Top 400 Stephen Chbosky Quotes (2025 Update)
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301. “If you’re reading these words, you won today. You are here. You are alive. You have options. You can wait out a bad situation. Move on, fight back, get out, break up, call, ask her or him out, write that book, write that song, listen to the music, take the drive, take the chance, and live. Whatever strategy you choose, you win.”

— Stephen Chbosky

302. “He was a real man.”

— Stephen Chbosky

303. “Frecuentemente subestimamos el poder del contacto.”

— Stephen Chbosky

304. “No todas las heridas dejan huella.”

— Stephen Chbosky

305. “I love my mom. And this time, I told her I loved her. And she told me she loved me, too. And things were okay for a little while.”

— Stephen Chbosky

306. “Standing to leave, he looked at her one last time, hating her and loving her just the same. She was yet another thing tying him to the city, his duty to her like a straitjacket holding him against his will. A locked box he couldn’t find a way out of.”

— Stephen Chbosky

307. “You know I blamed Craig for not letting me do things? You know how stupid I feel about that now? Maybe he didn’t really encourage me to do things, but he didn’t prevent me from doing them either. But after a while, I didn’t do things because I didn’t want him to think different about me. But the thing is, I wasn’t being honest. So, why would I care whether or not he loved me when he didn’t really even know me?”

— Stephen Chbosky

308. “And how different her face looked the first time she really liked a boy who was not on a poster on her wall. And how her face looked when she realized she was in love with that boy.”

— Stephen Chbosky

309. “If it meant that I would never get to think of you that way, as long as you were happy, it was okay.”

— Stephen Chbosky

310. “I know that I brought this all on myself. I know that I deserve this. I’d do anything not to be this way. I’d do anything to make it up to everyone. And to not have to see a psychiatrist, who explains to me about being ‘passive aggressive’. And to not have to take the medicine he gives me, which is too expensive for my dad. And to not have to talk about bad memories with him. Or be nostalgic about bad things.”

— Stephen Chbosky

311. “At some point, you just pull of the Band-Aid and it hurts, but then its over and you’re relieved.”

— Stephen Chbosky

312. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do now. I know other people have it a lot worse. I do know that, but it’s crashing in anyway...”

— Stephen Chbosky

313. “Reading the book isn’t helping either. I don’t know. I’m just thinking too fast. Much too fast.”

— Stephen Chbosky

314. “It’s like all I can do is keep writing this gibberish to keep from falling apart.”

— Stephen Chbosky

315. “So, if this does end up being my last letter, please believe that things are good with me, and even when they’re not, they will be soon enough. And I will believe the same about you. Love always, Charlie.”

— Stephen Chbosky

316. “I had an amazing feeling when I finally held the tape in my hand. I just thought to myself that in the palm of my hand, there was this one tape that had all of these memories and feelings and great joy and sadness.”

— Stephen Chbosky

317. “I guess what I’m saying is that this all feels very familiar. But it’s not mine to be familiar about.”

— Stephen Chbosky

318. “So, I said I thought the magazine was trying to make him a hero, but then later somebody might dig up something to make him seem like less than a person.”

— Stephen Chbosky

319. “I thought about Bill telling me I was special. And my sister saying she loved me. And my mom, too. And even my dad and brother when I was in the hospital. I thought about Patrick calling me his friend. And I thought about Sam telling me to do things. to really be there. And I just thought how great it was to have friends and a family.”

— Stephen Chbosky

320. “A lot of parents make you feel very awkward when you meet them.”

— Stephen Chbosky

321. “I thought about him going into my mom’s when she was little and hitting my mom and holding up her report card and saying that her bad grades would never happen again. And I think now that maybe he meant my older brother. Or my sister. Or me. That he would make sure that he was the last one to work in a mill.”

— Stephen Chbosky

322. “I asked Patrick if he felt sad that he had to keep it a secret, and Patrick just said that he wasn’t sad because at least now, Brad doesn’t have to get drunk or stoned to make love.”

— Stephen Chbosky

323. “Maybe it’s sad that these are now memories. And maybe it’s not sad. And maybe it’s just the fact that we loved Aunt Helen, especially me, and this was the time we could spend with her.”

— Stephen Chbosky

324. “After I said that, we all got quiet and sad. In the silence, I remembered this one time that I never told anybody about. The time we were walking. Just the three of us. And I was in the middle. I don’t remember where we were walking to or where we were walking from. I don’t even remember the season. I just remember walking between them and feeling for the first time that I belonged somewhere.”

