Doing It
Quotes from the Book
You can do anything you want. You don't believe me. You think, she's out of her head. Yeah, I'm out of my head- on being me. What are you on? On being them. You don't even know. I bet you were never given a chance to know. ....Listen. You can be anything you want to be. Be careful. It's a spell. It's magic. Listen to the words.... You are anything...everyone, anyone. ...You listen to them, teachers, parents, politicians. They're always saying, if you steal you're a thief, if you sleep aroung you're a slut, if you take drugs you're a junkie. They want to get inside your head and control you with their fear. ...Don't play their game. Nothing can touch you; you stay beautiful.
130
Sometimes maybe you need an experience. The experience can be a person or it can be a drug. The experience opens a door that was there all the time but you never saw it. Or maybe it blasts you into outer space...All that negative stuff. All the pain...It just floted away from me, I just floated away from it...up and away...
121
Listen. You can be anything you want to be. Be careful. It's a spell. It's magic. Listen to the words. You can be anything, you can do anything, you can be anything, you can do anything. Listen to the magic. You are anything . . . everyone, anyone. Whatever you want. I'm showing you. So long as you stay yourself inside, you can eat dirt and it'll taste good because it's you that's eating it. You can even lick their arses if you have to. You listen to them, teachers, parents, politicians. They're always saying, if you steal you're a thief, if you sleep around you're a slut, if you take drugs you're a junkie. They want to get inside your head and control you with their fear. Maybe you think your mum and dad love you but if you do the wrong things they'll try and turn you into dirt. It's your punishment for being you. Don't play their game. Nothing can touch you; you stay beautiful. I've done everything. All of it. You think it, I've done it. All the things you never dared, all the things you dream about, all the things you were curious about and then forgot because you knew you never would. I did 'em, I did 'em yesterday while you were still in bed, What about you? When's it going to be your turn?
110
I've done everything. All of it. You think it, I've done it. All the things you never dared, all the things you dream about, all the things you were curious about and then forgot because you knew you never would. I did 'em, I did 'em yesterday while you were still in bed. What about you? When's it gonna be your turn?
47
That's her secret, I suppose. Everything that happens to her she's proud of. She makes it special by it happening to her.
29
She wrote, 'Dandelion, I love you.' And I thought that was magic. It's not in you, it's between you. It's bigger and stronger than you are
26
She didn't have to be offered anything; it was already hers. She was more herself than anyone else ever was and as soon as I clapped eyes on her I knew I wanted to be myself just as much as she was herself.
20
The only thing that isn't free is you. You do as you're told. You sit in your seat until they say 'Stand'. You stay put til they say 'Go'. Maybe that's the way you like it. It's easy. It's all there. You don't have to think about. You don't even have to feel it.
18
Anarchy loves theatre. That's the whole point. People forget that. You have to laugh at the devil, not fight him. They'll always have more guns, they'll always have more bombs that go off with a bigger bang. No matter how revolting you become they'll always be willing to be more revolting to you. They've had so much more practice.
17
It wasn't a love story." -Tar's dad It was a love story. Me, Gemma, and junk." -Tar
16
Sometimes when we were hiding behind the breakers with the crowd, he'd hold me so tight, I'd think he's not just holding me, he's holding onto me, like I'm stopping him from falling off. I'd see him looking at me and his eyes were so full of...I dunno. Like he was about to cry. And, it's stupid, I know, but I think maybe he's hurting because he loves me and I don't love him, and this great lump used to come up into my throat and I'd hold him tight and try and squeeze him as tight as I could and try as hard as I could to fall in love with him the way he loved me. And then other times I'd think, it's just the way his face is that makes him look like that.
12
He'd come back, all open and helpless, and I suppose that's what won her around in the end. But it was so sad, because it was being himself that he found so difficult to cope with.
9
And then I noticed the dandelions.
8
The magic girl licked the wet off her arms and looked over to me as if to say, See? You don't have to behave like them, you don't have to behave like anyone.
6
You had the feeling they were nice because they'd decided it was the fashion to be nice.
3
I felt that her tears would trickle out of the telephone and on to my hands.
3
Tar had a reason, plenty of reasons. The latest were painted on his face, too.
2
Ja zrobiłam wszystko. Wszystko. Pomyśl o tym - wszystko. Wszystkie rzeczy, na które byś się nie odważył, wszystkie rzeczy, których byłeś ciekaw, a potem o tym zapomniałeś, bo wiesz, że nigdy byś nie spróbował. Zrobiłam je. Zrobiłam je wczoraj, kiedy ty ciągle tkwiłeś w swoim łóżku.
1
Wtedy trafiasz na policję i do sądu. Jeśli masz pieniądze, ukarzą cię grzywną. Jeśli nie masz pieniędzy, każą ci odpracować pewną liczbę godzin na rzecz gminy. To jest w porządku. Coś takiego nie zdarza się często. Znam ludzi, którzy przez całe lata nie zostali przyłapani, zapewniam cię… Praca dla gminy to może czterdzieści, może sto godzin. A jaką masz alternatywę? Chodzić codziennie do pracy przez resztę życia? Powiedz, jak nazwać taki wyrok?
1
Lepiej jest nie wiedzieć za dużo, przyjacielu. To znaczy, rozsądnie jest wiedzieć tyle, ile się da, ale jeszcze rozsądniej jest utrzymywać innych w niewiedzy co do własnej wiedzy.
1
She has to walk before she can run, let alone fly,' said Vonny.
Watch on YouTube
About Melvin Burgess
More by Melvin Burgess
Doing It
About the book
.
Book details
- First published
- 1996
- Author
- Melvin Burgess
- Genre
- Fiction
- Goodreads rating
- 3.91 (22k ratings)
Keep reading
Until You
Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood
Marked
The Help
The Replacement
Pigeon English
Embrace
Lover Avenged
Not My Problem
Chasing Fire
Simply Irresistible
Breakable
I Was Here
Shadowland
All the Ugly and Wonderful Things
Lead
Song of Solomon
Dirty
Attraction
The Nature of Jade
No One Belongs Here More Than You
When You Reach Me
Immortal Beloved
Faking It
Unholy Magic
Half-Blood
Beloved
Independence
The Madness Underneath
Sweet Evil
Mr. Fox
Jazz
Getting the Girl
Going Too Far
The Color Master: Stories
Iced
Pushing the Limits
Stray
The Name of the Star
Corrupt
Drown
The Witching Hour
Ballad: A Gathering of Faerie
You Against Me
Vision in White
Rock Me
Veronica
Sea Swept
My Booky Wook
Natural Born Charmer
On Beauty
Beautiful Creatures
Entice
Honey
The Fiery Heart
Burned
Good in Bed
She's Come Undone
Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception

