“We’re all taught from a young age that there are only two choices: pink or blue, Bratz or Power Rangers, cheerleading or football. We see gender in two dimensions because that’s what society has taught us from birth. But, are you ready for a shocking revelation?
SOCIETY NEEDS TO CHANGE.”
― Jeff Garvin, quote from Symptoms of Being Human
“The world isn't binary. Everything isn't black or white, yes or no. Sometimes it's not a switch, it's a dial. And it's not even a dial you can get your hands on; it turns without your permission or approval" -Riley”
― Jeff Garvin, quote from Symptoms of Being Human
“I can't blame you for trying to categorize me. It's a human instinct. It's why scientists are, to this day, completely flabbergasted by the duck-billed platypus: it's furry like a mammal, but lays eggs like a bird. It defies conventional classification.
I AM THE PLATYPUS (Coo coo ka-choo)”
― Jeff Garvin, quote from Symptoms of Being Human
“My mom says crying is just your body expelling all the bad stuff. Like a sneeze. Like your soul sneezing.”
― Jeff Garvin, quote from Symptoms of Being Human
“As for wondering if it's okay to be who you are--that's not a symptom of mental illness. That's a symptom of being a person.”
― Jeff Garvin, quote from Symptoms of Being Human
“People do judge books by their covers; it’s human nature. They react to the way you look before they hear a single word that comes out of your mouth.”
― Jeff Garvin, quote from Symptoms of Being Human
“But the truth is, feelings don't change anything. To change something, you have to say things out loud. Do things. Take chances. Take a stand" -Riley”
― Jeff Garvin, quote from Symptoms of Being Human
“That's my problem, actually. I don't talk to anybody about what's going on in my head, because I'm afraid they might not be able to take it.”
― Jeff Garvin, quote from Symptoms of Being Human
“At some point during my research, I came across the term "gender fluid." Reading those words was a revelation. It was like someone tore a layer of gauze off the mirror, and I could see myself clearly for the first time. There was a name for what I was. It was a thing. Gender fluid.
Sitting there in front of my computer--like I am right now--I knew I would never be the same. I could never go back to seeing it the old way; I could never go back to not knowing what I was.
But did that glorious moment of revelation really change anything? I don't know. Sometimes, I don't think so. I may have a name for what I am now--but I'm just as confused and out of place as I was before. And if today is any indication, I'm still playing out that scene in the toy store--trying to pick the thing that will cause the least amount of drama. And not having much success.”
― Jeff Garvin, quote from Symptoms of Being Human
“So, first, I want you to know that everybody experiences some level of anxiety. It's a normal human response to stress. It's like your body's smoke alarm. If there's a fire, you want to know so you can put it out or call 9-1-1, right?”
I shrug. “I guess. But it feels like my alarm is going off all the time.”
Doctor Ann nods. “Some people's systems are more sensitive than others'. For you, maybe all it takes is burning a piece of toast, and your alarm thinks the house is on fire.”
― Jeff Garvin, quote from Symptoms of Being Human
“I think you assume everyone is going to be your enemy. And by doing that, you sort of make it come true.”
― Jeff Garvin, quote from Symptoms of Being Human
“What, no Star Wars?"
Solo sighs. "I wanted to bring the original, unaltered Episode IV, in which my namesake shoots first, as our Lord and savior intended."
"Why didn't you?"
"I only have it on VHS, and my dad's old VHS player broke halfway through the summer.”
― Jeff Garvin, quote from Symptoms of Being Human
“You always say the best leaders figure out how to turn a bad situation to their advantage. When life gives you gators, make Gatorade”
― Jeff Garvin, quote from Symptoms of Being Human
“Remembering that moment stirs something inside -- anger, at first, and then a deep, hollow sadness that ripples through me in its own spiderweb pattern.”
― Jeff Garvin, quote from Symptoms of Being Human
“You think I didn't choose these clothes and this haircut specifically to avoid being stuffed into one pigeonhole or another? I'm gender fluid. Not stupid”
― Jeff Garvin, quote from Symptoms of Being Human
“That’s none of your business,” I say. “And, while I’m flattered by your interest, you’re really not my type.” The”
― Jeff Garvin, quote from Symptoms of Being Human
“I may not be "blending in"- but if I'm standing out, at least I feel like I've found a place to stand.”
