Quotes by John Green

I would never slay the dragon, because the dragon was also me.

The abbreviated exam week meant that Wednesday was the last day of school for us. And all day long, it was hard not to walk around, thinking about the lastness of it all.

I didnt really want to come back here and again have to feel like my lungs were drowning in this perverse nostalgia.

Why had Ovid lived in Ancient Rome in 20 BCE23 and not Chicago in 2006 CE? Would Ovid still have been Ovid if he had lived in America? No, he wouldn’t have been, because he would have been a Native American or possibly an American Indian or a First Person or an Indigenous Person, and they did not have Latin or any other kind of written language then. So did Ovid matter because he was Ovid or because he lived in Ancient Rome?

JP shouted, TELL THEM WHAT YOU JUST DID TO EACH OTHER!Um, I said.We kissed, the Duke said.Thats kinda gay, Keun said.I AM A GIRL.Yeah, I know, but so is Tobin, Keun said.

Sorry, I said to the Duke.Eh, its not your fault. Its Carlas fault. You were turning the wheel. Carla just wasnt listening. I knew I shouldnt have loved her. Shes like all the others, Tobin; as soon as I confess my love, she abandons me.I laughed. I never abandoned you, I said patting on her back.Yeah, well, (a.) I never confessed my love to you, and (b.) Im not even female to you.

If my public existence does anything worthwhile, hopefully it at least demystifies the author a bit, because I know when I was younger I felt like authors were like wizards or something. Turns out theyre total muggles.

I know that books seem like the ultimate thing that’s made by one person, but that’s not true… Every reading of a book is a collaboration between the reader and the writer who are making the story up together.

I thought of the one thing about home that I missed, my dads study with its built-in, floor-to-ceiling shelves sagging with thick biographies and the black leather chair that kept me just uncomfortable enough to keep from feeling sleepy as I read.

This is unbearable ... God. These books shell never read. Her Lifes Library.

I’m not up for laughing, but their laughter makes the room feel safer, so we begin to explore.

These are all direct quotes, except every time they use a curse word, Im going to use the name of a famous American poet:You Walt Whitman-ing, Edna St. Vincent Millay! Go Emily Dickinson your mom!Thanks for the advice, you pathetic piece of E.E. Cummings, but I think Im gonna pass.You Robert Frost-ing Nikki Giovanni! Get a life, nerd. Youre a virgin.Hey bro, you need to go outside and get some fresh air into you. Or a girlfriend.I need to get a girlfriend into me? I think that shows a fundamental lack of comprehension about how babies are made.

Why is being a nerd so bad? saying I noticed youre a nerd is like saying hey, I noticed youd rather be intelligent that stupid, that youd rather be thoughtful than be vapid, that you believe that there are things that matter more than the arrest record of Lindsay Lohan

I dont suppose I can wear the flamingo tie, he said as he pulled on black socks. Its a bit festive, given the occasion, I responded. Cant wear it to the opera, said the Colonel, almost smiling. Cant wear it to a funeral. Cant use it to hang myself. Its a bit useless, as ties go. I gave him a tie.

If people were rain, I was a drizzle and she was a hurricaine

Everythings uglier up close.Not you.

Hey, he said, touching my waist. Hey. Its okay. I nodded and wiped my face with the back of my hand. He sucks. I nodded again. Ill write you an epilogue, Gus said. That made me cry harder. I will, he said. I will. Better than any sh*t that drunk could write. His brain is Swiss cheese. He doesnt even remember writing the book. I can write ten times the story that guy can. There will be blood and guts and sacrifice. An Imperial Affliction meets The Prince of Dawn. Youll love it. I kept nodding, faking a smile, and then he hugged me, his strong arms pulling me into his muscular chest, and I sogged up his polo shirt a little but then recovered enough to speak.

NOTHING HAS EVER LOOKED LIKE THAT EVER IN ALL OF HUMAN HISTORY,” he said. His enthusiasm was adorable. I couldn’t resist leaning over to kiss him on the cheek.“Just so you know, I’m right here,” Mom said. “Sitting next to you. Your mother. Who held your hand as you took your first infantile steps.”“It’s friendly,” I reminded her, turning to kiss her on the cheek.“Didn’t feel too friendly,” Gus mumbled just loud enough for me to hear. When surprised and excited and innocent Gus emerged from Grand Gesture Metaphorically Inclined Augustus, I literally could not resist.

The sun was a toddler insistently refusing to go to bed.

If you dont live a life in service of a greater good, youve gotta at least die a death in service of a greater good.