R J Palacio Quotes

My name is August. I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse. August ~ R.J. Palacio

We should be remembered for the things we do. The things we do are the most important things of all. They are more important than what we say or what we look like. The things we do outlast our mortality. The things we do are like monuments that people build to honour heroes after they've died. They're like the pyramids that the Egyptians built to honour the Pharaohs. Only instead of being made out of stone, they're made out of the memories people have of you. That's why your deeds are like your monuments. Built with memories instead of with stone. ~ R.J. Palacio

Everyone born of God overcometh the world. ~ R.J. Palacio

Who we are? Us!Right? What kind of people are we? What kind of person are you? Isn't that the most important thing of all? Isn't that the kind of question we shloud be asking ourselves all the time? 'What kind of person am I? ~ R.J. Palacio

Olivia is a girl who sees everything. ~ R.J. Palacio

No, no, it's not all random, if it really was all random, the universe would abandon us completely. and the universe doesn't. it takes care of its most fragile creations in ways we can't see. like with parents who adore you blindly. and a big sister who feels guilty for being human over you. and a little gravelly-voiced kid whose friends have left him over you. and even a pink-haired girl who carries your picture in her wallet. maybe it is a lottery, but the universe makes it all even out in the end. the universe takes care of all its birds. ~ R.J. Palacio

His eyes are about an inch below where they should be on his face, almost to halfway down his cheeks. ~ R.J. Palacio

No, sweeties, don't let them do that to you. You were there for more than forty-eight hours, and that awful part lasted one hour. Don't let them take that away from you, okay? ~ R.J. Palacio

Its the shingaling, baby! ~ R.J. Palacio

To thine own self be true. ~ R.J. Palacio

The good thing about life [ ... ] is that we can fix our mistakes sometimes. ~ R.J. Palacio

moment," Dad repeated. "Good night, guys. ~ R.J. Palacio

Being nice is the first step toward being kind. It's a pretty awesome start. ~ R.J. Palacio

Just follow the day and reach for the sun! ~ R.J. Palacio

I opened the box. Inside was the cutest little puppy I've ever seen in my life. It was black and furry, with a pointy little snout and bright black eyes and small ears that flopped down. ~ R.J. Palacio

I never used to see August the way other people saw him. I knew he didn't look exactly normal, but I really didn't understand why strangers seemed so shocked when they saw him. Horrified. Sickened. Scared. There are so many words I can use to describe the looks on people's faces. And for a long time I didn't get it. I'd just get mad. Mad when they stared. Mad when they looked away. "What the heck are you looking at?" I'd say to people - even grown-ups. Then, when I was about eleven, I went to stay with Grans in Montauk for four weeks while August was having ~ R.J. Palacio

I did notice as I walked that Amos had stayed right next to me. And Jack was close on the other side of me. And Miles was in front of us and Henry was in back of us. They were surrounding me as we walked through the crowds of kids. Like I had my own emperor's guard. ~ R.J. Palacio

You see, it is not just that he saved my life. He saved my very being. My hope. My...light." -Grandmere ~ R.J. Palacio

Middle School is about as bad as it gets, and then it gets better. ~ R.J. Palacio

I was so bummed when it got lost," I said. "Oh, it didn't get lost," he answered casually. "I threw it out. ~ R.J. Palacio

The first look I got of August, well, it made me want to cover my eyes and run away screaming. ~ R.J. Palacio

Then they came out of the narrow valley and at once she saw the reason. There stood Peter and Edmund and all the rest of Aslan's army fighting desperately against the crowd of horrible creatures whom she had seen last night; only now, in the daylight, they looked even stranger and more evil and more deformed. ~ R.J. Palacio

Olivia's family tell each other "i love you" all the time. i can't remember the last time anyone in my family said that to me. ~ R.J. Palacio

One mistake does not define you. ~ R.J. Palacio

Maybe it is a lottery, but the universe makes it all even out in the end. The universe takes care of its birds. ~ R.J. Palacio

Your deeds are like your monuments. Built with memories instead of stone. ~ R.J. Palacio

They can try to forecast the odds, but they can't guarantee them. They use terms like "germline mosaicism," "chromosome rearrangement," or "delayed mutation" to explain why their science is not an exact science. I actually like how doctors talk. I like the sound of science. I like how words you don't understand explain things you can't understand. There are countless people under words like "germline mosaicism," "chromosome rearrangement," or "delayed mutation." Countless ~ R.J. Palacio

