At the Edge of the Universe

It's impossible to let go of the people we love. Pieces of them remain embedded inside of us like shrapnel. Every breath causes those fragments to burrow through our muscles, nearer to our hearts. And we think the pain will kill us, but it won't. Eventually, scar tissue forms around those twisted splinters like cocoons. They remain part of us, but slowly hurt less.

Don't get so focused on where you're going that you forget the people you're travelling with. There's no point reaching a destination if you arrive alone.

Life's truest horror is a door that slams shut that can never be opened again.

It's like I keep waiting to look in the mirror and recognize the person staring back.

Feelings are intangible,” he said. “You can’t see them, can’t touch them. You can hurt and no one would know. But physical pain is real. You can see blood and broken bones. It’s simple in a way feelings are not, and cutting makes the abstract pain of feelings substantial.

But two people can love each other and still not belong together, even if neither of them wanted to admit it.

I didn’t even need to check my phone to know that the universe had shrunk again, and the stars had vanished. No. They hadn’t vanished. I’d given them away to someone who hadn’t deserved them, and I’d never get them back.

The only thing in life that's forever is death. You can change your mind about everything else.

The funny thing is,' Calvin said, 'I thought I'd been breathing underwater this whole time, but I guess I've been drowning.

You can choose to be happy with what life gives you...or spend your life miserable. I choose happiness. It's really that simple.

A couple of customers interrupted [...] who wanted to know if we had some YA book about ants and aliens I'd never heard of.

Sometimes I feel like I'm floating alone in the ocean. Other times I feel like the ocean's in a paper cup.

Sometimes I wish I'd find a zipper on the back of my head so I could unzip my skin and find the real me underneath.

We've all got secrets, you know? We've all got things about ourselves we hate and these dark places inside of us we're terrified to show people. We live in constant fear that someone is going to discover the rotting corpses we keep buried in those dark places, and that when they do, they'll despise us for them...Being in love with someone is knowing that no matter what you show them, no matter what you've done, they'll never reject you.

Maybe some doors that slam shut behind you and can't ever be opened again aren't the scariest things in the world after all. Maybe some doors are better off closed. That way we can focus on the ones still open in front of us.

You can't shake hands with a clenched first,' Sayegh said.

You believe no one is watching because it helps you sleep at night, but someone is always watching.

Falling is easy. Jumping is hard.

My life would keep going on until the day it didn't, and I could either make the best of it or waste it wishing for what I didn't and might never have.

Only weirdos are happy all the time.

We've all got things about ourselves we hate and these dark places inside of us we're terrified to show people. We live in constant fear that someone is going to discover the rotting corpses we keep buried in those dark places, and that when they do, they'll despise us for them.

But life's not really that easy.” Mrs. Ross laughed. “You're young, white, and male. Life doesn't get any easier.

The bookstore itself was cozy but not crowded, with posters of classic novels framed and hung on the walls. And it was filled with that wonderful book smell that anyone who's ever even been near a book will recognize. It's more than the smell of paper; it's the smell of the high seas and adventure and far off worlds. It's the smell of a billion billion worlds, each a portal to somewhere new.

« You can choose to be happy with what life gives you,” he said, “or spend your life miserable. I choose happiness. It’s really that simple. »

Life is life. It happens, it goes on. Eventually, it ends, but other lives continue, new ones begin. That's just the way of it. My life would keep going on until the day it didn't, and I could either make the best of it or waste it wishing for what I didn't and might never have.

I think people who believe high school was the greatest only remember their triumphs. [...] The real world is a disappointment to them because their past burned so brightly.

Anyone who says time travel is impossible has never had to relive the memories of past traumas or mistakes.

There's no point reaching a destination if you arrive alone.