But that was the problem with having the answers. It was only after you gave them that you realized they sometimes weren't what people wanted to hear.

— Sarah Dessen

But wasn't that always the way. It's never something huge that changes everything, but instead the tiniest of details, irrevocably tweaking the balance of the universe while you're busy focusing on the big picture.

— Sarah Dessen

But what he didn't understand was that this dreamland was preferable, walking through this life half-sleeping, everything at arm's length or farther away. I understood those mermaids. I didn't care if they sang to me. All I wanted was to block out all the human voices as they called me name again and again, pulling me upward into light, to drown.

— Sarah Dessen

But you don’t have to give everyone the benefit of the doubt.”“You don’t have to assume the worst about everyone, either. The world isn’t always out to get you.

— Sarah Dessen

Despite my dad's assurances I was strangely nervous my stomach tight ever since we'd hung up. Maybe Deb had picked up on this, and it was why she'd pretty much talked nonstop since I'd approached her and asked for a ride. I'd barely had time to explain the situation before she had launched into a dozen stories to illustrate the point that Things Happened But People Were Okay in the End.

— Sarah Dessen

Don't be a fool. Don't give up something important to hold onto someone who can't even say they love you.

— Sarah Dessen

Don't think or judge, just listen.

— Sarah Dessen

Earlier in the summer, I'd found the syllabi to a couple of the courses I was taking at Defies in the fall, and I'd hunted down a few of the texts at the U bookstore, figuring it couldn't hurt to acquaint myself with the material.

— Sarah Dessen

... Everything he feels, he feels strongly. Too strongly, sometimes. I think he freaks people out.

— Sarah Dessen

Everything hurt. I closed my eyes, pressing my cheek to the street, and waited. What for, I didn't know. To be rescued. Or found. But no one came. All I'd ever thought I wanted was to be left alone. Until I was.

— Sarah Dessen