Sarah Dessen Quotes

Sarah Dessen

Biography

Type: Novelist

Born: June 6, 1970, Evanston, Illinois, United S

Died:

Sarah Dessen is an established contemporary American writer. Born on June 6, 1970, she grew up in Evanston, Illinois. She is famous for writing realistic fiction under young adult literature genre.

Sarah Dessen Quotes

Love is needing someone. Love is putting up with someone's bad qualities because they somehow complete
Love is needing someone. Love is putting up with someone's bad qualities because they somehow complete you.

There is never a time or place for true love. It happens accidentally, in a heartbeat,
There is never a time or place for true love. It happens accidentally, in a heartbeat, in a single flashing, throbbing moment.

I like flaws. I think they make things interesting.

You know, when it works, love is pretty amazing. It's not overrated. There's a reason for
You know, when it works, love is pretty amazing. It's not overrated. There's a reason for all those songs.

The fate of your heart is your choice and no one else gets a vote. Sarah
The fate of your heart is your choice and no one else gets a vote

If you didn't love him, this never would have happened. But you did. And accepting that love and everything that followed it is part of letting it go.

It didn't make you noble to step away from something that wasn't working, even if you thought you were the reason for the malfunction. Especially then. It just made you a quitter. Because if you were the problem, chances were you could also be the solution. The only way to find out was to take another shot.

That was the thing. You never got used to it, the idea of someone being gone. Just when you think it's reconciled, accepted, someone points it out to you, and it just hits you all over again, that shocking.

It's all in the view. That's what I mean about forever, too. For any one of us our forever could end in an hour, or a hundred years from now. You never know for sure, so you'd better make every second count.

Maybe the truth was, it shouldn't be so easy to be amazing. Then everything would be. It's the things you fight for and struggle with before earning that have the greatest worth. When something's difficult to come by, you'll do that much more to make sure it's even harder-if not impossible-to lose.

I wondered if emotions were like menstrual cycles, if you get enough women together. Give it
I wondered if emotions were like menstrual cycles, if you get enough women together. Give it time, and everyone was crying.

What you do in your dreams is never your choice. But it made me happy anyway..
What you do in your dreams is never your choice. But it made me happy anyway.

That was the hard thing about grief, and the grieving. They spoke another language, and the words we knew always fell short of what we wanted them to say.

There was something really great about being able to put something out into the world - a song, an introduction, even my voice - and let people make of it what they wanted. I didn't have to worry about how I looked, or if the image of me people had fit who I really was.

I mean, it's not surprising, really. Once you love something, you always love it in some
I mean, it's not surprising, really. Once you love something, you always love it in some way. You have to. It's, like, part of you for good.

I realized how truly hard it was, really, to see someone you love change right before
I realized how truly hard it was, really, to see someone you love change right before your eyes. Not only is it scary, it throws your balance off as well.

Love is so unpredictable. That's what makes it so great.. Sarah Dessen
Love is so unpredictable. That's what makes it so great.

You asked me to go out with you. I know you probably changed your mind. But
You asked me to go out with you. I know you probably changed your mind. But you should know, the answer was yes. It's always been yes when it comes to you.

Are those the only options? Nothing or forever?. Sarah Dessen
Are those the only options? Nothing or forever?

You want to take me to a movie?" I asked.
"Well, not really," he said. "What I really want is for you to be my girlfriend. But I thought saying that might scare you off.

You can't just plan a moment when things get back on track, just as you can't plan the moment you lose your way in the first place.

I don't get it,' Caroline said, bemused. 'She's the only one with wings. Why is that?'
There were so many questions in life. You couldn't ever have all the answers. But I knew this one.
It's so she can fly,' I said. Then I started to run.

Home wasn't a set house, or a single town on a map. It was wherever the people who loved you were, whenever you were together. Not a place, but a moment, and then another, building on each other like bricks to create a solid shelter that you take with you for your entire life, wherever you may go.

But if everything was always smooth and perfect, you'd get too used to that, you know? You have to have a little bit of disorganization now and then. Otherwise, you'll never really enjoy it when things go right.

But that was the problem with having the answers. It was only after you gave them that you realized they sometimes weren't what people wanted to hear.

The choices you make now, the people you surround yourself with, they all have the potential to affect your life, even who you are, forever.

It's not that I believe everything happens for a reason. It's just that... I just think that some things are meant to be broken. Imperfect. Chaotic. It's the universe's way of providing contrast, you know? There have to be a few holes in the road. It's how life is.

