Top 400 Stephen Chbosky Quotes (2026 Update)
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351. “The trance happens when you don’t focus on anything.”

— Stephen Chbosky

352. “If you fail at your job, you do not blame some outside force. You look right in the mirror and take responsibility. That was the problem with the world. No one took responsibility.”

— Stephen Chbosky

353. “I just wanted someone to tell me the truth.”

— Stephen Chbosky

354. “Good guys win wars.”

— Stephen Chbosky

355. “Take the chance and live. Whatever strategy you choose, YOU WIN.”

— Stephen Chbosky

356. “Kate Reese shivered when she realized the sad truth: Even monsters are adorable when they are little.”

— Stephen Chbosky

357. “And then Patrick started running after the sunset. And Sam immediately followed him. And I saw them in silhouette. Running after the sun. Then, I started running. And everything was as good as it could be.”

— Stephen Chbosky

358. “The shadows were not terrifying. They were the proof that light exists. The fire and brimstone were all a mirage. The clouds nothing but steam inside a bathroom. All he needed to do was wipe away the mirror. He didn’t need a key. He was the key.”

— Stephen Chbosky

359. “But for now, sledding is enough. I think it would be great if sledding were always enough, but it isn’t.”

— Stephen Chbosky

360. “It was a stolen type of kiss.”

— Stephen Chbosky

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

— Stephen Chbosky

362. “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

363. “The power of God was not omniscience. The power of God was not omnipotence. The power of God was love.”

— Stephen Chbosky

364. “I have spent the whole vacation reading Hamlet. Bill was right. It was much easier to think of the kid in the play like the other characters I’ve read about so far. It has also helped me while I’m trying to figure out what’s wrong with me. It didn’t give me any answers necessarily, but it was helpful to know that someone else has been through it.”

— Stephen Chbosky

365. “For the rest of the school year, the teachers treated me different and gave me better grades even though I didn’t get any smarter.”

— Stephen Chbosky

366. “It started yesterday at home. I don’t like my birthday. I don’t like it at all.”

— Stephen Chbosky

367. “My dad said I couldn’t drive until the weather cleared up, and it finally did a little bit yesterday. I made a mix tape for the occasion. It is called “The First Time I Drove.” Maybe I’m being too sentimental, but I like to think that when I’m old, I will be able to look at all these tapes and remember those drives.”

— Stephen Chbosky

368. “I read a book, and I think I am the people in the book.”

— Stephen Chbosky

369. “My mom told me that when I was little, I called them “Candy Grandma” and “Cookies Grandma.” I also called pizza crust “pizza bones.” I don’t know why I’m telling you this.”

— Stephen Chbosky

370. “And he doesn’t play baseball anymore. He doesn’t like to be even reminded unless he tells the stories. 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

371. “I hope it’s the kind of second side that he can listen to whenever he drives alone and feel like he belongs to something whenever he’s sad.”

— Stephen Chbosky

372. “Also, when I write letters, I spend the next two days thinking about what I figured out in my letters.”

— Stephen Chbosky

373. “I laid down on his old bed, and I looked through the window at this tree that was probably a lot shorter when my dad looked at it. And I could feel what he felt on the night when he realized that if he didn’t leave, it would never be his life. It would be theirs. At least that’s how he’s put it.”

— Stephen Chbosky

374. “Du coup, je me dis que le zen, c’est un jour comme aujourd’hui, quand on fait partie de l’air et qu’on se rappelle des trucs.”

— Stephen Chbosky

375. “This is a worse that feels too big.”

— Stephen Chbosky

376. “I also thought that if anybody saw me talking out loud when I was alone in the car, their looks might convince me that the something that’s wrong with me might be even worse than I thought.”

— Stephen Chbosky

377. “It’s not a movie kind of love either.”

— Stephen Chbosky

378. “He said that it was a very bad accident, and my Aunt Helen was definitely killed instantly. In other words, there was no pain. There was no pain anymore.”

— Stephen Chbosky

379. “I always wanted to be on a sports team like that. I’m not sure why, but I always thought it would be fun to have “glory days”.”

— Stephen Chbosky

380. “Despite everything my mom and doctor and dad have said to me about blame, I can’t stop thinking what I know.”

— Stephen Chbosky

381. “And I think they knew. Not anything specific really. They just knew. And I think that’s all you can ever ask from a friend.”

— Stephen Chbosky

382. “Things like waking around the neighbourhood and looking at the houses and the lawns and the colourful trees and having that be enough.”

— Stephen Chbosky

383. “To Charlie” and the whole group said, “to Charlie.” I didn’t know why they did that, but it was very special to me that they did. Especially Sam. Especially her.”

— Stephen Chbosky

384. “And what my brother’s face will look like on a football card, or what it will look like if it is never on a football card.”

— Stephen Chbosky

385. “We just want her to know that we miss her, and we think of her, and she was special.”

— Stephen Chbosky

386. “The kind of green that doesn’t make a big deal about itself.”

— Stephen Chbosky

387. “Do you always thinks this much, Charlie.”

— Stephen Chbosky

388. “Do you always think this much, Charlie?” “Is that bad?” I just wanted someone to tell me the truth. “Not necessarily. It’s just that sometimes people use thought to not participate in life.” “Is that bad?” “Yes.”

— Stephen Chbosky

389. “I watched the hockey game with him for a while, but I couldn’t stop asking him questions about which countries the players are from, and he was “resting his eyes,” which means he was sleeping but didn’t want me to change the channel.”

— Stephen Chbosky

390. “And when he was lying in the ground next to her, her photographs would be thrown in the trash because her face wouldn’t mean anything to anyone else. He was the last person alive who knew her and loved her.”

— Stephen Chbosky

391. “I just wanted to know what to buy my dad because I love him. And I don’t know him.”

— Stephen Chbosky

392. “A lot of it is good, but a lot of it is bad. Again, I don’t know why this always happens.”

— Stephen Chbosky

393. “I read the book again that night because I knew that if I didn’t, I would probably start crying again. The panicky type, I mean. I read until I was completely exhausted and had to go to sleep. In the morning, I finished the book and then started immediately reading it again. Anything to not feel like crying. Because I made the promise to Aunt Helen. And because I don’t want to start thinking again. Not like I have this last week. I can’t think again. Not ever again.”

— Stephen Chbosky

394. “And I saw Patrick and Alice not even care that they weren’t kissing anybody because they were too excited talking about their futures.”

— Stephen Chbosky

395. “It was the way she said it that started me feeling.”

— Stephen Chbosky

396. “I realized that it happened every Saturday when we would watch television.”

— Stephen Chbosky

397. “And we kept dancing. It was the only time all day that I really wanted the clock to stop. And just be there for a long time.”

— Stephen Chbosky

398. “I even got out my old sled and my old scarf. There is something cozy about that for me.”

— Stephen Chbosky

399. “Selbst Monster waren liebenswert, wenn sie klein waren.”

— Stephen Chbosky

400. “She wanted her son to be smart enough to get out of this nightmare, but not smart enough to know that he was actually inside one.”

— Stephen Chbosky