Matthew Quick

...I like the way Chee kept God magical, sorta like Santa Claus when you're a kid. More priests should take this approach, because there is a frickin' reason why Santa Claus is more popular than Jesus nowadays.

... Kenny G is extremely talented and resourceful and a powerful force to be reckoned with ... Mr. G might not seem evil, but I fear him more than any other human being.

A strange, beautiful new world awaits, Leonard.We've found an oasis in their ruins. We really have.You want to see it, so just hold on, okay?

Look, sometimes it__ OK with girls like this, they wanna have fun, and sometimes it__ not because they've got a broken wing and they__e hurt and they__e an easy target. In this case, this particular case, I think that wing is being fixed, my friend, and you gotta make sure that it__ mended and you__e getting in the way of that right now, okay, because she__ sensitive and she__ smart, she__ artistic. This is a great girl, you gotta be respectful to that. Come on, let me walk you to your car, you__e a better guy than this.

You need to know it's your actions that will make you a good person, not desire.

I was right; just as soon as you take the first step toward getting to know someone your own age, everything you thought was magical about that person turns to shit right in front of your face

I found posts about how to slit your wrists the "right way", so you will actually die, and that depressed me, because people actually post stuff like that, and even though I wanted to know the answer, so I could weigh my options, that info maybe shouldn't be on the internet...But really - why do some people post the correct ways to commit suicide on the internet? Do they want weird, sad people like me to go away permanently? Do they think it's a good idea for some people to off themselves? How can you tell when you are one of those people who should slash his wrists the right way with a razor blade? Is there an answer for that too? I Googled but nothing concrete came up. Just ways to complete the mission. Not justification.

I've seen the way you've been looking at me. Don't bullshit me, Pat. I live in the addition around back, which is completely separate from the house, so there's no chance of my parents walking in on us. I hate the fact that you wore a football jersey to dinner, but you can fuck me as long as we turn the lights out first. Okay?

...Daisy doesn't even go to his funeral, Nick and Jordan part ways, and Daisy ends up sticking with racist Tom... you can tell Fitzgerald never took the time to look up at clouds during sunset, because there's no silver lining at the end of that book, let me tell you. I do see why Nikki likes the novel, as it's written so well. But her liking it makes me worry now that Nikki really doesn't believe in silver linings, because she says The Great Gatsby is the greatest novel ever written by an American, and yet it ends so sadly. One thing's for sure, Nikki is going to be very proud of me when I tell her I finally read her favorite book. -Silver Linings Playbook, p. 9

Another thought hits me hard as a lawn dart to the eye: this moment is so terribly unimportant to the rest of the world, yet it means everything to me somehow - and it's enough.So I sign and I sign and I sign.

Of course I began to see Nikki, which was strange because I was staring into Danny's eyes, and Danny is a six-foot-three black man who looks nothing like my ex-wife.

I'm trying to let him know what I'm about to do.I'm hoping he can save me, even though I realize he can't.

Real life often ends badly, like our marriage did, Pat. And literature tries to document this reality, while showing us it is still possible for people to endure nobly.

There's a lot for you to live for. Good things are definitely in your future, Leonard. I'm sure of it. You have no idea how many interesting people you'll meet after high school's over. Your life partner, your best friend, the most wonderful person you'll ever know is sitting in some high school right now waiting to graduate and walk into your life - maybe even feeling all the same things you are, maybe even wondering about you, hoping that you're strong enough to make it to the future where you'll meet.

The whole time I pretend I have mental telepathy. And with my mind only, I__l say _ or think? _ to the target, 'Don__ do it. Don__ go to that job you hate. Do something you love today. Ride a rollercoaster. Swim in the ocean naked. Go to the airport and get on the next flight to anywhere just for the fun of it. Maybe stop a spinning globe with your finger and then plan a trip to that very spot; even if it__ in the middle of the ocean you can go by boat. Eat some type of ethnic food you__e never evenheard of. Stop a stranger and ask her to explain her greatest fears and her secret hopes and aspirations in detail and then tell her you care because she is a human being. Sit down on the sidewalk and make pictures with colorful chalk. Close your eyes and try to see the world with your nose__llow smellsto be your vision. Catch up on your sleep. Call an old friend you haven__ seen in years. Roll up your pant legs and walk into the sea. See a foreign film. Feed squirrels. Do anything! Something! Because you start a revolution one decision at a time, with each breath you take. Just don__ go back to thatmiserable place you go every day. Show me it__ possible to be an adult and also be happy. Please. This is a free country. You don__ have to keep doing this if you don__ want to. You can do anything you want. Be anyone you want. That__ what they tell us at school, but if you keep getting on that train and going to the place you hate I__ going to start thinking the people at school are liars like the Nazis who told the Jews they were just being relocated to work factories. Don__ do that to us. Tell us the truth. If adulthood is working some death-camp job you hate for the rest of your life, divorcing your secretly criminal husband, being disappointed in your son, being stressed and miserable, and dating a poser and pretending he__ a hero when he__ really a lousy person and anyone can tell that just by shaking his slimy hand _ if it doesn__ get any better, I need to know right now. Just tell me. Spare me from some awful fucking fate. Please.

So the key is doing something that sets you apart forever in the minds of regular people.Something that matters.

you don__ put demands on people and you never say anything negative--ever. So many people suck the life out of everyone they__e around, but you don__ do that. You give people strength just by being you.

Let me tell ya. You gotta pay attention to signs. When life reaches out with a moment like this it's a sin if you don't reach back... I'm telling you.