67 Quotes & Sayings By Rachel Cohn

We are the ones who take this thing called music and line it up with this thing called time. We are the ticking, we are the pulsing, we are underneath every part of this moment. And by making the moment our own, we are rendering it timeless. There is no audience. There are no instruments. There are only bodies and thoughts and murmurs and looks. It's the concert rush to end all concert rushes, because this is what matters. When the heart races, this is what it's racing towards. Rachel Cohn

You think fairy tales are only for girls? Here’s a hint–ask yourself who wrote them. I assure you, it wasn’t just the women. It’s the great male fantasy–all it takes is one dance to know that she’s the one. All it takes is the sound of her song from the tower, or a look at her sleeping face. And right away you know–this is the girl in your head, sleeping or dancing or singing in front of you. Yes, girls want their princes, but boys want their princesses just as much. And they don’t want a very long courtship. They want to know immediately. Rachel Cohn

Drosophila, ” I said, remembering the word.“ What?” Lily asked.“ Why do girls always fall for guys with the at ention span of drosophila?”“ What?”“ Fruit flies. Guys with the attention span of fruit flies.”“ Because they’re hot?”“ This, ” I told her, “is not the time for being truthful. Rachel Cohn

Cinderella was such a dork. She left behind her glass slipper at the ball and then went right back to her step-monster's house. It seems to me she should have worn the glass slipper always, to make herself easier to find. I always hoped that after the prince found Cinderella and they rode away in their magnificent carriage, after a few miles she turned to him and said, "Could you drop me off down the road please? Now that I've finally escaped my life of horrific abuse, I'd like to see something of the world, you know?.. I'll catch back up with you later, Prince, once I've found my own way. Rachel Cohn

My brother, Langston, said, “Lily, you don’t understand because you’ve never been in love. If you had a boyfriend, you’d understand.” Langston has a new boyfriend and all I understand from that is a sorry state of co-dependence. Rachel Cohn

Well, well, well, ” Santa said once the elf had retreated. “Come and sit on my lap, little boy.” This Santa’s beard was real, and so was his hair. He wasn’t fucking around.“ I’m not really a little boy, ” I pointed out.“ Get on my lap, then, big boy.” I walked up to him. There wasn’t much lap under his belly. And even though he tried to disguise it, as I went up there, I swear he adjustedhis crotch.“ Ho ho ho! ” he chortled. I sat gingerly on his knee, like it was a subway seat with gum on it.“ Have you been a good little boy this year?” he asked. I didn’t feel that I was the right person to determine my own goodness or badness, but in the interest of speeding along this encounter, I said yes. He actually wobbled with joy.“ Good! Good! Then what can I bring you this Christmas?”I thought it was obvious.“ A message from Lily, ” I said. “That’s what I want for Christmas. But I want it right now.”“ So impatient! ” Santa lowered his voice and whispered in my ear. “But Santa does have a little something for you”–he shifted a little inhis seat–“right under his coat. If you want to have your present, you’ll have to rub Santa’s belly.”“ What?” I asked. He gestured with his eyes down to his stomach. “Go ahead.” I looked closely and saw the faint outline of an envelope beneath his red velvet coat.“ You know you want it, ” he whispered. The only way I could survive this was to think of it as the dare it was. Fuck off, Lily. You can’t intimidate me. I reached right under Santa’s coat. To my horror, I found he wasn’t wearing anything underneath. It was hot, sweaty, Geshy, hairy … andhis belly was this massive obstacle, blocking me from the envelope. I had to lean over to angle my arm in order to reach it, the whole timehaving Santa laugh, “Oh ho ho, ho ho oh ho! ” in my ear. I heard the elf scream, “What the hell! ” and various parents start to shriek. Yes, I was feeling up Santa. And now the corner of the envelope was in my hand. He tried to jiggle it away from me, but I held tight and yanked itout, pulling some of his white belly hair with me. “OW ho ho! ” he cried. I jumped o1 his lap. “Security’s here! ” the elf proclaimed. The letter was in my hand, damp but intact.“ He touched Santa! ” a young child squealed. Rachel Cohn

What's a slut?" I ask him." A girl who puts out too easily."" Puts out what?" I imagine Greer putting out dinner and don't understand what Iwan wouldn't like about that." Puts out, you know..." His face, already beet red from our run, turns a darker scarlet. "Sex."I wonder where Greer puts the sex out. Rachel Cohn

