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David Levithan

David Levithan Quotes

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Famous David Levithan Quotes

“Here’s what I know about the realm of possibility— it is always expanding, it is never what you think it is. Everything around us was once deemed impossible. From the airplane overhead to the phones in our pockets to the choir girl putting her arm around the metalhead. As hard as it is for us to see sometimes, we all exist within the realm of possibility. Most of the limits are of our own world’s devising. And yet, every day we each do so many things that were once impossible to us.”

ThinkingKnowsWorldSometimesHardGirlImpossiblePossibilityArmsLimitsPhonesRealmsPocketsAirplaneExpandingChoirOverheadDevisingRealm Of Possibility
Book:The Realm of Possibility
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“Danger comes in many forms, I suppose. For some people, it might be jumping off a bridge or climbing impossible moutains. For others, it could be a tawdry love affair or telling off a mean-looking bus driver because he doesn't like to stop for noisy teenagers. It could be cheating at cards or eating a peanut even though you're allergic. For me, danger might be getting out from the protective cloak of my family and venturing into the world more of my own, even though I don't know what- or who- awaits me.”

PeopleKnowsWorldMeanMightFormMy OwnImpossibleDangerEatingMy FamilyAffairCardsTeenagerBridgesCheatingDriversClimbingBusJumpingProtectiveLove AffairPeanutsNoisyCloaksAllergicJumping OffBus DriverJumping Off A Bridge
Book:Dash & Lily's Book of Dares
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“healthy, adj. There are times when I'm alone that I think, This is it. This is actually the natural state. All I need are my thoughts and my small acts of creation and my ability to go or do whatever I want to go or do. I am myself, and that is the point. Pairing is a social construction. It is by no means necessary for everyone to do it. Maybe I'm better like this. Maybe I could live my life in my own world, and then simply leave it when it's time to go.”

ThinkingWorldWantNeedsMeanStatesSocialNaturalMy OwnAbilityCreationHealthyConstructionLiving My LifeMy ThoughtsSmall ActsMy Own WorldSocial Construction
Book:The Lover's Dictionary: A Novel
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“And yes, Holden would keep those kids from falling off the cliff, but WHO WOULDN'T? Does she think I would just fold my arms or give them a pat on the back before they sailed headfirst to the ground? We are all catchers, and it's sad that she doesn't see it. Instead she sees the PHONINESS, she deplores the world even after I point out that I am in it.”

ThinkingWorldGivingDoeKidsFallArmsFoldsCliffsPhonyCatchersFalling OffHolden
Book:The Realm of Possibility
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“We could call you an ambisexual. A duosexual. A—” “Do I really have to find a word for it?” Kyle interrupts. “Can’t it just be what it is?” “Of course,” I say, even though in the bigger world I’m not so sure. The world loves stupid labels. I wish we got to choose our own. We pause for a moment. I wonder if that’s all—if he just needed to say the truth and have it heard. But then Kyle looks at me with unsure eyes and says, “You see, I don’t know who I’m supposed to be.” “Nobody does,” I assure him.”

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Author:David Levithan
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“This is what love does: It makes you want to rewrite the world. It makes you want to choose the characters, build the scenery, guide the plot. The person you love sits across from you, and you want to do everything in your power to make it possible, endlessly possible. And when it’s just the two of you, alone in a room, you can pretend that this is how it is, this is how it will be.”

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Book:Every Day
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“There is a part of childhood that is childish, and a part that is sacred. Suddenly we are touching the sacred part -- running to the shoreline, feeling the first cold burst of water on our ankles, reaching into the tide to catch at shells before they ebb away from our fingers. We have returned to a world that is capable of glistening, and we are wading deeper within it.”

WorldFirstsFeelingsRunningWaterChildhoodColdCapableSacredFingersDeeperReachingTouchingTidesShellsAnklesShoreline
Book:Every Day
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“I used to think that when I got older, the world would make so much more sense. But you know what? The older I get, the more confusing it is to me. The more complicated it is. Harder. You’d think we’d be getting better at it. But there’s just more and more chaos. The pieces—they’re everywhere. And nobody knows what to do about it. I find myself grasping, Nick. You know that feeling? That feeling when you just want the right thing to fall into the right place, not only because it’s right, but because it will mean that such a thing is still possible? I want to believe in that.”

ThinkingKnowsWorldWantBelieveMeanStillsFeelingsUsedFallPiecesHarderChaosComplicatedGet BetterRight ThingConfusingRight PlaceNobody KnowsGrasping
Author:David Levithan
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“It's only in the finer points that it gets complicated and contentious, the inability to realize that no matter what our religion or gender or race or geographic background, we all have about 98 percent in common with each other.... For whatever reason, we like to focus on the 2 percent that's different, and most of the conflict in the world comes from that.”

WorldDifferentMatterReasonRealizingCommonRaceFocusConflictPercentNo Matter WhatComplicatedGenderBackgroundsInabilityContentious
Book:Every Day
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“This is what you do now to give your day topography--scan the boxes, read the news, see the chain of your friends reporting about themselves, take the 140-character expository bursts and sift through for the information you need. It's a highly deceptive world, one that constantly asks you to comment but doesn't really care what you have to say. The illusion of participation can sometimes lead to participation. But more often than not, it only leads to more illusion, dressed in the guise of reality.”

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Author:David Levithan
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“The world is quieter now. It is never quiet, but it can get quieter. What strange creatures we are, to find silence peaceful, when permanent silence is the thing we most dread. Nighttime is not that. Nighttime still rustles, still creaks and whispers and trembles in its throat. It is not darkness we fear, but our own helplessness within it. How merciful to have been granted the other senses.”

WorldHas BeensStillsSilenceDarknessStrangeQuietCreaturesSensesPeacefulGrantedPermanentThroatDreadSilence IsMercifulHelplessnessNighttime
Author:David Levithan
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“We remember what it was like to meet someone new. We remember what it was like to grant someone possibility. You look out from your own world and then you step into his, not really knowing what you’ll find there, but hoping it will be something good. Both Ryan and Avery are doing this. You step into his world and you don’t even realize your loneliness is missing. You’ve left it behind, and you don’t notice because you have no desire to turn back.”

WorldLooksRememberDesireTurnsLeftRealizingBehindsStepsKnowingMissingLonelinessPossibilityGrants
Book:Two Boys Kissing
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“We wish we could have been there for you. We didn't have many role models of our own--we latched on to the foolish love of Oscar Wilde and the well-versed longing of Walt Whitman because nobody else was there to show us an untortured path. We were going to be your role models. We were going to give you art and music and confidence and shelter and a much better world. Those who survived lived to do this. But we haven't been there for you. We've been here. Watching as you become the role models.”

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Book:Two Boys Kissing
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