― Jeff Garvin, quote from Symptoms of Being Human
“The first thing you're going to want to know about me is: Am I a boy, or am I a girl?”
― Jeff Garvin, quote from Symptoms of Being Human
“Things making you cry for no reason. There's nothing wrong with it. My mom says crying is just your body expelling all the bad stuff. Like a sneeze. Like your soul sneezing.”
― Jeff Garvin, quote from Symptoms of Being Human
“Look. I don't expect you to spill your guts to me. Your business is your business. Dress how you want to dress. Let people wonder. Fuck 'em."
I smile.
Solo raised a finger. "But you've got to stop looking for a fight every time someone makes a comment. High school sucks for everyone."
I feel my smile fade, and I sit back in the chair. "It kind of feels like you're defending those guys."
Solo shrugs. "There will always be guys like Jim Vickers. But I'm not going to let them stop me from doing what I want. And neither should you.”
― Jeff Garvin, quote from Symptoms of Being Human
Jeff Garvin
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“The unreal is the illogical. And this age seems to have a capacity for surpassing even the acme of illogicality, of anti-logicality: it is as if the monstrous reality of the war had blotted out the reality of the world. Fantasy has become logical reality, but reality evolves the most a-logical phantasmagoria. An age that is softer and more cowardly than any preceding age suffocates in waves of blood and poison-gas; nations of bank clerks and profiteers hurl themselves upon barbed wire; a well-organized humanitarianism avails to hinder nothing, but calls itself the Red Cross and prepares artificial limbs for the victims; towns starve and coin money out of their own hunger; spectacled school-teachers lead storm-troops; city dwellers live in caves; factory hands and other civilians crawl out on their artificial limbs once more to the making of profits. Amid a blurring of all forms, in a twilight of apathetic uncertainty brooding over a ghostly world, man like a lost child gropes his way by the help of a small frail thread of logic through a dream landscape that he calls reality and that is nothing but a nightmare to him.
The melodramatic revulsion which characterizes this age as insane, the melodramatic enthusiasm which calls it great, are both justified by the swollen incomprehensibility and illogicality of the events that apparently make up its reality. Apparently! For insane or great are terms that can never be applied to an age, but only to an individual destiny. Our individual destinies, however, are as normal as they ever were. Our common destiny is the sum of our single lives, and each of these single lives is developing quite normally, in accordance, as it were, with its private logicality. We feel the totality to be insane, but for each single life we can easily discover logical guiding motives. Are we, then, insane because we have not gone mad?”
― Hermann Broch, quote from The Sleepwalkers
“We may assume it is God we care for, but it may be our own ego we are concerned with. To examine our religious existence is, therefore, a task to be performed constantly.”
― Abraham Joshua Heschel, quote from God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism
“Like the layers of an onion, under the first lie is another, and under that another, and they all make you cry.”
― Derrick Jensen, quote from A Language Older Than Words
“She had his dark hair, his lashes, and from the glimpse he had, she bore his eyes, as well. But the shape of her face, a perfect oval, was her mother’s. She had Anais’s cheeks. Anais’s lovely mouth and proud chin. He kissed her chin, feeling the softest of fluttering against his cheek—baby’s breath. There was nothing sweeter than the feel of an innocent child’s breath against one’s cheek—nothing more wondrous than knowing that the baby was your own flesh and blood.
Mina stretched against him, yawning widely and throwing her arms up wide alongside her head. He laughed through his tears and reached for her little fist and brought it to his mouth, kissing her with such love he thought he would die of it. “You will consume me, little Mina, just as your mother has.”
-Linsay to his infant daughter.”
― Charlotte Featherstone, quote from Addicted
“even as she says it, sees love drain out of his eyes: and somehow, as a stream, which seeks its own level, it flows over into hers, and her fate is sealed. The less he loves, the more she will.”
― Fay Weldon, quote from The Life and Loves of a She Devil
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All Quiet on the Wes...BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.
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