Benjamin Alire S C3 A1enz Quotes

I knew that a part of him would never be the same. They cracked more than his ribs. ~ Benjamin Alire Saenz

The truth is, Ari, I miss El Paso. When we first moved there, I hated it. But now I think about El Paso all the time. And I think of you. Always, Dante P.S. ~ Benjamin Alire Saenz

She was staring at a picture of me and Sam when we were seven. No front teeth. We were standing in the front yard. It was summer and the leaves of her mulberry tree were behind us. The caption read: She was always my sister. ~ Benjamin Alire Saenz

I bet you could sometimes find all the mysteries of the universe in someone's hand. ~ Benjamin Alire Saenz

Everyone was becoming someone else. Sometimes, when you were older, you became someone younger. And me, I felt old. ~ Benjamin Alire Saenz

The world was so silent. There was a barrier between me and the world, and I thought for a moment that the world had never wanted me and now it was taking the opportunity to get rid of me. ~ Benjamin Alire Saenz

Yeah," I said. Sometimes I was full of halfhearted yeahs. ~ Benjamin Alire Saenz

Do you think we'll ever discover all the secrets of the universe? ~ Benjamin Alire Saenz

Don't be afraid" he whispered against her lips "This life is nothing but one blink of God's eyes. He'll blink again, and we'll be back together ~ Tiffany Reisz

I wanted to tell him not to cry anymore, tell him that what those boys did to that bird didn't matter. But I knew it did matter. It mattered to Dante. And, anyway, it didn't do any good to tell him not to cry because he needed to cry. That's the way he was. ~ Benjamin Alire Saenz

Mima. No despair. She was dying, and there was not one sign of despair in her dancing eyes. ~ Benjamin Alire Saenz

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

Just like that - in one apocalyptic moment - simple and beautiful. A birth. But also a kind of death. Like lightning in a storm. In one flash of light, the whole desert was lit, and you could see the universe. That's what she had seen - the universe in the hands of a child feeling the face of a man. ~ Benjamin Alire Saenz

Try it again," I said. "Kiss me."
"No," he said.
"Kiss me."
"No," And then he smiled. "You kiss me."
I placed my hand on the back of his neck. I pulled him toward me. And kissed him. I kissed him. And I kissed him. And I kissed him. And I kissed him. And he kept kissing me back. ~ Benjamin Alire Saenz

They don't need our help." "They don't need it. But we can sit here and watch TV shows, or we can go get into trouble. What do you think, Suze? Feel up to raiding a ritual sacrifice featuring twelve pimply teenagers and some filet mignon?" A smile blossomed on Suzy's lips. "This job," she said with a lot more fondness than she had before. "This fucking job." Damn straight. ~ S.M. Reine

We think there's a reason for everything, as if life was supposed to make sense. It's not exactly math. People aren't numbers. Everybody knows life doesn't make any sense at all, so we just better deal with the whole mess. Have a beer. Have a cup of coffee. Have a piece of cake. Go out to a movie. Enjoy the Popcorn. ~ Benjamin Alire Saenz

The thing about artists is that they tell stories. I mean, some paintings are like novels. ~ Benjamin Alire Saenz

He drags it out of her, all those feelings she has. ~ Benjamin Alire Saenz

That was the day that my brother was in our house again. In a strange and inexplicable way, my brother had come home. ~ Benjamin Alire Saenz

God, it would never go away, this anger, this rage that was like the ceaseless movement of the spring winds through the desert, this knot in his guts, this splinter in his heart that shot a pain through him that eventually found its way into his lungs, then out of his mouth and into the open air, the sound making the whole world turn away from him. It would never go away, never, never, and there would never be any peace. [ ... ] Maybe he had it all wrong, maybe he wasn't a victim at all, not at all, because he had decided that this was the only thing that would ever be truly his, and so he clung to it, would cling to it forever. ~ Benjamin Alire Saenz

Summer was here again. Summer, summer, summer. I loved and hated summers. Summers had a logic all their own and they always brought something out in me. Summer was supposed to be about freedom and youth and no school and possibilities and adventure and exploration. Summer was a book of hope. That's why I loved and hated summers. Because they made me want to believe. ~ Benjamin Alire Saenz

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. ~ Benjamin Alire Saenz

Words exist only in theory. And then one ordinary day you run into a word that exists only in theory. And you meet it face to face. And then that word becomes someone you know. That word becomes someone you hate. And you take that word with you wherever you go. And you can't pretend it isn't there. ~ Benjamin Alire Saenz

Talking just adds to the noise pollution in the world. If we were really serious about going green, then maybe we'd all just be quiet. ~ Benjamin Alire Saenz

It's always been interesting to me how we mistake good genes for virtue. ~ Benjamin Alire Saenz

. . . Alive
is a place. Alive is the new word for home. ~ Benjamin Alire Saenz

You're such a school teacher. ~ Benjamin Alire Saenz

His smile was breaking my heart. ~ Benjamin Alire Saenz

The thing about tears is that they can be as quiet as a cloud floating across the desert sky. ~ Benjamin Alire Saenz

I had to be the world's biggest loser, writing about hair, and stuff about my body. No wonder I stopped keeping a journal. It was like keeping a record of my own stupidity. Why would I want to do that? ~ Benjamin Alire Saenz

A heart so pure it was nothing but storm. ~ Benjamin Alire Saenz

I knew why people were afraid of the future. Because the future wasn't going to look like the past. That was really scary ~ Benjamin Alire Saenz

I wanted to tell them that I never knew that people like Dante existed in the world, people who looked at the stars, and knew the mysteries of water, and knew enough to know that birds belonged to the heavens and weren't meant to be shot down from their graceful flights by mean and stupid boys. I wanted to tell them that he had changed my life and that I would never be the same, not ever. ~ Benjamin Alire Saenz

Ophelia always said Franny was the Fourth of July. ~ Benjamin Alire Saenz

Dad told me once that we have to be very careful with words. "They can hurt people," he said. "And they can heal people." If anyone was careful with words, it was my dad. ~ Benjamin Alire Saenz

Your smile is back.' That's what Dante said.
'Smiles are like that. They come and go. ~ Benjamin Alire Saenz

Why do you like to cuss?" "Everybody likes to cuss." "I don't." "They don't call you Mr. Excitement for nothing. ~ Benjamin Alire Saenz

Water was something he loved, something he respected. He understood its beauty and its dangers. He talked about swimming as if it were a way of life. ~ Benjamin Alire Saenz

All right, so we're also all fucked up. But hey, you think sober people aren't all fucked up? The world is being run by sober people - and it doesn't look like it's working out all that well. Just ~ Benjamin Alire Saenz

Why is there a riot in the heart when we love? ~ Benjamin Alire Saenz

We laughed again. We couldn't stop. I wondered what it was we were laughing about. Was it just our names? Were we laughing because we were relieved? Were we happy? Laughter was another one of life's mysteries ~ Benjamin Alire Saenz

Everywhere you went, you left something behind. Maybe someday he would come back and get it. ~ Benjamin Alire Saenz