Steven Chbosky

The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky

“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.” (Pg 2)

“Girls like guys to be a challenge. It gives them some mold to fit in how they act.” (Pg 23)

“In the hallways, I see the girls wearing the guys’ jackets and I think about the idea of property. And I wonder if anyone is really happy. I hope they are. I really hope they are.” (Pg 24)

“Sometimes people use thought to not participate in life.” (Pg 24)

“We accept the love we think we deserve.” (Pg 24)

“I do believe in God very much. I just never gave God a name, if you know what I mean.” (Pg 27)

“I feel infinite.” (Pg 33)

“You see things. You keep quiet about them. And you understand.” (Pg 37)

“And in that moment, I swear we were infinite.” (Pg 39)

“I am very interested and fascinated by how everyone loves each other, but no one really likes each other.” (Pg 56)

“It was the kind of kiss that I could never tell my friends about out loud. It was the kind of kiss that made me know that I was never so happy in my whole life.” (Pg 70)

“I walked over 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 some day. 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 it were always enough, but it isn’t.” (Pg 74)

“It’s kind of like when you look at yourself in the mirror and 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 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.” (Pg 74)

“Being punished for something you did or did not do. Or being an innocent victim. It’s just something that I never want to experience.” (Pg 104)

“I would give someone a record so they could love the record, not so they would always know that I gave it to them.” (Pg 129)

“Just tell me how to be different in a way that makes sense. To make this all go away. And disappear. I know that’s wrong because it’s my responsibility, and I know that things get worse before they get better because that’s what my psychiatrist says, but this is a worse that feels too big.” (Pg 139)

“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. Or wondering who did the heart breaking. And wondering why.” (Pg 142)

“It’s much easier not to know things sometimes.” (Pg 144)

“Things change. And friends leave. And life doesn’t stop for anybody.” (Pg 145)

“It’s just hard to see a friend hurt this much. Especially when you can’t do anything except ‘be there.’”

“Try to be a filter, not a sponge.” (Pg 165)

“I wonder what it will be like when I leave this place. The fact that I will have to have a roommate and buy shampoo.” (Pg 167)

“It’s strange to describe reading a book as a really great experience, but that’s kind of how it felt.” (Pg 169)

“I think the idea is that every person has to live for his or her own life and then make the choice to share it with other people.” (Pg 169)

“And I guess I realized at that moment that I really did love her. Because there was nothing to gain, and that didn’t matter.” (Pg 179)

“I love my mom so much.  I don’t care if that’s corny to say. 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.” (Pg 189)

“It was a hopeful kind of sad. The kind of sad that just takes time.” (Pg 198)

“So, I guess we are who we are for a lot 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 ok about them.” (Pg 211)

“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. Good and bad.” (Pg 211)

“Maybe it’s good to put things in perspective, but sometimes, I think that the only perspective is to really be there.” (Pg 212)

“It’s ok to feel things. And be who you are about them.” (Pg 212)