If something doesn't work exactly right, or maybe needs some special treatment, you don't just throw it away. Everything can't be fully operational all the time. Sometimes, we need to have the patience to give something the little nudge it needs.

I knew that in the silence that followed, that anything could happen here. It might be too late again. I might have missed my chance. But I would at least know I tried, that I took my heart and extended my hand, whatever the outcome.

It's not always easy being her daughter.'

I think,' she said, 'sometimes it's hard no matter whose daughter you are.

After all, it's all kinds of things that make up a life, right? The big, like falling in love and spending time with your family, and the little....like blow drying your hair, applying concealer, and cursing those magazine inserts. It all counts. It has to.

But all I could think of was how when nothing made sense and hadn't for ages, you just have to grab onto anything you feel sure of.

As for me, I was just trying to get it right, whatever that means. But now I finally felt I was on my way. Everyone had a forever, but given a choice, this would be mine. The one that began in this moment, with Wes, in a kiss that took my breath away, then gave it back - leaving meastounded, amazed and most of all, alive.

Because you have to just go with the flow. Your life is not your own, with people coming in and out all the time. You get mellow because you have to.

The thing is, you can’t always have the best of everything. Because for a life to be real, you need it all: good and bad, beach and concrete, the familiar and the unknown, big talkers and small towns.

My mother was strong, in all the ways I was weak. She fell, she hurt, she felt. She lived. And for all the tumble of her experiences, she still had hope. Maybe this next time would do the trick. Or maybe not. But unless you stepped into the game, you will never know.

I didnt pay atteniton to times or distance, instead focusing on how it felt just to be in motion, knowing it wasn't about the finish line but how I got there that mattered.

Maybe marriage, like life, is'nt only about the big moments, whether they be good or bad. Maybe it's all the small things - like being guided slowly forward, surely, day after day - that stretches out to strengthen even the most tenuous bond.

what you have to decide, is how you want your life to be. if your forever was ending tomorrow, would this b the way you'd want to have spent it?

We make such messes in this life, both accidently and on purpose. But wiping the surface clean doesn't really make anything any neater. It just masks what is below. It's only when you really dig down deep, go underground, that you can see who you really are.

It was like when you ripped a piece of paper into two: no matter how you tried, the seams never fit exactly right again.

You should never be surprised when someone treats you with respect, you should expect it.

Anyone can hide. Facing up to things, working through them, that's what makes you strong.

What you have to decide... is how you want your life to be. If your forever was ending tomorrow, would this be how you'd want to have spent it? Listen, the truth is, nothing is guaranteed. You know that more than anybody. So dont be afraid. Be alive.

The further you go, the more you have to be proud of. At the same time, in order to come a long way, you have to be behind to begin with. IN the end, though maybe it's not how you reach a place that matters. Just that you get there at all.

When I pictured myself, it was always like just an outline in a colouring book, with the inside not yet completed.

Failing sucks. But it's better than the alternative."

"Which is?"

"Not even trying." Now he did look at me, straight on. "Life's short, you know?

Too many locks, not enough keys.

It’s the things you fight for and struggle with before earning that have the greatest worth.

But what he didn't understand was that this dreamland was preferable,walking through this life half-sleeping,everything at arm's length or farther away.
I understood those mermaids.I didn't care if they sang to me.All I wanted was to block out all the human voices as they called me name again and again,pulling me upward into light,to drown.

But you only get so many do-overs in this life, so many chances to, if not change your past, alter your future.

Macy: “In Truth,” I said, “there are no rules other than you have to tell the truth.”
Wes: “How do you win?” he asked
Macy: “That,” I said, “is such a boy question.

the unknown wasn’t always the greatest thing to fear. The people who know you best can be riskier, because the words they say and the things they think have the potential to be not only scary but true, as well.

The best gifts come from the heart, not the store.

But as long as something is never even started, you never have to worry about it ending. It has endless potential.

That first love. And the first one who breaks your heart. For me, they just happen to be the same person.

Life shouldn't be about the either/or. We're capable of more than that, you know?

The worst thing you can do if you miss or need someone is let them know it.

Fine," he repeated, and I wondered why it was I kept coming back to this, again and again, a word that you said when someone asked how you were but didn't really care to know the truth.

Oh darling, don't be bitter. It's the first instinct of the weak.

You know the minute you stop thinking about it, it'll happen.

You said the other day life was long,' I shot back. 'Which is it?'

'It's both,' she said, shrugging. 'It all depends on how you choose to live it. It's like forever, always changing.'

Kristy and Macy; p.135

But it's important to acknowledge that while we may make mistakes, in the long run, we may also learn from them.

