376 Quotes by André Aciman

No one starts as a self-hater. But rack up all of your mistakes and take a large enough number of wrong turns in life and soon you stop trying to forgive yourself. Everywhere you look you find shame or failure staring back.

(...) Eu queria que ele agisse? Ou eu preferia uma vida de desejo não realizado desde que seguíssemos com esse joguinho de pingue-e-pongue: não saber, saber, não saber, saber? Fique quieto, não diga nada, e se não puder dizer "sim", não diga "não", diga "depois". É por isso que as pessoas dizem "talvez" quando querem dizer "sim", mas esperam que você pense que é "não" quando o que realmente querem dizer é Por favor, pergunte de novo, e depois mais uma vez?

I liked it when our feet were aligned,left with left, and struck the ground at the sametime, leaving footprints on the shore that Iwished to return to and, in secret, place myfoot where his had left its mark.

Let’s go now.” He extended his hand to help me get up. I grabbed it and, turning on my side facing the wall away from him to prevent him from seeing me, I asked, “Must we?” This was the closest I would ever come to saying, Stay. Just stay with me.

We crossed the bridge and didn't even see the water underneath.

You’re so pigheaded, Pa, that you’re convinced you’re the center of the universe and that without your blessing every evening star in heaven would snuff out its light and turn to ash,” she said.

I’m not wise at all. I told you, I know nothing. I know books, and I know how to string words together—it doesn’t mean I know how to speak about the things that matter most to me.

Right now there's sorrow. I don't envy the pain. But I envy you the pain.

We are not written for an instrument alone; I am not, neither are you.