It's like people you see sometimes, and you can't imagine what it would be like to be that person, whether it's somebody in a wheelchair or somebody who can't talk. Only, I know that I'm that person to other people, maybe to every single person in that whole auditorium.
To me, though, I'm just me. An ordinary kid. ~ R.J. Palacio

The most important precept is to be aware of WHO WE ARE!
"Who we are," he said, underlining each word as he said it. "Who we are! Us! Right? What kind of people are we? What kind of person are you? Isn't that the most important thing of all? Isn't that the kind of question we should be asking ourselves all the time? "What kind of person am I?
Learning who you are is what your are here to do. ~ R.J. Palacio

The galaxy is changing. Planets are falling out of alignment. ~ R.J. Palacio

Some things you just can't explain. You don't even try. You don't know where to start. All your sentences would jumble up like a giant knot if you opened your mouth. Any words you used would come out wrong. ~ R.J. Palacio

It's funny how there's a word like overprotective to describe some parents, but no word that means the opposite. what word do you use to describe parents who don't protect enough? underprotective? neglectful? self-involved? lame? all of the above. olivia's family ~ R.J. Palacio

My name is August, by the way. I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse. ~ R.J. Palacio

Words can't change my face ~ R.J. Palacio

There are so many words I can use to describe the looks on people's faces. And for a long time I didn't get it. I'd just get mad. Mad when they stared. Mad when they looked away. "What the heck are you looking at?" I'd say to people - even grown-ups. ~ R.J. Palacio

What kind of doctor are you? Get up! Get up! And then all of a sudden she let out the biggest, loudest, smelliest fart in the history of farts. Mom thinks it was actually the fart that finally woke the doctor up. Anyway, ~ R.J. Palacio

Courage. Kindness. Friendship. Character. These are the qualities that define us as human beings, and propel us, on occasion, to greatness. ~ R.J. Palacio

In fact, no one seemed to care about what happened to him in the least, ~ R.J. Palacio

Olivia reminds me of a bird sometimes, how her feathers get all ruffled when she's mad. and when she's fragile like this, she's a little lost bird looking for its nest. ~ R.J. Palacio

Every person's story weaves in and out of someone else's story. ~ R.J. Palacio

I've learned that life is like a book. Sometimes we must close a chapter and begin the next one.
- Hanz, Age 13, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, December 8 ~ R.J. Palacio

It's like how compass needles always point north, no matter which way you're facing. All those eyes are compasses, and I'm like the North Pole to them. ~ R.J. Palacio

I want you to start a brand-new section in your notebooks and call it Mr. Browne's Precepts." He kept talking as we did what he was telling us to do. "Put today's date at the top of the first page. And from now on, at the beginning of every month, I'm going to write a new Mr. Browne precept on the chalkboard and you're going to write it down in your notebook. Then we're going to discuss that precept and what it means. And at the end of the month, you're going to write an essay about it, about what it means to you. So by the end of the year, you'll all have your own list of precepts to take away with you. ~ R.J. Palacio

You don't need your eyes to love right? You just feel it inside you ~ R.J. Palacio

We were just not good enough to play by ourselves. ~ R.J. Palacio

Are you always going to look this way, August? I mean, can't you get plastic surgery or something?"

I smiled and pointed to my face. "Hello?" This is after plastic surgery.

Jack clapped his hand over his forehead and started laughing hysterically.

"Dude, you should sue your doctor!" he answered between giggles. ~ R.J. Palacio

When something scary like this happens, it acts like a wake-up call, you know? It makes us reassess what's important in life. Our family. Our friends. The people we love. ~ R.J. Palacio

Nicknamed him the Zombie Kid, and that's what everyone was calling him. "Did you see the Zombie Kid yet?" Stuff like that gets around fast. And August knew it. It's hard enough being the new kid even when you have a normal face. Imagine having his face? ~ R.J. Palacio

Sometimes when I have the feeling like I'm almost crying, it can turn into an almost-laughing feeling. ~ R.J. Palacio

Always try to be a little kinder than necessary. ~ R.J. Palacio

I do not like to dwell on the past. Life is ahead of us. If we spend too much time looking backward, we can't see where we are going! ~ R.J. Palacio