I’m looking for Fat Hoochie Prom Queen, ” I declared. He did not respond.“ It’s a book, ” I said. “Not a person.” Nope. Nothing.“At the very least, can you tell me the author?” He looked at his computer, as if it had some way to speak to me without any typing on his part.“ Are you wearing headphones that I can’t see?” I asked. He scratched at the inside of his elbow.“ Do you know me?” I persisted. “Did I grind you to a pulp in kindergarten, and are you now getting sadistic pleasure from this petty revenge? Stephen Little, is that you? Is it? I was much younger then, and foolish to have nearly drowned you in that water fountain. In my defense, yourprior destruction of my book report was a completely unwarranted act of aggression.” Finally, a response. The information desk clerk shook his shaggy head.“ No?” I said.“ I am not allowed to disclose the location of Fat Hoochie Prom Queen, ” he explained. “Not to you. Not to anyone. And while I am not StephenLittle, you should be ashamed of what you did to him. Ashamed. Rachel Cohn

I know it’s technically goodwill to all men, but in my mind, I drop the men because that feels segregationist/elitist/sexist/generally bad ist. Goodwill shouldn’t be just for men. It should also apply to women and children, and all animals, even the yucky ones like subway rats. I’d evenextend the goodwill not just to living creatures but to the dearly departed, and if we include them, we might as well include the undead, thosesupposedly mythic beings like vampires, and if they’re in, then so are elves, fairies, and gnomes. Heck, since we’re already being so generous in ourbig group hug, why not also embrace those supposedly inanimate objects like dolls and stu . Rachel Cohn

I lost myself immediately in one of the books, only emerging when the phone rang.“ Dashiell?” my father intoned. As if someone else with my voice might be answering the phone at my mother’s apartment.“ Yes, Father?”“Leeza and I would like to wish you a merry Christmas.”“Thank you, Father. And to you, as well.”[awkward pause][even more awkward pause]“ I hope your mother isn’t giving you any trouble.” Oh, Father, I love it when you play this game.“ She told me if I clean all the ashes out of the grate, then I’ll be able to help my sisters get ready for the ball.”“ It’s Christmas, Dashiell. Can’t you give that attitude a rest?”“ Merry Christmas, Dad. And thanks for the presents.”“ What presents?”“ I’m sorry–those were all from Mom, weren’t they?”“ Dashiell …”“I gotta go. The gingerbread men are on . Rachel Cohn

I was coming down off the last painkiller left in my dresser drawer after Autumn tossed my stash. In that moment I was so groggy and happy I would have accepted a date with Oscar the Grouch - and planned to do some serious feeling up on the green furry beast too. Yeah, stooping to pharmaceutical-inspired sex fantasies about garbage can Sesame Street characters - that had to be the best Just Say No drug lecture a girl in a leg cast could ever receive to make her go cold turkey off the meds. Rachel Cohn

Beauty’s not only skin deep. Just because a person is beautifuldoesn’t mean there’s no soul beneath. Doesn’t meanthat person hasn’t suffered like everyone else, doesn’t meanthey don’t hope to still be a good human being in an awfulworld. (Gabriel) Rachel Cohn

I Wanna Hold Your Hand.’ First single. Fucking brilliant. Perhaps the most fucking brilliant song ever written. Because they nailed it. That’s what everyone wants. Not 24-7 hot wet sex. Not a marriage that lasts a hundred years. Not a Porsche or a blow job or a million-dollar crib. No. They wanna hold your hand. They have a feeling that they can’t hide. Rachel Cohn

The mosh pit will reveal all the answers. The mosh pit never lies.- Norah, Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist Rachel Cohn

[S]he leans into this guy and rocks her head like I’m making this music for her, when if I could, I would take it all away and give her as much silence as she’s given me pain. Rachel Cohn

...The important people in our lives leave imprints. They may stay or go in the physical realm, but they are always there in your heart, because they helped form your heart. There's no getting over that. Rachel Cohn

The best is when we all go at once, like an army of interrelated popcorn zombies who laugh the same laughs and gasp the same gasps and aren’t so germ-phobic with each other that we won’t share a ginormous Coke with one straw. Family is useful like that. Rachel Cohn

I don't see why ogling same-sex kissing should be the exclusive domain of frat boys whacking off to lesbian action, that's so sexist. Feminism should be all inclusive- it should be about sexual liberation, equal pay for equal work, and the fundamental girl right of boy2boy appreciation. Rachel Cohn