You get what you give, but also what you're willing to take.

If someone is really close with you, your getting upset or them getting upset is okay, and they don’t change because of it. It’s just part of the relationship. It happens. You deal with it.

Like it takes so little to change something, but to make you forget the way it once was, as well.

Nunca habría sido capaz de decírselo, pero Owen me inspiraba. Las mentiras piadosas que yo decía a diario, las cosas que me guardaba, cada vez que no era sincera del todo... ahora me daba cuenta de eso. También era consciente de lo bien que me sentía al ser capaz de decirle a alguien lo que pensaba de veras. Aunque solo fuera sobre música.

Yeah. I mean, acknowledging is easy. Something happened or it didn't. But understanding... that's where things get sticky.

The future was one thing that could never be broken, because it had not yet had the chance to be anything.

I felt tears prick my eyes as I looked down at the model again, looking at that girl and boy on the curb. Forever in that place, together.

It all counts,' Adam said again. 'And the bottom line is, what defines you isn't how many times you crash, but the number of times you get back on the bike. As long as it's one more, you're all good.-pg 325 Along for the Ride

Look,” he said, “the point is there’s no way to be a hundred percent sure about anyone or anything. So you’re left with a choice. Either hope for the best, or just expect the worst.”
If you expect the worst, you’re never disappointed,” I pointed out.
Yeah, but who lives like that?

Shit," Delia said. "I mean, shoot. No, actually, I mean shit. I really do.

Fifteen minutes later, a meeting was called.
"Okay, look." Deb's face was dead serious. "I know I just joined this project, and I don't want to offend anyone. But I'm going to be honest. I think you've been going about this all wrong."
"I'm offended," Dave told her flatly.

Don't think or judge, just listen.

All I'd ever wanted was to forget. but even when I thought I had, pieces had kept emerging, like bits of wood floating up to the surface that only hint at the shipwreck below.

Relationships dont always make sense. Especially from the outside

You couldn't just pick and choose at will when someone depended on you, or loved you. It wasn't like a light switch, easy to turn on or off. If you were in, you were in. Out, you were out.

Oh for God's sake,' Heather said, 'I wish you two would just go out, fail miserably as a couple, and get it over with.

Here was a boy who liked flaws, who saw them not as failings but as strengths. Who knew such a person could exist, or what would have happened if we'd found each other under different circumstances? Maybe in a perfect world. But not in this one.

Don't be a fool. Don't give up something important to hold onto someone who can't even say they love you.

I didn't want to leave things the way we had, unresolved, ... and tried to tell myself he cared about me enough not to look elsewhere for what I wasn't giving him.

Everyone can make scrambled eggs, Remy. It's programmed into you at birth, the default setting. Like being able to swim and knowing not to mix pickles with oatmeal. You just know.

There comes a time when the world gets quiet and the only thing left is your own heart. So you'd better learn the sound of it. Otherwise you'll never understand what it's saying.

Like a word on a page that you’ve printed and read a million times, that suddenly looks strange or wrong, foreign. And you feel scared for a second, like you’ve lost something, even if you’re not sure what it is.

There was something so heavy about the burden of history, of the past. I wasn't sure I had it in me to keep looking back.

Sometimes, you have to manufacture your own history. Give fate a push, so to speak.

Maybe a marriage, like a life, isn't only about the Big Moments, whether they be bad or good. Maybe it's all the small things-like being guided slowly forward, surely, day after day- that stretch out to strengthen even the most tenuous bond.

I reached up with my finger and traced the scar over my eyebrow, remembering when that was the greatest hurt I'd ever known.

Family isn’t something that’s supposed to be static, or set. People marry in, divorce out. They’re born, they die. It’s always evolving, turning into something else.

The point,' Ms. Conyers continued, "is that no word had one specific definition. Maybe in the dictionary, but not in real life.

Family isnt about blood relationships, its about the meaning behind them. I relize now that sharing chromosoms is not the only way to having a family, its about the friendship behind it.

I couldn't imagine what it would be like to be one of so many, to have not just parents and siblings but cousins and aunts and uncles, an entire tribe to claim as your own. Maybe you would feel lost in the crowd. Or sheltered by it. Whatever the case, one things was for sure: like it or not, you'd never be alone.

It's funny how two people can grow up in the same town, go to the same school, have the same friends, and end up so totally different. Family, or lack of it, counts for more than you'd think.

What is family? They were the people who claimed you. In good, in bad, in parts or in whole, they were the ones who showed up, who stayed there, regardless.