When it's dark, be the one who turns on the light.
- Joseph, Age 9, Brooklyn, New York, November 29 ~ R.J. Palacio

When given the choice between being right or being kind, choose kind. - Dr Wayne W. Dyer ~ R.J. Palacio

MR. BROWNE'S SEPTEMBER PRECEPT:
WHEN GIVEN THE CHOICE BETWEEN BEING
RIGHT OR BEING KIND, CHOOSE KIND. ~ R.J. Palacio

The things we do outlast our mortality. The things we do are like monuments that people build to honor heroes after they've died. They're like the pyramids that the Egyptians built to honor the pharaohs. Only instead of being made of stone, they're made out of the memories people have of you. ~ R.J. Palacio

Sometimes it's good to start over ~ R.J. Palacio

They would sneak peeks at me from behind their notebooks or when they thought I wasn't looking. They would take the longest way around me to avoid bumping into me in any way, like I had some germ they could catch, like my face was contagious. ~ R.J. Palacio

Countless doctors have drawn little tic-tac-toe grids for my parents over the years to try to explain the genetic lottery to them. Geneticists ~ R.J. Palacio

I love it when I'm the one who makes Dad laugh, since he's usually the funnyman that gets everybody else laughing ~ R.J. Palacio

You don't need your eyes to love. You just feel it inside you. ~ R.J. Palacio

Daisy was sleeping in heaven right then. And ~ R.J. Palacio

There's a word like overprotective to describe some parents, but no word that means the opposite. What word do you use to describe parents who don't protect enough? Underprotective? Neglectful? Self-involved? Lame? All of the above. ~ R.J. Palacio

sometimes he would wake up choking on his own saliva if he accidentally turned over on his back. ~ R.J. Palacio

Sometimes we hate the things we're afraid of. ~ R.J. Palacio

You are my everything. You understand me, Via? Tu es meu tudo." I understood her. And I knew why she said it was a secret. Grandmothers aren't supposed to have favorites. Everyone knows that. But after she died, I held on to that secret and let it cover me like a blanket. ~ R.J. Palacio

Bye, dear ol' Dad." He smiled. "Bye, my son, my son. ~ R.J. Palacio

I forgot that I might see So many beautiful things I forgot that I might need To find out what life could bring ~ R.J. Palacio

How ya doin', Auggie? he'd always say, and ~ R.J. Palacio

But the good thing about life is that we can fix our mistakes sometimes. We learn from them. We get better. ~ R.J. Palacio

You see, Julian, it always takes courage to be kind. But in those days, when such kindness could cost you everything - your freedom, your life - Kindness becomes a miracle. It becomes that light in the darkness that Papa talked about, the very essence of our humanity. It is hope. ~ R.J. Palacio

She looked up. "Oh, right," she said, nodding. I think she hadn't expected the conversation about Daisy to be over so quickly. But I didn't want to talk about it anymore. ~ R.J. Palacio

He is the greatest,' " he finally continued, " 'whose strength carries up the most hearts by the attraction of his own.' Without further ado, this year I am very proud to award the Henry Ward Beecher medal to the student whose quiet strength has carried up the most hearts. "So will August Pullman please come up here to receive this award? ~ R.J. Palacio

And then all of a sudden she let out the biggest, loudest, smelliest fart in the history of farts. Mom ~ R.J. Palacio

Is that we can fix our mistakes sometimes. We learn from them. We get better. I never made a mistake like the one I made with Tourteau again, not with anyone in my life. And I have had a very, very long life. You will learn from your mistake, too. You must promise yourself that you will never behave like that with anyone else again. One mistake does not define you, Julian. Do you understand me? You must simply act better next time. I nodded, but I still cried for a long, long time after that. ~ R.J. Palacio

Wake Me Up when September Ends ~ R.J. Palacio

She picked up a different photo from the nightstand and handed it to me to look at. At first, I thought it was just another copy of the class picture, because it was exactly the same size as the class picture Dad had in his hands, and everything in it was exactly the same. I started to look away in disgust, but Mom pointed to a place on the photo - the place where Auggie used to be! He was nowhere in the photo. ~ R.J. Palacio

Look with kindness and you will always find wonder. ~ R.J. Palacio

I don't know if the three of us found each other because we were so alike in so many ways, or that because we found each other, we've become alike in so many ways. ~ R.J. Palacio

