110+ Stephen Chbosky Quotes (Heartfelt, Emotional And Quirky)

Stephen Chbosky is an American novelist, screenwriter, and film director. He is best known for writing the coming-of-age novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower, which was later adapted into a feature film. Chbosky also wrote and directed the film adaptation of his novel, as well as the 2017 film Wonder.

Top 10 Stephen Chbosky Quotes

1. We accept the love we think we deserve.
2. Downtown. Lights on buildings and everything that makes you wonder. And in that moment, I swear we were infinite.
3. She wasn't bitter. She was sad, though. But it was a hopeful kind of sad. The kind of sad that just takes time.
4. So, this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I'm still trying to figure out how that could be.
5. There's nothing like deep breaths after laughing that hard. Nothing in the world like a sore stomach for the right reasons.
6. Old pictures look very rugged and young, and the people in the photographs always seem a lot happier than you are.
7. Things change. And friends leave. Life doesn't stop for anybody.
8. I really think that everyone should have watercolors, magnetic poetry, and a harmonica.
9. Maybe these are my glory days, and I'm not ever realizing it because they involve a ball.
10. And in that moment, I swear we were infinite.

Stephen Chbosky Short Quotes

• I would die for you. But I won't live for you.
• It's strange because sometimes, I read a book, and I think I am the people in the book.
• This moment will just be another story someday.
• It was the kind of kiss that made me know that I was never so happy in my whole life.
• As much as I feel sad, I think that not knowing is what really bothers me.
• I want to make sure that the first person you kiss loves you, okay?
• Something really is wrong with me. And I don't know what it is.
• If you care about somebody, you should want them to be happy. Even if you wind up being left out.
• Sometimes people use thought to not participate in life.
• So, I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we'll never know most of them.

Stephen Chbosky Famous Quotes And Sayings

So, I guess we are who we are for alot of reasons. And maybe we'll never know most of them. But even if we don't have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them. — Stephen Chbosky

please believe that things are good with me, and even when they're not, they will be soon enough. And i will always believe the same about you. — Stephen Chbosky

And I guess I realized at that moment that I really did love her. Because there was nothing to gain, and that didn't matter. — Stephen Chbosky

I just want you to know that you’re very special… and the only reason I’m telling you is that I don’t know if anyone else ever has. — Stephen Chbosky

It's just that I don't want to be somebody's crush. If somebody likes me, I want them to like the real me, not what they think I am. And I don't want them to carry it around inside. I want them to show me, so I can feel it too. — Stephen Chbosky

It's strange to describe reading a book as a really great experience, but that's kind of how it felt. — Stephen Chbosky

And all the books you've read have been read by other people. And all the songs you've loved have been heard by other people. And that girl that's pretty to you is pretty to other people. and that if you looked at these facts when you were happy, you would feel great because you are describing 'unity. — Stephen Chbosky

I think that if I ever have kids, and they are upset, I won't tell them that people are starving in China or anything like that because it wouldn't change the fact that they were upset. And even if somebody else has it much worse, that doesn't really change the fact that you have what you have. — Stephen Chbosky

I am very interested and fascinated how everyone loves each other, but no one really likes each other. — Stephen Chbosky

It's great that you can listen and be a shoulder to someone, but what about when someone doesn't need a shoulder? What if they need the arms or something like that? You can't just sit there and put everybody's lives ahead of yours and think that counts as love. You just can't. You have to do things. — Stephen Chbosky

And even if somebody else has it much worse, that doesn't really change the fact that you have what you have. Good and bad. — Stephen Chbosky

You can't just sit there and put everyone's lives ahead of yours and think that counts as love. You just can't. You have to do things. — Stephen Chbosky

Not everyone has a sob story, Charlie, and even if they do, it's no excuse. — Stephen Chbosky

I’m so sorry that I wasted your time because you really do mean a lot to me and I hope you have a very nice life because I really think you deserve it. I really do. I hope you do, too. Okay, then. Goodbye. — Stephen Chbosky

