Quotessence
Home / Authors / Gary D. Schmidt
Gary D. Schmidt

Gary D. Schmidt Quotes

Writer

Filter quotes by topic

AllKnowsSaidThinkingWorldIfsWantHappensArtFeelsWholeCareFirstsMaySometimesSoundStillsTogetherTwoBakersBrother

Famous Gary D. Schmidt Quotes

“Think of the sound you make when you let go after holding your breath for a very, very long time. Think of the gladdest sound you know: the sound of dawn on the first day of spring break, the sound of a bottle of Coke opening, the sound of a crowd cheering in your ears because you're coming down to the last part of a race--and you're ahead. Think of the sound of water over stones in a cold stream, and the sound of wind through green trees on a late May afternoon in Central Park. Think of the sound of a bus coming into the station carrying someone you love. Then put all those together.”

ThinkingKnowsFirstsMayLongTogetherLastsSoundWaterRaceBreakTreeWindColdLetting GoLateLong TimeSpringStonesEarsBreathsGreenCrowdsOpeningDawnStreamsParksStationsBottlesCheerBusAfternoonCokeSomeone You LoveCentral ParkGreen TreesFirst Day Of SpringSpring BreakSound Of Water
Book:The Wednesday Wars
Create image

“Maybe the first time that you know you really care about something is when you think about it not being there,and when you know-you really know-that the emptinessis as much as inside you as outside you.For it falls out,that what we have we prize not to the worth whiles we enjoy it;but being lacked and lost,why,then we rack the value,then we find the virtue that possesion would not show us while it was ours.That's when I knew for the first time that I really did love my sister.”

ThinkingKnowsFirstsShowsCareValuesFallLostEnjoyVirtueFirst TimePrizeMy SisterBeing ThereRacks
Author:Gary D. Schmidt
Create image

“When 1:45 came, half the class left, and Danny Hupfer whispered, "If she gives you a cream puff after we leave, I'm going to kill you" - which was not something that someone headed off to prepare for his bar mitzvah should be thinking. When 1:55 came and the other half of the class left, Meryl Lee whispered, "If she gives you one after we leave, I'm going to do Number 408 to you." I didn't remember what Number 408 was, but it was probably pretty close to what Danny Hupfer had promised. Even Mai Thi looked at me with narrowed eyes and said, "I know your home." Which sounded pretty ominous.”

IfsThinkingKnowsGivingShouldSaidHomeEyeRememberLeftNumbersHalfClassBarsCreamOther HalfPuffOminousBar MitzvahMitzvahCream Puffs
Book:The Wednesday Wars
Create image

“You can't just skip the boring parts." "Of course I can skip the boring parts." "How do you know they're boring if you don't read them?" "I can tell." "Then you can't say you've read the whole play." "I think I can live a happy life, Meryl Lee, even if I don't read the boring parts of The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark." "Who knows?" she said. "Maybe you can't.”

IfsThinkingKnowsSaidI CanPlayWholeCoursesTragedyBoringDo You KnowHappy LifeSkipDenmarkLive Life Happy
Book:The Wednesday Wars
Create image

“I love the sound of a brand-new bottle of coke when you pry the lid off and it starts to fizz. Whenever I hear that sound, I think of roses, and of sitting together with someone you care about and of Romeo and Juliet waking up somewhere and saying to each other, weren't we jerks? And then having all that be over. That's what I think of when I hear the sound of a brand-new bottle of Coke being opened”

ThinkingCareTogetherSoundSittingWake UpRoseBrandsBottlesWakingJerkCokeJulietBrand NewSitting Together
Book:The Wednesday Wars
Create image

“And it really doesn't matter if we're under our desks with our hands over our heads or not, does it? No, said Mrs. Baker. It doesn't really matter. So, why are we practicing? She thought for a minute. Because it gives comfort, she said. People like to think that if they're prepared then nothing bad can really happen. And perhaps we practice because we feel as if there's nothing else we can do because sometimes it feels as if life is governed by the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.”

PeopleIfsThinkingGivingFeelsDoeSaidSometimesMatterHandsHappensLife IsCan DoPracticeMinutesComfortFortunePreparedDesksArrowsOutrageousBakersSlings And Arrows
Book:The Wednesday Wars
Create image

“I think he became a man who brought peace and wisdom to hi world, because he knew about war and folly. I think that he loved greatly, because he had seen what lost love is. And I think he came to know, too, that he was loved greatly." She looked at the strawberry in her hands. "But I thought you didn't want me to tell you your future.”

ThinkingKnowsMenWorldWantWarHandsLostLove IsFollyWant MeLost LoveYour FutureStrawberries
Book:The Wednesday Wars
Create image

“Do you ever wonder what it's like to be so angry that you...And then something happens, and after that, everyone figures that's what you're like, and that's what you're always going to be, and so you just decide to be it? But the whole time you're thinking, Am I going to be like him? Or am I already like him? And then you get angrier, because maybe you are, and you want... He stopped. He wiped at his eyes. I'm not lying. My brother wiped at his eyes.”

ThinkingWantWholeHappensEyeLyingWonderFiguresBrotherAngryMy BrotherHis Eyes
Author:Gary D. Schmidt
Create image

“I think something must happen to you when you get into eight grade. Like the Doug Swieteck's Brother Gene switches on and you become a jerk. Which may have been Hamlet, Prince of Denmark's problem, who, besides having a name that makes him sound like a breakfast special at Sunnyside Morning Restaurant--something between a ham slice and a three-egg omelet--didn't have the smarts to figure out that when someone takes the trouble to come back from beyond the grave to tell you that he's been murdered, it's probably behooveful to pay attention--which is the adjectival form.”

ThinkingMayHas BeensProblemHappensFormThreeNamesSoundPayAttentionMorningTroubleSpecialFiguresBrotherSmartEightGravesPay AttentionRestaurantsGradesEggsBreakfastGenesJerkHamDenmarkOmelets
Author:Gary D. Schmidt
Create image