Matthew Quick Quotes

You're different. And I'm different too. Different is good. But different is hard. Believe me, I know.

The problem with the stigma around mental health is really about the stories that we tell ourselves as a society. What is normal? That's just a story that we tell ourselves.

Tiffany and I are great friends, and I appreciate all that she is doing for me now. But she is not you. I still love you, Nikki. And you can’t control or alter true love.

The world will break your heart ten ways to Sunday, that’s guaranteed.

And I can’t begin to explain that- or the craziness inside myself and everybdy else,but guess what? Sunday is my fav day again

She looks sad. She looks angry. She looks different from everyone else I know—she cannot put on that happy face others wear when they know they are being watched. She doesn’t put on a face for me, which makes me trust her somehow.

I opened up to you and you judge me

...but Cliff keeps pushing for the truth like therapists do, because they all have some sort of psychic ability that allows them to see through your lies, and therefore they know you will eventually tire of the talking game and will offer up the truth.

Fly! There's a lot of sky out there for brave birds.

I feel like I’m broken—like I don’t fit together anymore.

Like there’s no more room for me in the world or something. Like I’ve overstayed my welcome here on Earth, and everyone’s trying to give me hints about that constantly. Like I should just check out.

I’m a screwed-up person who no longer knows how to communicate with the people I love. But I meant everything I told you in my letter. If I were your Nikki, I would have come back to you on Christmas Day, but I’m not Nikki. I know. And I’m sorry.

There will always be a part of me that is dirty and sloppy, but I like that, just like all the other parts of myself.

You want to be a good person, don't you, Pat?' I nod.

I cry. I do want to be a good person, I really do. 'I'm going to up your meds,' Dr. Patel tells me. 'You might feel a little sluggish, but it should help to curb your violent outbursts. You need to know it's your actions that will make you a good person, not desire.

When she needed help most, she was abandoned--and only when she offered help to others was she beloved.

most people lose the ability to see silver linings or even though they are always there above us.

I can always look up at the cosmos and marvel, no matter what happens.

And when I look up at it, I feel as though my problems are small. I don't know why, but it always makes me feel better.

People should be nice to you, Leonard. You're a human being. You should expect people to be nice.

Did you ever think about all of the nights you lived through and can't remember The ones that were so mundane your brain just didn't bother to record them. Hundreds, maybe thousands of nights come and go without being preserved by our memory. Does that ever freak you out? Like maybe your mind recorded all of the wrong nights?

Soon I am seeing the blue-and-yellow flags that line the campus streets, and it makes me feel happy and sad at the same time to be back at La Salle--almost like looking at old pictures of people who have either died or with whom you have lost contact.

I...have a woman in my arms who has suffered greatly and desperately needs to believe once again that she is beautiful.

Looking into another person's eyes for an extended period of time proved to be a powerful thing. And if you don't believe me, try it yourself.

I want to believe that happiness might at least be possible later on in life for people prone to sadness.

Miracles happen on Christmas, Pat. Everybody knows that.

I am so happy. I am so impossibly happy.

Do you like foreign films?” “With subtitles?” “Yes.” “I hate those types of films.” “Me too,” Cliff says. “Mostly because - “ “No happy endings.

So I’m thinking this is the part of my movie where things appear as if nothing is going to work out. I have to remind myself that all movie characters go through this sort of dark period before they find their happy ending.

Not letting the world destroy you. That’s a daily battle.

I believe in happy endings," I tell him, "And it feels like this movie has gone on for the right amount of time.

You need to make time for family no matter what happens in your life.

That's basically the mantra of Herr Silverman's teaching - think for yourself and do what's right for you, but let others do the same.

I think it's strange to live in a house with someone you cannot talk to-especially when that someone is your father-and the thought makes me a little sad.

Someday an opportunity will come. Think about Harry Potter. His life is terrible, but then a letter arrives, he gets on a train, and everything is different for him afterward. Better. Magical." "That's just a story." "So are we- we're stories too.

Haven't you ever noticed that life is like a series of movies?

What is reality if it isn't how we feel about things?

Maybe my movie isn't over, I say, because sometimes moviemakers trick the audience with a false bad ending, and just when you think the movie is going to end badly, something dramatic happens, which leads to the happy ending. This seems like a good spot for something dramatic to happen, especially since it's my birthday.

I can be a very valuable friend to you, but you do not want me as an enemy.

I am practicing being kind over being right.

You better watch out, or you're going to be defeated by pessimism!

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.

...I am now watching the movie of my life as I live it.

Air goes in and out of my nose, throat, lungs, blood, heart brain - and so I am

You can lose yourself in repetition—quiet your thoughts; I learned the value of this at a very young age.

Life is not a PG feel-good movie. Real life often ends badly. Literature tries to document this reality, while showing us it is still possible for us to endure nobly.

Although once when we were talking after class, Herr Silverman told me that when someone rises up and holds himself to a higher standard, even when doing so benefits others, average people resent it, mostly because they're not strong enough to do the same.

I don't want to stay in the bad place, where no one believes in silver linings or love or happy endings.

Life is not a PG feel-good movie. Real life often ends badly.

Also, I sort of let my appearance go, to the point where I was maybe ten to seventy pounds overweight.

I will not be quoting Hemingway anytime soon, nor will I ever read another one of his books. And if he were still alive, I would write him a letter right now and threaten to strangle him dead with my bare hands just for being so glum. No wonder he put a gun to his head, like it says in the introductory essay.

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

People can be cruel,' he says with a sympathetic look that makes me trust him even more. And right then I realize that he is not writing down all my words in a file, which I really appreciate, let me tell you.