Why do I and everyone I love pick people who treat us like we're nothing"; - "We accept the love we think we deserve. — Stephen Chbosky

He's a wallflower." And Bob nodded his head. And the whole room nodded their head. And i started to feel nervous in the Bob way, but Patrick didn't let me get too nervous. He sat down next to me. "You see things. You keep quiet about them. And you understand. — Stephen Chbosky

He's a wallflower. You see things. You keep quiet about them. And you understand. — Stephen Chbosky

Banning books gives us silence when we need speech. It closes our ears when we need to listen. It makes us blind when we need sight. — Stephen Chbosky

I can see it. This one moment when you know you’re not a sad story. You’re alive. And you stand up and see the lights and the buildings and everything that makes you wonder. And you’re listening to that song in that drive with the people you love most in this world. And in this moment I swear… we are infinite. — Stephen Chbosky

I don’t know if you’ve ever felt like that. That you wanted to sleep for a thousand years. Or just not exist. Or just not be aware that you do exist. Or something like that. I think wanting that is very morbid, but I want it when I get like this. That’s why I’m trying not to think. I just want it all to stop spinning. — Stephen Chbosky

It’s like when you’re excited about a girl and you see a couple holding hands, and you feel so happy for them. And other times you see the same couple, and they make you so mad. And all you want is to feel happy for them because you know that if you do, then it means you’re happy, too. — Stephen Chbosky

I think the idea is that every person has to live for his or her own life and then make the choice to share it with other people. Maybe that is what makes people "participate. — Stephen Chbosky

To tell you the truth I love Sam. It's not a movie kind of love either. I just look at her sometimes and I think she is the prettiest and nicest person in the whole world. — Stephen Chbosky

I don't know if you've ever felt like that. That you wanted to sleep for thousands of years. Or just not exist. — Stephen Chbosky

We didn't talk about anything heavy or light. We were just there together. And that was enough — Stephen Chbosky

And I wonder if anyone is really happy. I hope they are. I really hope they are. — Stephen Chbosky

I am writing to you because she said you listen and understand and didn't try to sleep with that person at that party even though you could have. — Stephen Chbosky

They just knew. And I think that's all you can ever ask from a friend. — Stephen Chbosky

Everyone is special in their own way. — Stephen Chbosky

What about when someone doesn't need a shoulder? What if they need the arms? — Stephen Chbosky

Maybe it's good to put things in perspective, but sometimes, I think that the only perspective is to really be there. — Stephen Chbosky

Even if we don't have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. — Stephen Chbosky

I wanted to laugh. Or maybe get mad. Or maybe shrug at how strange everyone was, especially me. — Stephen Chbosky

Maybe it’s sad that these are now memories. And maybe it’s not sad. — Stephen Chbosky

I just need to know that someone out there listens and understands and doesn't try to sleep with someone even if they could have. I need to know these people exist. — Stephen Chbosky

More like the movie where the guy meets a smart girl who wears a lot of sweaters and drinks cocoa. They talk about books and issues and kiss in the rain. — Stephen Chbosky

Welcome to the island of misfit toys. — Stephen Chbosky

And things were back to normal except we were just friends. — Stephen Chbosky

I'm going to be who I really am. I'm going to figure out what this is. — Stephen Chbosky

Maybe he didn’t really encourage me to do things, but he didn’t prevent me from doing them either. But after a while, I didn’t do things because I didn’t want him to think different about me. But the thing is, I wasn’t being honest. So, why would I care whether or not he loved me when he didn’t really even know me? — Stephen Chbosky

It’s much easier not to know things sometimes. — Stephen Chbosky

And we could all sit around and wonder and feel bad about each other and blame a lot of people for what they did or didn’t do or what they didn’t know. I don’t know. I guess there would always be someone to blame. — Stephen Chbosky