— Stephen Chbosky

325. “I just never gave God a name, if you know what I mean. I hope I haven’t let Him down regardless.”

— Stephen Chbosky

326. “I wasn’t happy about Craig and Sam breaking up. Not at all. I never once thought that it would mean Sam might start liking me. All I cared about was the fact that Sam got really hurt. And I guess I realized at that moment that I really did love her. Because there was nothing to gain, and that didn’t matter.”

— Stephen Chbosky

327. “I ate the brownie, and it tasted a little weird, but it was still a brownie, so I still liked it. But this was not an ordinary brownie. Since you are older, I think you know what kind of brownie it was.”

— Stephen Chbosky

328. “If you ever do this again, I’ll tell everyone. And if that doesn’t work, I’ll blind you.”

— Stephen Chbosky

329. “Charlie, we accept the love we think we deserve.” I just stood there, quiet. Bill patted my shoulder and gave me a new book to read. He told me everything was going to be okay.”

— Stephen Chbosky

330. “I had an amazing feeling when I finally held the tape in my hand. I just thought to myself that in the palm of my hand, there was this one tape that had all of these memories and feelings and great joy and sadness. Right there in the palm of my hand. And I thought about how many people have loved those songs. And how many people got through a lot of bad times because of those songs. And how many people enjoyed good times with those songs. And how much those songs really mean.”

— Stephen Chbosky

331. “I don’t want to start thinking again. Not like I have this last week. I can’t think again. Not ever again. I don’t know if you’ve ever felt like that. That you wanted to sleep for a thousand years. Or just not exist. Or just not be aware that you do exist. Or something like that. I think wanting that is very morbid, but I want it when I get like this. That’s why I’m trying not to think. I just want it all to stop spinning.”

— Stephen Chbosky

332. “You are not a sad story.”

— Stephen Chbosky

333. “I just remembered what made me think of all this. I’m going to write it down because maybe if I do I won’t have to think about it. And I won’t get upset.”

— Stephen Chbosky

334. “I don’t know where I went wrong.”

— Stephen Chbosky

335. “I just wanted to know what to buy my dad because I love him. And I don’t know him. And he doesn’t like to talk about things like that.”

— Stephen Chbosky

336. “And I hope everyone’s picture turn out great and never become old photographs and nobody gets in a car accident.”

— Stephen Chbosky

337. “In the hallways, I see the girls wearing guys’ jackets, and I think about the idea of property.”

— Stephen Chbosky

338. “There is a lot to tell you about the last two weeks. A lot of it is good, but a lot of it is bad. Again, I don’t know why this always happens.”

— Stephen Chbosky

339. “And for the first time, something nice like that made me smile and not cry.”

— Stephen Chbosky

340. “It takes seven years to digest gum.”

— Stephen Chbosky

341. “I wanted the angel to come down and show us how Uncle Billy’s life had meaning. Then, I think I’d feel better.”

— Stephen Chbosky

342. “I know these will all be stories some day, and our pictures will become old photographs. But right now, these moments are not stories. This is happening. You are alive. And you stand up and see the lights on the buildings and everything that makes you wonder. And you’re listening to that song, and that drive with the people who you love most in this world. And in this moment, I swear, we are infinite.”

— Stephen Chbosky

343. “Charlie, a gente aceita o amor que acha que merece.”

— Stephen Chbosky

344. “What are the two types of people who can see things that aren’t there, Kate? And his quiet whisper of a punch line. Visionaries and psychopaths.”

— Stephen Chbosky

345. “The trance happens when you don’t focus on anything.”

— Stephen Chbosky

346. “She even told me how to treat a girl on a date, which was very interesting. She said that with a girl like Mary Elizabeth, you shouldn’t tell her she looks pretty. You should tell her how nice her outfit is because her outfit is her choice whereas her face isn’t.”

— Stephen Chbosky

347. “At those times, you weren’t being his friend at all. Because you weren’t honest with him.”

— Stephen Chbosky

348. “Y creo que todo el mundo es especial a su manera. Lo creo de verdad.”

— Stephen Chbosky

349. “And that was that. Bill didn’t try to make sure that I would see him next year if I needed anything. He didn’t ask me why I was crying. He just let me hear what he had to say in my own way and let things be. That was probably the best part.”

— Stephen Chbosky

350. “I love my mom so much. I don’t care if that’s corny to say. I think on my next birthday, I’m going to buy her a present. I think that should be the tradition. The kid gets gifts from everybody, and he buys one present for his mom since she was there, too.”

— Stephen Chbosky