The collection / 103 fragments

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Passages, proverbs, and questions carried across the ages.

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01c. 1954 AD

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

Benjamin Alire Sáenz / quote

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02c. 1954 AD

How could I have ever been ashamed of loving Dante Quintana?

Benjamin Alire Sáenz / quote

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03c. 1954 AD

Rafael?””Yeah?”„Do we all have monsters?”„Yes.”„Why does God give us so many monsters?”„You want to know my theory?”„Sure.”„I think it’s other people who give us monsters. Maybe God doesn’t have anything to do with it.

Benjamin Alire Sáenz / quote

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04c. 1954 AD

In the distance, I can see a storm coming in, the dark clouds and the lightning on the horizon moving towards me. I wait and I wait and I wait for the storm. And then it comes, and the rains wash away the nightmares and the memories. And I'm not afraid.

Benjamin Alire Sáenz / quote

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05c. 1954 AD

Summertime. It was a song. It was a season. I wondered if that season would ever live inside of me.

Benjamin Alire Sáenz / quote

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06c. 1954 AD

What is this thing you call substance abuse? All I wanna do is forget and get loose.Drinking and smoking over and overWhat's so great about a life that's sober?There's nothing cool about being youngWhen the monsters of night have stolen the sun.I'm tired of searching for words in the sky.All I wanna do is drink and die. Nothing is real. It's all a big lie. All I wanna do is drink and die. There's nothing cool about being youngWhen the monsters of night have stolen the sun.

Benjamin Alire Sáenz / quote

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07c. 1954 AD

The day he came home from the hospital, he cried. I held him. I thought he would never stop.I knew that a part of him would never be the same.They cracked more than his ribs.

Benjamin Alire Sáenz / quote

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08c. 1954 AD

You can’t expect to go both ways when you’re driving on a one-way street.

Benjamin Alire Sáenz / quote

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09c. 1954 AD

I think you love him more than you can bear.

Benjamin Alire Sáenz / quote

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10c. 1954 AD

It started to rain and we just sat. Sat and watched the rain in silence.

Benjamin Alire Sáenz / quote

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11c. 1954 AD

Ad we interviewing each other?Something like that.What position am I applying for?Best friend.I thought I already had the job.Don't be so sure, you arrogant son of a bitch.

Benjamin Alire Sáenz / quote

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12c. 1954 AD

Everyone was always becoming someone else.Sometimes, when you were older, you became someone younger. And me, I felt old. How can aguy who’s about to turn seventeen feel old?

Benjamin Alire Sáenz / quote

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13c. 1954 AD

Life was like that- there would always be something scratching at the door. And whatever was scratching would just scratch and scratch until you opened the door.

Benjamin Alire Sáenz / quote

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14c. 1954 AD

I was getting an A for work. But not for talent. The story of my life.

Benjamin Alire Sáenz / quote

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15c. 1954 AD

Another secret of the universe: Sometimes pain was like a storm that came out of nowhere. The clearest summer could end in a downpour. Could end in lightning and thunder.

Benjamin Alire Sáenz / quote

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16c. 1954 AD

For the music to be over so soon. For the music to be over when it had just begun. That was really sad.

Benjamin Alire Sáenz / quote

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17c. 1954 AD

Maybe it wasn't a good idea to rank the people in your life. That's not how the heart worked. The heart didn't make lists.

Benjamin Alire Sáenz / quote

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18c. 1954 AD

The problem is not that I don't love my mother and father. The problem is that I don't know how to love them.

Benjamin Alire Sáenz / quote

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19c. 1954 AD

Maybe all that silence about my brother did something to me. I think it did. Not talking can make a guy pretty lonely

Benjamin Alire Sáenz / quote

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20c. 1954 AD

Someday, I'm going to have to break some of your rules, Mom.""I know," she said. "Try to do it behind my back, will you?¨You can bet on that, Mom.¨We both sat there and laughed.

Benjamin Alire Sáenz / quote

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21c. 1954 AD

One summer night I fell asleep hoping the world would be different when I woke. In the morning, when I opened my eyes, the world was the same.

Benjamin Alire Sáenz / quote

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22c. 1954 AD

I mean, when do we start feeling like the world belongs to us?I wanted to tell him that the world would never belong to us. 'I don't know', I said. 'Tomorrow.

Benjamin Alire Sáenz / quote

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23c. 1954 AD

I thought masturbating was embarassing. I didn't even know why. It just was. It was like having sex with yourself. Having sex with yourself was really weird. Autoeroticism.

Benjamin Alire Sáenz / quote

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24c. 1954 AD

Healthy people have healthy boundaries. Unhealthy people, well, let’s not get into that. It’s like this: some people have walls which means they let no one in. This equals unhealthy. Some people let everyone in and let themselves be stepped all over. This equals unhealthy.

Benjamin Alire Sáenz / quote

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