Quotes from Lola and the Boy Next Door

Stephanie Perkins ·  384 pages

Rating: (130.3K votes)


“I know you aren't perfect. But it's a person's imperfections that make them perfect for someone else.”
― Stephanie Perkins, quote from Lola and the Boy Next Door


“Once upon a time, there was a girl who talked to the moon. And she was mysterious and she was perfect, in that way that girls who talk to moons are. In the house next door, there lived a boy. And the boy watched the girl grow more and more perfect, more and more beautiful with each passing year. He watched her watch the moon. And he began to wonder if the moon would help him unravel the mystery of the beautiful girl. So the boy looked into the sky. But he couldn't concentrate on the moon. He was too distracted by the stars. And it didn't matter how many songs or poems had already been written about them, because whenever he thought about the girl, the stars shone brighter. As if she were the one keeping them illuminated.

One day, the boy had to move away. He couldn't bring the girl with him, so he brought the stars. When he'd look out his window at night, he would start with one. One star. And the boy would make a wish on it, and the wish would be her name.

At the sound of her name, a second star would appear. And then he'd wish her name again, and the stars would double into four. And four became eight, and eight became sixteen, and so on, in the greatest mathematical equation the universe had ever seen. And by the time an hour had passed, the sky would be filled with so many stars that it would wake the neighbors. People wondered who'd turned on the floodlights.

The boy did. By thinking about the girl.”
― Stephanie Perkins, quote from Lola and the Boy Next Door


“Just because something isn't practical doesn't mean it's not worth creating. Sometimes beauty and real-life magic are enough.”
― Stephanie Perkins, quote from Lola and the Boy Next Door


“So do you believe in second chances?" I bite my lip.
"Second, third, fourth. Whatever it takes. However long it takes. If the person is right," he adds.
"If the person is... Lola?"
This time, he holds my gaze. "Only if the other person is Cricket.”
― Stephanie Perkins, quote from Lola and the Boy Next Door


“Perfect is overrated. Perfect is boring."
I smile. "You don't think I'm perfect?"
"No. You're delightfully screwy, and I wouldn't have you any other way.”
― Stephanie Perkins, quote from Lola and the Boy Next Door



“Because that’s the thing about depression. When I feel it deeply, I don’t want to let it go. It becomes a comfort. I want to cloak myself under its heavy weight and breathe it into my lungs. I want to nurture it, grow it, cultivate it. It’s mine. I want to check out with it, drift asleep wrapped in its arms and not wake up for a long, long time.”
― Stephanie Perkins, quote from Lola and the Boy Next Door


“And if I'm the stars, Cricket Bell is entire galaxies.”
― Stephanie Perkins, quote from Lola and the Boy Next Door


“There are some people in life that you can't get over.”
― Stephanie Perkins, quote from Lola and the Boy Next Door


“Sometimes a mistake isn't a what. It's a who.”
― Stephanie Perkins, quote from Lola and the Boy Next Door


“I don't believe in fashion. I believe in costume. Life is too short to be same person every day.”
― Stephanie Perkins, quote from Lola and the Boy Next Door



“People should say what they mean and not make other people stumble around.”
― Stephanie Perkins, quote from Lola and the Boy Next Door


“It's easy to talk about things we hate, but sometimes it's hard to explain exactly why we like something.”
― Stephanie Perkins, quote from Lola and the Boy Next Door


“Everyone makes mistakes. The important thing is to not make the same mistake twice.”
― Stephanie Perkins, quote from Lola and the Boy Next Door


“Anna prods St. Clair's shoulder. "Come on. Weren't you gonna show me that thing?"
"What thing?"
She stares at him. He stares back. She cocks her head toward Cricket and me.
"Ah, yes." St. Clair stands. "That thing."
They rush out. The door shuts, and St. Clair shouts, "Lola, Cricket wants to show you his thing, too-oo!”
― Stephanie Perkins, quote from Lola and the Boy Next Door


“Life isn’t about what you get, it’s about what you DO with what you get.”
― Stephanie Perkins, quote from Lola and the Boy Next Door



“And I hold my head high toward my big entrance, hand in hand with the boy who gave me the moon and the stars.”
― Stephanie Perkins, quote from Lola and the Boy Next Door


“What just happened?"
"Your father invited the former love of your life in for pie."
"Yeah, that's what I thought.”
― Stephanie Perkins, quote from Lola and the Boy Next Door


“I draw him closer by his tie and whisper into his ear, "Cricket Bell, I have been in love with you for my entire life.”
― Stephanie Perkins, quote from Lola and the Boy Next Door


“There's something about blue eyes.

The kind of blue that startles you every time they're lifted in your direction. The kind of blue that makes you ache for them to look at you again. Not the blue green or blue gray, the blue that's just blue.

Cricket has those eyes.”
― Stephanie Perkins, quote from Lola and the Boy Next Door


“Remember that day I made you the elevator?” he suddenly asks.

I give him a faint smile. “How could I forget?”

“That was the day I had my first kiss.”

My smile fades.

“I’m better now,” He sets the apple beside me. “At kissing, just so you know.”
― Stephanie Perkins, quote from Lola and the Boy Next Door



“Being with Anna is easy. She's the one."
The one. It stops my heart. I thought Max was the one, but... there's that other one.
The first one.
"Do you believe in that?" I ask quietly. "In one person for everyone?"
Something changes in St Clair's eyes. Maybe sadness. "I can't speak for anyone but myself," he says. "But, for me, yes. I have to be with Anna. But this is something you have to figure out on your own. I can't answer that for you, no one can."
"Oh."
"Lola." He rolls his chair over to my side. "I know things are shite right now. And in the name of friendship and full disclosure, I went through something similar last year. When I met Anna, I was with someone else. And it took a long time before I found the courage to do the hard thing. But you have to do the hard thing."
I swallow. "And what's the hard thing?"
"You have to be honest with yourself.”
― Stephanie Perkins, quote from Lola and the Boy Next Door


“If I weren't standing next to your boyfriend, I'd be tempted to ask you out myself."
She blushes, and St. Clair bounds inside the box office and wrestles her into a hug. "Miiiiiiiiine!" he says.
"Cut it out." Anna pushes him off, laughing. "You'll get fired. And then I'll have to support your sorry arse for the rest of our lives.”
― Stephanie Perkins, quote from Lola and the Boy Next Door


“Do you know my biggest regret?" She asks. "That you turned into this bright, beautiful, fascinating person... and I can't take credit for any of it.”
― Stephanie Perkins, quote from Lola and the Boy Next Door


“Lola?" Cricket is on his knees at the side of my bed. I feel it. "I'm here," he whispers. "You can talk to me or not talk to me, but I'm here.”
― Stephanie Perkins, quote from Lola and the Boy Next Door


“No more moving. I'm here. I'm wherever you are.”
― Stephanie Perkins, quote from Lola and the Boy Next Door



“What...what about when I'm married?”
“We'll buy a cot. Your husband can sleep on that when he visits.”
― Stephanie Perkins, quote from Lola and the Boy Next Door


“No, I don't love Max anymore. But I don't want to give you this broken, empty me. I want you to have me when I'm full, when I can give something back to you. I don't have much to give right now.”
― Stephanie Perkins, quote from Lola and the Boy Next Door


“I look at you, and I think about you, and ... I don't know. No one has ever confounded me the way you do.”
― Stephanie Perkins, quote from Lola and the Boy Next Door


“What do you say to someone who is not the same and yet completely the same?”
― Stephanie Perkins, quote from Lola and the Boy Next Door


About the author

Stephanie Perkins
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