Prayer or not, I want to believe that, despite all evidence to the contrary, it is possible for anyone to find that one special person. That person to spend Christmas with or grow old with or just take a nice silly walk in Central Park with. Rachel Cohn

But isn't this a dance? Isn't all of this a dance? Isn't that what we do with words? Isn't that what we do when we talk, when we spar, when we make plans or leave them to chance? Some of it's choreographed. Some of the steps have been done for ages. And the rest--the rest is spontaneous. The rest has to be decided on the floor, in the moment, before the music ends. Rachel Cohn

I wanted to talk to someone. But who? It’s moments like this, when you need someone the most, that your world seems smallest. Rachel Cohn

Somewhere between a friend and acquaintance–a frequaintance, as it were. Rachel Cohn

We always see the worst in our selves. Our most volnerable selves. We need someone to get close enough to tell us that we're wrong. Someone we trust. Rachel Cohn

I mean, like most guys, you carry around this girl in your head, who is exactly who you want her to be. The person you think you will love the most. And every girl you are with gets measured against this girl in your head. Rachel Cohn

Nick stands up and offers his hand to me. I have no idea what he wants, but what the hell, I take his hand anyway, and he pulls me up on my feet then presses against me for a slow dance and it's like we're in a dream where he's Christopher Plummer and I'm Julie Andrews and we're dancing on the marble floor of an Austrian terrace garden. Somehow my head presses Nick's t-shirt and in this moment I am forgetting about time and Tal because maybe my life isn't over. Maybe it's only beginning. . Rachel Cohn

I am bigger than the box I'm in. Rachel Cohn

Why do adults think every girl who isn’t some overachieving nitwit needs to be reassured about her intelligence? Folks, my self-esteem is just fine, thanks. I may not be school smart, and I may do extremely stupid things sometimes, but I know I’m smart. And I’d give me some serious Vegas odds to kick the ass of Sarah Scholar at life-skills moral combat any day. Rachel Cohn

She murmured, in that particular Nancy way of hers that grates most when my inner bitch is aching to be let loose, 'Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.' My eyes popped open to see her lemon face standing over me.' S O M E O N E, ' I hissed, 'HASN'T EVEN WOKEN UP YET. GOD, WHAT IS YOUR ANEURYSM? CAN'T YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE? Rachel Cohn

These humans–they are cruel monsters. Liars. Deceitful. For the first time, I want to hurt them the way they hurt me. This is so unfair. My body feels numb, my energy spent, my mind deceived and angry. Rachel Cohn

When the time is right, when these feelings of rage and unfairness once again overcome me, I will not faint. I will fight. Rachel Cohn

I kind of hate Nick right now, too, but there's someone else higher on my list, someone I hate more than Saddam Hussein and any asshole named Bush combined, hate more than that fuckhead who canceled 'My So-Called Life' and left me with a too-small boxed DVD set that does not answer the questions whether Angela and Jordan Catalano did it, or if Patty and Graham got a divorce, or if there really was something to all that lesbian subtext between Rayanne and Sharon. Rachel Cohn

Beneath the water, I can know her. She was fierce, uncompromising. When she loved, she loved deeply, passionately. She loved the blue-eyed water god. She owned him. His heart. But then she felt betrayal, she hated, and she was feared. Hate gave her power. Rachel Cohn

Get out of bed and feed me already, person! Rachel Cohn

It's not the loving that hurts this girl; it's the understanding of it for what it is, that it will never be returned in the same way, that threatens to destroy her. But to unload the words - "I love you" - on an innocent party who didn't ask for it, to reach across the dark space and touch him - it's like the world she knows could end if she dared speak these words, dared make such a move. Rachel Cohn

When the rain falls you just let it fall and you grin like a madman and you dance with it, because if you can make yourself happy in the rain then you're doing pretty alright in life. Rachel Cohn

Maybe your unspeakable defects give you power too? Rachel Cohn

Know what the best thing your true love can give you is?” I asked him.“ What?” said Dash.“True love. Rachel Cohn

The humans create life, and senselessly cause death. For nothing. Rachel Cohn

We're better off. But I don't know if the world's better off. I don't know if the two are the same thing. Rachel Cohn

I've always resented Hermione, because I wanted to be her so badly and she never seemed to appreciate as much as I thought she should that she got be her. She got to live at Hogwarts and be friends with Harry and kiss Ron, which was supposed to happen to me. Rachel Cohn

