Quotes From "How They Met And Other Stories" By David Levithan

Love doesn’t have to be on Valentine’s Day. It doesn’t have to be by the time you turn eighteen or thirty-three or fifty-nine. It doesn’t have to conform to whatever is usual. It doesn’t have to be kismet at once, or rhapsody by the third day. It just has to be. In time. In place. In spirt. It just has to be. David Levithan

Our moments are music, and sometimes — just sometimes — we can catch them and put them into some lasting form. If we didn’t have music, I don’t think we could ever be truly happy, and if we didn’t have special moments, we would never find music. David Levithan

Music is everywhere. It’s in the air between us, waiting to be sung. David Levithan

Part of my music is being alone, having that time to shut down all other noises to hear the tune underneath. David Levithan

I was seventeen, halfway toward eighteen, and I had learned something nobody had ever taught me: Once you get to a certain age, especially if a driver’s license is involved, you can go a whole day–a whole week, even–without ever seeing your family. You can maybe say good morning and maybe say good night, but everything in the middle can be left blank. David Levithan

I tried to put myself in his place, and realized we looked exactly like what we were: a family. These strangely tied together individuals trying desperately to keep both ourselves and one another happy. Succeeding, and failing, and succeeding. When Jeremy called me up to light one of the thirteen candles on the cake, he said the kindest things, and I knew he meant each and every one. He talked about me teaching him how to ride a bike, how to swim, how to kick an arcade game in just the right place to get a free play. He was remembering the best of me. The way he spoke, I almost recognized who he was talking about. . David Levithan

It is a sound like loneliness–enough to let you know you’re there, but not enough to fill you with life. David Levithan

What are your interests?"" Your son in my room, " I said." Excuse me?"" The sun and the moon, " I said. "Astronomy. David Levithan

Maybe fate's arithmetic is so diffuse that it's not arithmetic at all. David Levithan

He was beautiful in the way that a breeze is beautiful–the kind of beauty you feel gratitude for. David Levithan

It had never occurred to me that a person could know all the right things to say and deploy them to get what she wanted, without having to mean any of it. David Levithan

To love--to fall--is not a question. To touch--to kiss--to speak--those are questions. There is nothing worse than a ruined friendship. There is nothing better than a companion. Somewhere in between lies risk. Somewhere in between, lies. David Levithan

The question is there in each silence. The question is there in the space between you. But you cannot bring it aloud. David Levithan

I say good-bye to hope, but I also say goodbye to hope's disappointment. David Levithan

There's no way to know if we would have lasted. There's no way to be sure, and plenty of reasons to doubt it. I just wish I'd had the chance. That is one of the things I miss the most– the chance to make it work. David Levithan

I've always wanted the happy ending, but now I'll just settle for the ending. David Levithan

Now I just want it to end. I’ve always wanted the happy ending, but now I’ll just settle for the ending. David Levithan

That's what it felt like---that if I let a little of the hurt out, it would keep pouring out until I was a deflated balloon of a person, with a big monster of hurt in front of me. David Levithan

It’s not easy, ” she says, in that voice that mothers have, that mix of unwanted knowledge and small consolation. “Whatever you had– I don’t know exactly what it was, and that’s fine. But it must not be easy for you. You miss him, and that’s okay. But you have to figure that if it’s too hard to hang on, then maybe you should let go. David Levithan

My eyes are open and I’m not seeing a thing because I am so lost inside. David Levithan

I tried to shut myself down completely, put up my best screensaver personality to coast through the day. I didn't want to see her. I was desperate to see her. I wanted to hold it together. I wanted to melt down right at her feet and scream, Look what you've done to me. David Levithan

It doesn’t work, ” she continues, unclasping her hands, smoothing her skirt. “What you’re feeling right now doesn’t work. You can’t wander around and think the wandering will call them back. Believe me. I know you don’t want to hear the long view, but let me tell you. You are so young. I know it’s none of my business. But still. David Levithan

I’m so sorry, ” I continue. And it’s like the last word is a hurdle and I can’t leap it, because something in the word snags my voice and suddenly I am giving everything up. I am letting my shoulders fall and I am feeling myself become the absence, feeling myself become that gasp and sob. David Levithan

That's what it felt like - that if I let a little of the hurt out, it would keep pouring out until I was a deflated balloon of a person, with a big monster of hurt in front of me. David Levithan

I realized I would always be missing something. That no matter what I did, I would always be missing something else. And the only way to live, the only way to be happy, was to make sure the things I didn’t miss meant more to me than the things I missed. I had to think about what I wanted, outside the heat of wanting. David Levithan

Enlightenment is scary. Sometimes things look better in the dark. David Levithan

Failure is always louder than success. But there is an accumulation of all the things you don’t do wrong, and that becomes your confidence. You can even get to the point where that confidence lasts longer than the dance. Seconds at first. Then minutes. Then maybe it’ll be there when you’re walking into a party, or meeting people after a show. You know you have something desirable, and you know you can move. . David Levithan

When you dance, you measure distance as if it’s a solid thing; you make precise judgments every time two bodies exist in relation to each other. So I knew right away the definition of the space between us. David Levithan

Most dancers find their confidence in dancing. Right is mere millimeters away from wrong. Failure is always louder than success. But there is an accumulation of all the things you don’t do wrong, and it becomes your confidence. You can even get to the point where confidence lasts longer than the dance. Seconds at first. Then minutes. Then maybe it’ll be there when you’re walking into a party, or meeting people after a show. You know you have something desirable, and you know you can move. David Levithan

I think they would like the songs betterif I left out the names, or changedthe pronouns. David Levithan

It was so screwed up, because the thing that made us the most powerless also gave us such power. We could make them turn away. We could bother them and challenge them and mess them up. You think people are afraid of two boys in love? To hell with that. What people are really afraid of is two boys screwing. David Levithan

Whatever you had -- I don't know what it was, and that's fine. But it must not be easy for you. You miss him, and that's okay. But you have to figure that if it's too much hard to hang on, then maybe you should let go. David Levithan

I say good-bye to hope, but I also say good-bye to hope's disappointment. David Levithan

I once asked Randy how he knew that he had fallen in love with his girlfriend, Amy, and he just looked at me like it was the hardest question in the world. I expected some floral, florid explanation, about the air lightening and flute music filling his ears. This relationship that had him so transfixed– I expected a masterpiece of sentiment, one that would make me so happy for him and so empty inside. Instead he just turned to me and said, “ The minute I knew I was in love was the minute when there was no question about it. One night I was lying in the dark, looking at her looking at me, and it just was there, undeniable.” There is no question about it. David Levithan

Betrayal. Lust. Secrecy. Devotion. I think we do these things to feel more alive. When the truth is that alive is alive -- you can feel it in anything, if you give it a chance. David Levithan