Top 280 Angie Thomas Quotes (2025 Update)
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201. “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

202. “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

203. “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

204. “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

205. “Yeah, people get killed around here, and nah, it’s not always by the police, but Jay says this was like having a stranger come in your house, steal one of your kids, and blame you for it because your family was dysfunctional, while the whole world judges you for being upset.”

— Angie Thomas

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

— Angie Thomas

207. “It would be easy to quit if it was just about me.”

— Angie Thomas

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

— Angie Thomas

209. “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

210. “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

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

— Angie Thomas

212. “Good afternoon, Ms. Carter,” Dr. Davis, the headmaster, says. He’s leaving as I’m going in and doesn’t wait for my response. Does he know all the students by name, or just the ones who are black like him? I hate that I think about stuff like that now.”

— Angie Thomas

213. “I mean, it’s one thing to wanna do something. It’s another to think it’s possible.”

— Angie Thomas

214. “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

215. “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

216. “They went to Taipei, the Bahamas, Harry Potter World. I stayed in the hood and saw a cop kill my friend.”

— Angie Thomas

217. “You can say something racist and not be a racist!”

— Angie Thomas

218. “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

219. “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

220. “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

221. “There are jobs, and there are jobs with benefits. Big difference. Whenever somebody in my family gets a job, the first question is, “Does it have benefits?”

— Angie Thomas

222. “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

223. “Aunt Pooh doesn’t go from zero to one hundred – she goes from chill to ready to kill.”

— Angie Thomas

224. “French braids. Are they cute? Yeah. Is it a process? Unfortunately. They’re so tight I can feel my thoughts.”

— Angie Thomas

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

— Angie Thomas

226. “But we can’t,” he says, voice strained. “Not like this.” “Why not?” I slip my hand in his pants, heading for the bulge. “Because you’re not in a good place.”

— Angie Thomas

227. “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

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

— Angie Thomas

229. “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

230. “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

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

— Angie Thomas

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

— Angie Thomas

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

— Angie Thomas

234. “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

235. “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

236. “Occasionally she goes “Mmm” at some line the same way my grandma does during a sermon. Poetry’s Mrs. Murray’s religion.”

— Angie Thomas

237. “So basically,′ Scrap says, ‘you won the popular vote ‘cause everybody loved you in the Ring, but you still lost the election since he the one getting game?’ I shake my head. ‘Too soon.”

— Angie Thomas

238. “That might be the problem. A lot of the good stuff is from the past. The Jonas Brothers, High School Musical, our shared grief. Our friendship is based on memories. What do we have now?”

— Angie Thomas

239. “I try to forget that he has an entire floor as big as my house and hired help that looks like me.”

— Angie Thomas

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

— Angie Thomas

241. “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

242. “There’s Hailey, sitting on top of it, having a heated discussion with curly-haired, dimpled Luke. I think that’s foreplay for them. They’ve liked each other since sixth grade, and if your feelings can survive the awkwardness of middle school you should stop playing around and go out.”

— Angie Thomas

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

— Angie Thomas

244. “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

245. “He was more than any bad decision he made.”

— Angie Thomas

246. “Um, excuse you, but Harry Potter is a cultural phenomenon.”

— Angie Thomas

247. “Man, you ain’t white. You light-skinned.”

— Angie Thomas

248. “I swear King never give a you-know-what. I think I care more ’bout him than he care ’bout himself.”

— Angie Thomas

249. “I’ve cried over you. But I don’t think you’ve cried over yourself, and that’s the problem” -Jay.”

— Angie Thomas

250. “Long as I can do it my way.”

— Angie Thomas