I don’t know what boldness came over me, but the resolute heaviness of Dash’s demeanor threatened to crush my soul. My pinky finger crept over and nestled against his, for comfort. Like a magnet, his pinky finger latched onto and intertwined with mine. I like magnets a whole lot. Rachel Cohn

I walked inside Macy’s and faced the pathetic spectacle of a department store full of shoppers, none of whom were shopping for themselves. Without the instant gratification of a self-aimed purchase, everyone walked around in the tactical stupor of the financially obligated. Rachel Cohn

I'm mad at global warming for all the obvious reasons, but mostly I'm mad at it for ruining Christmas. This time of year is supposed to be about teeth-chattering, cold weather that necessitates coats, scarves, and mittens. Outside there should be see-your-breath air that offers the promise of sidewalks covered in snow, while inside, families drink hot chocolate by a roaring fire, huddled close together with their pets to keep warm. Rachel Cohn

Goodwill to all.' I know it's techinically 'goodwill to all men, ' but in my mind, I drop the 'men' because that feels segregationist/elitist/sexist/generally bad ist. Goodwill shouldn't be just for men. It should also apply to women and children, and all animals, even the yucky ones like subway rats. I'd even extend the goodwill not just to living creatures but to the dearly departed, and if we include them, we might as well include the undead, those supposedly mythic beings like vampires, and if they're in, then so are elves, fairies, and gnomes. Heck, since we're already being so generous in our big group hug, why not also embrace those supposedly inanimate objects like dolls and stuffed animals. I'm sure Santa would agree. 'Goodwill to all. . Rachel Cohn

From a distance, a clone's luminous eyes are meant to draw in humans and make them feel safe. Up close, the eyes appear hollow. Because of that, humans tend not to look into our eyes too closely, which I've been told is socially preferable, as eyes without souls behind them can be frightening. Rachel Cohn

The handwriting was a girl’s. I mean, you can tell. That enchanted cursive. Rachel Cohn

You should never wish for wishful thinking. Rachel Cohn

I love snow for the same reason I love Christmas: It brings people together while time stands still. Cozy couples lazily meandered the streets and children trudged sleds and chased snowballs. No one seemed to be in a rush to experience anything other than the glory of the day, with each other, whenever and however it happened. Rachel Cohn

It's hard to show you that I tried unless you end up succeeding. Rachel Cohn

I'm liking that I can throw any kind of sentence at her without worrying it's too out there. Rachel Cohn

What do you want ?"It was a hard question, especially if I had to bat en down the sarcasm. I mean, there was the beauty pageant answer of world peace, although I’d probably have to render it in the beauty pageant spelling of world peas. Rachel Cohn

The Beatles.”“What about The Beatles?”“They nailed it.”“ Nailed what?”“ Everything.”“ What do you mean?” Dev takes his arm and puts it right against mine, skin to skin, sweat on sweat, touch on touch. Then he glides his hand into mine and intertwines our fingers.“ This, ” he says. “This is why The Beatles got it.”“ I’m afraid I’m not following…”“ Other bands, it’s about sex. Or pain. Or some fantasy. But The Beatles, they knew what they were doing. You know the reason The Beatles made it so big?”“ What?”‘ I Wanna Hold Your Hand.’ First single. Fucking brilliant. Perhaps the most fucking brilliant song ever written. Because they nailed it. That’s what everyone wants. Not 24-7 hot wet sex. Not a marriage that lasts a hundred years. Not a Porsche or a blow job or a million-dollar crib. No. They wanna hold your hand. They have such a feeling that they can’t hide. Every single successful love song of the past fifty years can be traced back to ‘I Wanna Hold Your Hand.’ And every single successful love story has those unbearable and unbearably exciting moments of hand-holding. Rachel Cohn

One part of Judaism called tikkum olam. It says that the world has been broken into pieces. All this chaos, all this discord. And our job — everyone’s job — is to try to put the pieces back together. To make things whole again ... Maybe we’re the pieces. Maybe what we’re supposed to do is come together. That’s how we stop the breaking. Rachel Cohn

I hope I never love someone so much that they could hurt me the way Langston was hurt. Rachel Cohn

Because I withered under the glare of an actual invitation, I was a firm believer in preventive prevarication--in other words, lying early in order to free myself later on. Rachel Cohn

There is no such thing as a soulmate…and who would want there to be? I don’t want half of a shared soul. I want my own damn so Rachel Cohn