Done

Feels

Knows

When I Was Done Reading The Poem, Everyone Was Quiet. A Very Sad Quiet. But The Amazing Thing Was That It Wasn’t A Bad Sad At All. It Was Just Something That Made Everyone Look Around At Each Other And Know That They Were There. Sam And Patrick Looked At Me. And I Looked At Them. And I Think They Knew. Not Anything Specific Really. They Just Knew. And I Think That’s All You Can Ever Ask From A Friend.

Reading

Thinking

Looks

I Used To Listen To It All The Time When I Was Little And Thinking About Grown-up Things. I Would Go To My Bedroom Window And Stare At My Reflection In The Glass And The Trees Behind It And Just Listen To The Song For Hours. I Decided Then That When I Met Someone I Thought Was As Beautiful As The Song, I Should Give It To That Person. And I Didn’t Mean Beautiful On The Outside. I Meant Beautiful In All Ways.

Beautiful

Song

Mean

And Even If Somebody Else Has It Much Worse, That Doesn't Really Change The Fact That You Have What You Have. Good And Bad.

Facts

Perks Of A Wallflower

Good And Bad

To Kill A Mockingbird. If You Haven't Read It, I Think You Should Because It Is Very Interesting.

Thinking

Interesting

Mockingbird

I Just Don't Want You To Worry About Me, Or Think You've Met Me, Or Waste Your Time Anymore.

Thinking

Worry

Want

I Don't Know If You've Ever Felt Like That. That You Wanted To Sleep For Thousands Of Years. Or Just Not Exist.

Sleep

Years

Perks Of A Wallflower

It's Strange The Times People Choose To Be Generous.

People

Strange

Generous

Harold And Maude' Was A Seminal Movie For Me Because It's Not Only A Beautiful Love Story, But It's Also About The Moment When Misfits Find Each Other.

Beautiful

Stories

Love Story

Understanding Quotes: Their Essence and Application

Quotes, or quotations, are powerful tools in communication, encapsulating ideas, emotions, and wisdom in concise expressions. They serve various purposes across different contexts, from academic writing to everyday conversation.

1. Defining Quotes

A quote is a repetition of someone else's statement or thoughts. It can be a direct replication of words spoken or written by another individual, often used to support arguments, provide evidence, or convey profound insights.

2. The Importance of Quotes

2.1. Enhancing Credibility

Incorporating quotes from authoritative sources can bolster the credibility of your work. By referencing experts or primary sources, you demonstrate thorough research and a solid foundation for your arguments.

2.2. Providing Evidence

Quotes serve as concrete evidence to support claims. In academic and professional writing, they validate points made, offering readers a basis to trust the information presented.

2.3. Conveying Emotions and Perspectives

Quotes can encapsulate emotions and perspectives succinctly. They allow writers to express complex feelings or viewpoints through the words of others, often more eloquently than paraphrasing.

3. Types of Quotes

3.1. Direct Quotes

Direct quotes involve copying the exact words from a source, enclosed in quotation marks. They are used when the original wording is significant or particularly well-expressed.

3.2. Indirect Quotes (Paraphrasing)

Indirect quotes restate the original message in your own words. While not enclosed in quotation marks, they still require proper attribution to the original source.

3.3. Block Quotes

Block quotes are lengthy direct quotations, formatted as a separate block of text. They are typically used for quotes exceeding a certain length, varying by citation style. For instance, in APA style, quotes longer than 40 words are formatted as block quotes.

4. Proper Usage of Quotes

4.1. Contextual Relevance

Ensure that the quote you choose is relevant to the topic and adds value to your content. Avoid inserting quotes solely for decorative purposes.

4.2. Integration into Your Writing

Seamlessly integrate quotes into your writing. Introduce them appropriately and follow up with analysis or commentary to connect them to your main points.

4.3. Attribution and Citation

Always attribute quotes to their original authors and provide proper citations according to the required style guide (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.).

5. Common Mistakes to Avoid

5.1. Overusing Quotes

Relying too heavily on quotes can overshadow your voice. Use them sparingly to support your arguments, not replace them.

5.2. Lack of Analysis

Presenting a quote without analysis or explanation can leave readers questioning its relevance. Always follow up with your interpretation or discussion.

5.3. Misquoting or Taking Out of Context

Ensure that quotes are accurate and not taken out of context, as this can mislead readers and undermine your credibility.

6. Quotes in Different Contexts

6.1. Academic Writing

In academic writing, quotes are used to support arguments, provide evidence, and engage with existing literature. Proper citation is crucial to avoid plagiarism.

6.2. Journalism

Journalists use quotes to provide firsthand accounts, add authenticity, and present multiple perspectives within a story.

6.3. Literature and Creative Writing

In literature, quotes can be used to convey character voices, themes, and stylistic elements. They enrich narratives and provide depth to storytelling.

7. Punctuation and Formatting

Understanding the correct punctuation and formatting of quotes is essential:

Quotation Marks: Always enclose direct quotes within quotation marks.

Punctuation Placement: In American English, periods and commas are placed inside quotation marks, while colons and semicolons are placed outside.

Block Quotes: For longer quotes, format them as block quotes without quotation marks, and indent the entire block.

8. Ethical Considerations

Ethical use of quotes involves accurate representation, proper attribution, and respect for intellectual property. Misuse can lead to plagiarism, which carries serious academic and professional consequences.

9. Tools for Managing Quotes

Utilize tools like citation generators and plagiarism checkers to manage quotes effectively. These tools help ensure proper formatting and originality in your writing.

Conclusion

Quotes are invaluable in enriching content, providing evidence, and conveying complex ideas succinctly. When used appropriately, they enhance the quality and credibility of your writing. Always ensure relevance, proper integration, and ethical usage to maximize their impact.

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