Top 280 Angie Thomas Quotes (2026 Update)
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201. “They haven’t won. But you’re so lost that you’ve lost” -Jay.”

— Angie Thomas

202. “That’s what we call our goal, the come up.”

— Angie Thomas

203. “One of my baby photos smiles back at me, permanently etched on his arm with Something to live for, something to die for written beneath it. Seven and Sekani are on his other arm with the same words beneath them. Love letters in the simplest form.”

— Angie Thomas

204. “My parents have this thing where they never want me or my brothers to talk to somebody without looking them in their eyes. They claim that a person’s eyes say more than their mouth, and that it goes both ways – if we look someone in their eyes and mean what we say, they should have little reason to doubt us.”

— Angie Thomas

205. “High school ain’t the end or the beginning. It ain’t even in the middle. You ’bout to do big things, whether they see it or not. I see it. Everybody last night saw it. Long as you see it, that’s all that matters.”

— Angie Thomas

206. “Spring has decided to go through an identity crisis and get chilly on me.”

— Angie Thomas

207. “My heart pounds loudly, but Daddy’s instructions echo in my head: Get a good look at the cop’s face. If you can remember his badge number, that’s even better.”

— Angie Thomas

208. “I wanna make sure I got this right. Does he mean the same niece I took care of while he was locked up? Huh? The one I took to her first day of school because he took a charge for his so-called boy? The one I held when she cried for her daddy?”

— Angie Thomas

209. “She’s called Jay that ‘ol’ hood rat from the projects’ plenty of times. Then again, Jay has called her ‘that ol’ bougie heffa’ just as much.”

— Angie Thomas

210. “My thing is, girls usually date boys who are like their daddies, and I ain’t gon’ lie, when I saw that white – Chris,” he corrects, and I smile. “I got worried. Thought I turned you against black men or didn’t set a good example of a black man. I couldn’t handle that.”

— Angie Thomas

211. “The hospital fired her ’cause she was sick.”

— Angie Thomas

212. “I knew it was a daily fight for her to stay clean. I just didn’t realize I was the reason she fights.”

— Angie Thomas

213. “The first Aunt Viv was the best Aunt Viv.”

— Angie Thomas

214. “You know how many rich white folks come to the courthouse on drug possession?” “A whole lot,” says Jay. “Too many,” Aunt ‘Chelle says. “Every single one gets a little slap on the wrist and goes right back into society, like it’s all good. Black folks or poor folks get on drugs?” “We’re ruined for life,” Jay says.”

— Angie Thomas

215. “Sekani means “joy and merriment.” While he does bring some comedic relief every now and then, I wanted Sekani to be more than that. He represents that pure, genuine black-boy joy that so many young black men possess before life gets in the way, before society stereotypes them.”

— Angie Thomas

216. “How he could sell the very stuff that took his momma from him? Did he realize that he was taking somebody else’s momma from them?”

— Angie Thomas

217. “A good garden needs good conversation.”

— Angie Thomas

218. “Good.” He gets the grapes out the refrigerator. “You still got that old laptop? The one you had before we bought you that expensive-ass fruit one?” I laugh. “It’s an Apple MacBook, Daddy.” “It damn sure wasn’t the price of an apple. Anyway, you got the old one?”

— Angie Thomas

219. “Forget what anyone expects: the only person I have to truly worry about is me.”

— Angie Thomas

220. “It’s not logical for a bird to be that big,” I bite out. Really, it’s not. Tweety Bird? The love of my life. Big Bird? I don’t trust that ho. Plus, have they seen his nest? He probably hides bodies in it.”

— Angie Thomas

221. “Starr,” she says. “It means you go on even though you’re scared. And you’re doing that.”

— Angie Thomas

222. “And the thing about the stank-eye is at some point you feel it on you, inviting you to kick some ass or have your ass kicked.”

— Angie Thomas

223. “Done up. The good news? A lot rhymes with “done up.” The bad news? A lot rhymes with “done up.”

— Angie Thomas

224. “God gave you a brain. You don’t need theirs.”

— Angie Thomas

225. “Who said talking isn’t doing something?’ she says. It’s more productive than silence.”