I love that feeling when you first open your eyes in the morning and you don't even know why everything seems different than usual. Then it hits you: Everything is quiet. No cars honking. No buses going down the street. Then you run over to the window, and outside everything is covered in white: the sidewalks, the trees, the cars on the street, your windowpanes. And when that happens on a school day and you find out your school is closed, well, I don't care how old I get: I'm always going to think that that's the best feeling in the world. And I'm never going to be one of those grown-ups that use an umbrella when it's snowing - ever. ~ R.J. Palacio

Such a simple thing, kindness. Such a simple thing. A nice word of encouragement, given when needed. An act of friendship. A passing smile. ~ R.J. Palacio

But the truth is, I knew things wouldn't change much. I knew it would be the way it had been after the sleepover. Like we had taken a secret trip together. A voyage that no one else knew about. And when we returned from our journey, we each went back to our own homes. Some friendships are like that. Maybe even the best friendships are like that. The connections are always there. They're just invisible to the eye. ~ R.J. Palacio

Another was: You're a babe. Tickle my feet. XO Beulah ~ R.J. Palacio

One mistake does not define you, Julian. Do you understand me? You must simply act better next time. ~ R.J. Palacio

He meticulously tries to get every hair in place. He tilts his head to look at himself from different angles, like there's some magic perspective in the mirror that could change the dimensions of his face'
-Olivia/Via thinking ~ R.J. Palacio

that I realized that the blind old man who played the accordion on Main Street wasn't there anymore. He was gone. ~ R.J. Palacio

Don't judge a boy by its cover! ~ R.J. Palacio

By the way, I love your precept. I agree, sometimes it's good to start over. A fresh start gives us the chance to reflect on the past, weigh the things we've done, and apply what we've learned from those things to the future. If we don't examine the past, we don't learn from it. ~ R.J. Palacio

I never forgot their many kindnesses to me. You might forget many things in your life, but you never forget kindness. Like love, it stays with you...forever." -Sara (Grandmere) ~ R.J. Palacio

My parental unit who is at this moment violating my personal space and reading my text over my shoulder wants me to finish homework so I GTG. CU2moro! Gnight. Summer ~ R.J. Palacio

Via doesn't see me as ordinary. She says she does, but if I were ordinary, she wouldn't feel like she needs to protect me that much. And mom and dad doesn't see me as ordinary, either. They see me as extraordinary. I think the only person in the world who realizes how ordinary I am is me. ~ R.J. Palacio

While she was saying this, I was thinking, We just finished the freakin' Egypt project, now we have to start a whole new thing? And then in my head I was going, Oh noooooo! like that kid in Home Alone with his mouth hanging open and his hands on his face. That was the face I was making on the inside. And then I thought of those pictures of melting ghost faces I've seen somewhere, where the mouths are open wide and they're screaming. ~ R.J. Palacio

I've been in enough playgrounds to know kids can be mean. I know, I know, I know ~ R.J. Palacio

Here's what I think: the only reason I'm not ordinary is that no one else sees me that way. ~ R.J. Palacio

It's not enough to be kind. One should be kinder than needed. Why I love that line, that concept, is that it reminds me that we carry with us, as human beings, not just the capacity to be kind, but the very choice of kindness.
And what does that mean? How is that measured? You can't use a yardstick. It's like I was saying just before: it's not like measuring how much you've grown in a year. It's not exactly quantifiable, is it? ~ R.J. Palacio

Via had warned me about lunch in middle school, so I guess I should have known it would be hard. ~ R.J. Palacio

I couldn't wait to go home. ~ R.J. Palacio

I'll meet you outside. I rushed to ~ R.J. Palacio

One thing I've learned after being a middle-school director for twenty years: there are almost always more than two sides to every story. Although I don't know the details, I have an inkling about what may have sparked the confrontation with Julian. While nothing justifies striking another student - ever - I also know good friends are sometimes worth defending. ~ R.J. Palacio

If you want to be a star, you have to be willing to work harder than everyone else to achieve your goals and dreams! The way I see it, a dream is like a drawing in your head that comes to life. You have to imagine it first. Then you have to work extremely hard to make it come true. So, ~ R.J. Palacio

Now that I look back, I don't know why I was so stressed about it all this time. Funny how sometimes you worry a lot about something and it turns out to be nothing. ~ R.J. Palacio