You know . . . a lot of kids at school hate their parents. Some of them got hit. And some of them got caught in the middle of wrong lives. Some of them were trophies for their parents to show the neighbors like ribbons or gold stars. And some of them just wanted to drink in peace. — Stephen Chbosky

I just think it's bad when a boy looks at a girl and thinks that the way he sees her is better than she actually is. And I think it's bad when the most honest way a boy can look at a girl is through a camera. — Stephen Chbosky

Standing on the fringes of life... offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor. — Stephen Chbosky

So I started shoveling Bob's driveway, which is a strange thing to do at a New Years Eve Party — Stephen Chbosky

Do you know what 'masturbation' is? I think you probably do because you are older than me. But just in case, I will tell you. Masturbation is when you rub your genitals until you have an orgasm. Wow! — Stephen Chbosky

I have decided that maybe I want to write when I grow up. I just don't know what I would write. — Stephen Chbosky

Try to be a filter, not a sponge. — Stephen Chbosky

Do you think if people knew how crazy you really were, no one would ever talk to you? — Stephen Chbosky

If you are in a movie theater, you can look two people down and they are laughing while you are laughing or you can look three people down and they love that song that you love. It is living proof that you are not alone. — Stephen Chbosky

If the advice is simply to respect yourself and follow the path that you want to follow, that would be the best advice I could ever pass on. — Stephen Chbosky

You ever think Charlie, that our group is the same as any other group like a football team? And the only real difference between us is what we wear and why we wear it? — Stephen Chbosky

It's like looking at all the students and wondering who's had their heart broken that day, and how they are able to cope with having three quizzes and a book report on top of that. — Stephen Chbosky

The inside jokes weren't jokes anymore. they had become stories — Stephen Chbosky

I feel like a big faker because I've been putting my life back together, and nobody knows. — Stephen Chbosky

So what's the point of using words nobody else knows or can say comfortably? I just don't understand that. — Stephen Chbosky

Girls like guys to be a challenge. It gives them some mold to fit in how they act. Like a mom. What would a mom do if she couldn't fuss over you and make you clean your room? And what would you do without her fussing and making you do it? Everyone needs a mom. And a mom knowns this. And it gives her a sense of purpose. You get it? — Stephen Chbosky

we are all supposed to think of reasons to live. — Stephen Chbosky

It's okay to feel things. And be who you are about them. — Stephen Chbosky

When you think back to your first kiss, your hair is perfect and she was wearing a cool outfit. We remember it with restraint and we remember it with style. We remember it as idealistically as you can think. — Stephen Chbosky

I think it was the first time in my life I ever felt like I looked “good”. Do you know what I mean? That nice feeling when you look in the mirror, and your hair’s right for the first time in your life? I don’t think we should base so much on weight, muscles, and a good hair day, but when it happens, it’s nice. It really is. — Stephen Chbosky

And I thought that all those little kids are going to grow up someday. And all of those little kids are going to do the things that we do. And they will all kiss someone someday. But for now, sledding is enough. I think it would be great if sledding were always enough, but it isn't. — Stephen Chbosky

Sam dropped me off. When she was too far away to see me, I started to cry again. Because she was my friend again. And that was enough for me. — Stephen Chbosky

I've never understood the need people have to dictate morality to other people. I really don't know what it is. I don't know if it's fear or the belief that they know the only right way. Or maybe they see a lot of social ills and social decline, and they really think they have the elixir for it. — Stephen Chbosky

I just hope I remember to tell my kids that they are as happy as I look in my old photographs. And I hope that they believe me. — Stephen Chbosky

But right now I’m here with you. And I want to know where you are, what you need, and what you want to do. — Stephen Chbosky

deep down...she's a good woman...you should be proud of her." When I told my mom about this, she just looked very sad because he could never say those things to her. Not ever. Not even when he walked her down the aisle. — Stephen Chbosky