— Angie Thomas

226. “Momma thinks coming to Uncle Carlos’s house is normal, but Chris is the kind of normal I really want. The normal where I don’t have to choose which Starr to be.”

— Angie Thomas

227. “Every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, I drag myself into this classroom and hand my phone over to Mrs. Murray. Usually I’m cool with an entire hour of not knowing what the president tweeted.”

— Angie Thomas

228. “Daddy watches us; her attack dog, waiting for us to make a wrong move. That’s how they work. Momma does the first round, and if it’s not successful, Daddy goes for the KO. And you never want Daddy to go for the KO.”

— Angie Thomas

229. “Some people say that your life flashes before your eyes in moments like this. But for me, all the stuff I haven’t done flashes before mine.”

— Angie Thomas

230. “By any means necessary didn’t keep Brother Malcolm from dying, possibly at the hands of his own people.”

— Angie Thomas

231. “Her name just HAD to be Karen,’ Sonny says. ‘Bet she puts raisins in her potato salad.’ I smirk, and we cross our arms over our chests. Wakanda forever.”

— Angie Thomas

232. “All these feelings started when we were ten. I have this real clear memory of us wrestling in Malik’s front yard. I was The Rock and he was John Cena. We were obsessed with wrestling videos on YouTube. I pinned Malik down, and while sitting on top of him in his front yard, I suddenly wanted to kiss him. It. Freaked. Me. Out. So I punched him and said in my best The Rock voice, “I’m laying the smackdown on your candy ass!” Basically, I tried to ignore my sexual awakening by imitating The Rock.”

— Angie Thomas

233. “I was floating after my battle, for real. That feeling when the crowd cheered for me is probably what getting high is like, and I’m addicted.”

— Angie Thomas

234. “What’s it about this time?” I ask. “Pop Tarts,” Britt says. Hailey turns to us and points at Luke. “This jerk actually said they’re better warmed up in the microwave.” “Eww,” I say, instead of my usual “Ill,” and Maya goes, “Are you serious?”

— Angie Thomas

235. “But it’s kinda like saying one side of the Death Star is safer than the other. It’s still the goddamn Death Star.”

— Angie Thomas

236. “Please give her peace and courage. As much as I wanna ask you to work this case out a certain way, I know you already got a plan. I ask for some mercy, God. That’s all. Mercy for Garden Heights, for Khalil’s family, for Starr. Help all of us through this.”

— Angie Thomas

237. “I bet she need a distraction, and babies good at helping you forget death. Probably ’cause they so new.”

— Angie Thomas

238. “Shout-out to Michelle Obama. That health kick of hers made the school take the good stuff from the vending machines and made my business very lucrative.”

— Angie Thomas

239. “Folks kill me, thinking they know what I think.”

— Angie Thomas

240. “You’re just a casualty in the reality of the madness of Bri.”

— Angie Thomas

241. “I hear you, but Khalil didn’t have to sell drugs,” I say. “You stopped doing it.” “True, but unless you’re in his shoes, don’t judge him.”

— Angie Thomas

242. “When you’re a kid in a one-bedroom in the projects, rich is the best thing anybody can be.”

— Angie Thomas

243. “Sonny only watches Real Housewives of Atlanta to get NeNe quotes, just like he watches Empire for Cookie quotes, and he lives for moments to use them.”

— Angie Thomas

244. “Dammit! My pops wants me to come home and babysit the gremlins.”

— Angie Thomas

245. “Never let their actions determine what you do. The moment you do, you’ve given them the power.”

— Angie Thomas

246. “Having to is a responsibility. Wanting to is love.”

— Angie Thomas

247. “Granny do them long prayers, man. She act like God don’t know what’s going on and it’s her job to fill him in.”

— Angie Thomas

248. “It takes a lot of nerve to go off on somebody, call them out, and tell them you love them within a span of 5 minutes.”

— Angie Thomas

249. “Besides, is it really mine if I’m not being myself?”

— Angie Thomas

250. “Loving you isn’t enough. Being hard on you isn’t enough. I haven’t been enough.”

— Angie Thomas