Quotes from book

11/22/63

“I'm one of those people who doesn't really know what he thinks until he writes it down.”

“… stupidity is one of the two things we see most clearly in retrospect. The other is missed chances.”

“We never know which lives we influence, or when, or why.”

“When all else fails, give up and go to the library.”

“I know your mother lives in your head - almost everyone's mother does, I guess - but you can't let her have her way on this one”

“The scholar's greatest weakness: calling procrastination research.”

“On the subject of love at first sight, I’m with the Beatles: I believe that it happens all the time.”

“When you put on a clown suit and a rubber nose, nobody has any idea what you look like inside.”

“If there is love, smallpox scars are as pretty as dimples. I'll love your face no matter what it looks like. Because it's yours.”

“If you've ever been homesick, or felt exiled from all the things and people that once defined you, you'll know how important welcoming words and friendly smiles can be.”

“Directing teenage actors is like juggling jars of nitro-glycerine: exhilarating and dangerous.”

“Want to know the best thing about teaching? Seeing that moment when a kid discovers his or her gift. There's no feeling on earth like it.”

“Dancing is life.”

“Sometimes a cigar is just a smoke and a story's just a story”

“Time-travelers lie a lot.”

“Sometimes life coughs up coincidences no writer of fiction would dare copy.”

“Even people capable of living in the past don't really know what the future holds.”

“For most of us, I think it's easier to admit doing wrong than being stupid.”

“The crazy people of the world… shouldn't get to win. If God won't make it better after they do have their shitty little victories, then ordinary people have to. They have to try, at least.”