I wasn't raised very religiously because my parents went to Catholic school, but I do believe in God very much. I just never gave God a name, if you know what I mean. I hope I haven't let Him down regardless. — Stephen Chbosky

I'm only being cute here. I don't really mean it. I just wanted to make you smile. — Stephen Chbosky

Do you enjoy holidays with your family? I don't mean your mom and dad family, but your uncle and aunt and cousin family? Personally, I do. There are several reasons for this. First, I am very interested and fascinated by how everyone loves each other, but no one really likes each other. Second, the fights are always the same. — Stephen Chbosky

And even if she says no, and really means yes, then quite frankly she's playing games and isn't worth the price of dinner. — Stephen Chbosky

I guess I'm pretty emotional. — Stephen Chbosky

It’s much easier not to know things sometimes. And to have french fries with your mom be enough. — Stephen Chbosky

there is this one photograph... that is just beautiful. it would be impossible to describe how beautiful it is, but i’ll try. if you listen to the song “asleep,” and you think about those pretty weather days that make you remember things, and you think about the prettiest eyes you’ve known, and you cry and the person holds you back, then i think you will see the photograph. — Stephen Chbosky

I really do love my sister. Especially when she's nice. — Stephen Chbosky

I'm not saying she was lying to me, but she just acted so different before I got to know her, and if she really isn't like what she was at the beginning, I wish she could have just said so. — Stephen Chbosky

But in that moment when my brother took the field, all that washed away, and everyone was proud... I looked up at my dad, and he was smiling. I looked at my mom, and she was smiling even though she was nervous about my brother getting hurt, which was strange because it was a VCR tape of an old game, and she knew he didn't get hurt. — Stephen Chbosky

I just listened to the music, and breathed in the day, and remembered things. Things like walking around the neighborhood and looking at the houses and the lawns and the colorful trees and having that be enough. — Stephen Chbosky

I remembered this one time that I never told anybody about. The time we were walking. Just the three of us. I was in the middle. I don't remember where we were walking to or where we were walking from. I just remember the season. I just remember walking between them and feeling for the first time that I belonged somewhere — Stephen Chbosky

I don't know the significance of this, but I find it very interesting. — Stephen Chbosky

people who try to control situations all the time are afraid that if they don't, nothing will work out the way they want. — Stephen Chbosky

Writing screenplays is incredibly hard. I can't call it joy. Writing Novels? Joy. Directing? Joy. Writing Screenplays? That's where you pay all your dues. — Stephen Chbosky

When you publish a book, you do so in part to end the silence. All censorship is silence. I would never, as an author, feel right requiring a young person whose family would object to the book to read it. Just as I would never force that person to read it, I would ask those folks to not force others not to read it. To me, that is just good manners. — Stephen Chbosky

I would give someone a record so they could love the record, not so they would always know that I gave it to them. — Stephen Chbosky

I'm just thinking too fast-- much too fast. — Stephen Chbosky

It's just hard to see a friend hurt this much. Especially when you can't do anything except 'be there.' I just want to make him stop hurting, but I can't. So I just follow him around whenever he wants to show me his world. — Stephen Chbosky

The movie itself was very interesting, but I didn't think it was very good because I didn't really feel different when it was over. — Stephen Chbosky

The fact that one of these ladies was my mom made me particularly sad because my mom is beautiful. And she’s always on a diet. Sometimes, my dad calls her beautiful, but she cannot hear him. — Stephen Chbosky

And later that night to be with my family at dinnertime and have things just be like they always were. That was the amazing part. Things just keep going. We didn't talk about anything heavy or light. We were just there together. And that was enough. — Stephen Chbosky

Life Lessons by Stephen Chbosky

1. Stephen Chbosky's work emphasizes the importance of being true to yourself and embracing your own unique identity.
2. He also encourages readers to be open to new experiences and to take risks in order to grow and learn.
3. Finally, Chbosky's work demonstrates the power of meaningful relationships and how they can help us to become our best selves.