184 Quotes by Wendelin Van Draanen

"One's character is set at an early age, son. The choices you make now will affect you for the rest of your life." He was quiet for a minute then dropped the curtain and said, "I hate to see you swim out so far you can't swim back."

"What he did to my heart was sheer, inexplicable, magic."

"...Next time you're faced with a choice, do the right thing. It hurts everyone less in the long run."

"You can't dwell on what might have been...and it's not fair to condemn him for something he hasn't done."

"Sometimes a little discomfort in the beginning can save a whole lot of pain down the road."

"All of a sudden I didn't fit in anywhere. Not at school, not at home...and every time I turned around, another person I'd known forever felt like a stranger to me. Even I felt like a stranger to me."

"Sometimes I get so caught up in my own problems that I forget how amazing the world is."

"A painting is more than the sum of its parts,' he would tell me, and then go on to explain how the cow by itself is just a cow, and the meadow by itself is just grass and flowers, and the sun peeking through the trees is just a beam of light, but put them all together and you've got magic."

"That's the funny thing about running. The deceptive thing about it. It may seem mindless, but its really mental. If the minds strong, the body acts weak, even if its not."

"It’s amazing how two thin pieces of clothing can hold such deep memories. Laughter, pain, victory, defeat, friendship, fatigue, elation… they’re all there, but only to the person who’s worn the uniform"