Finally he asks, "What if that's not enough? What if I need something else?"
And she replies, "Whatever you need, I will find a way to get it to you. I will give you the moon, and more.

...But that's just the thing, right? Family isn't something that's supposed to be static or set. People marry in, divorce out. They're born, they die. It's always evolving, turning into something else.

As I rolled over, stretching out, my only thought was to go back to the dream I'd been having, which I couldn't remember, other than that it had been good, in that distant, hopeful way unreal things can be.

Nah," I said. "But if it does, just tell him I said to get back on the bike."
"What?"
"He'll understand.

Maybe if I'd agreed to do the debutante thing like she wanted. Or taken up pageants instead of riding jump bikes with a bunch of grungy boys. I'd always tell her, why can't I do both? Who says you have to be either smart or pretty, or into girly stuff or sports? Life shouldn't be about the either/or. We're capable of more than that, you know?

The way I see it is that some things are just meant to be the way they are.

It was great. Freedom even the imagined kind always is.

Music is the great uniter. An incredible force. Something that people who differ on everything and anything else can have in common.

I remembered Owen telling me how music had saved him in Phoenix, that it drowned everything out, and it was the same for me now. As long as I had something to listen to, I could blur the things I didn't want to think about, if not block them out completely.

a song can take you back instantly to a moment, or a place, or even a person. No matter what else has changed in you or the world, that one song stays the same, just like that moment. Which is pretty amazing, when you actually think about it.

Music is a total constant. That’s why we have such a strong visceral connection to it, you know? Because a song can take you back instantly to a moment, or a place, or even a person. No matter what else has changed in you or the world, that one song stays the same, just like that moment.

La música [...] fue una vía de escape. Todo lo demás estaba cambiando o llegaba a su fin, pero la música era un recurso vasto, infinito.

Like it takes so little not only to change something, but to make you forget the way it once was, as well.

But wasn't that always the way. It's never something huge that changes everything, but instead the tiniest of details, irrevocably tweaking the balance of the universe while you're busy focusing on the big picture.

I would miss Colby, but it wasn't going anywhere. All the more reason why I should.

We would probably never be the way we had been again, but at least we were all together.

Nothing happens for ages, and then all the changes come at once.

Maybe we were all destined to just keep doing the same stupid things, over and over again, never really learning a single thing.

It's okay to accept things from people. It doesn't make you weak or helpless.

So you should remember that, when you're thinking about what other people can deal with. Maybe it's not so bad.

Isn't it weird the way you remember things, when someone's gone?

Sometimes there isn't a good guy or a bad guy. Sometimes even the ones you want to believe turn out to be liars.

The people who know you best can be risker, because the words they say and things they think have the potential to be not only scary but true, as well.

I didn't pretend to know Eli at all, but even so, I'd noticed that his manner was slightly hard to read. It was something in the way he talked that made it difficult to tell whether he was kidding or serious or what. This bothered me. Or intrigued me. Or both.

Life is an awful, ugly place to not have a best friend.

Two a.m.' He swallowed, then said, "You know. The person you can call at two a.m. and, no matter what, you can count on them. Even if they're asleep or it's cold or you need to be bailed out of jail...they'll come for you. It's like, the highest level of friendship.

Friends are honest with each other. Even if the truth hurts.
-Maggie

As Isabel acted out her date, both of them laughing, I stayed in the kitchen, out of sight, and pretended she was telling me, too. And that, for once, I was part of this hidden language of laughter and silliness and girls that was, somehow, friendship.

We were there, together, and in the next room I could hear that monitor beeping. Keeping track of another heart’s beat and giving enduring, solid proof of our own.

You only really fall apart in front of the people you know can piece you back together.

He had a nice smile. Seeing it, I felt like I’d won a prize, because he was so sparing with them.

Sometimes, we just have to be happy with what people can offer us. Even if it's not what we want, at least it's something.

It was amazing how you could get so far from where you'd planned, and yet find it was exactly were you needed to be.

Because that is what happens when you try to run from the past. It doesn't just catch up: it overtakes, blotting out the future, the landscape, the very sky, until there is no path left except that which leads through it.

...You can't unlearn something, even if you want to. You know what you know.

Rogerson," I asked him sweetly as we sat watching a video in the pool house, "where would I find the pelagic zone?"

"In the open sea," he said. "Now shut up and eat your Junior Mints.

Your mother won a special reward," she told me, "because everyone had a head in her pictures. We all applauded.

But you don’t have to give everyone the benefit of the doubt.”
“You don’t have to assume the worst about everyone, either. The world isn’t always out to get you.

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