S. E. Hinton Quotes - Page 2

You know the rules. No jazz before a rumble.

the person in this picture is really me.

Things were rough all over, but it was better that way. That way you could tell the other guy was human too.

Anything you read can influence your work, so I try to read good stuff.

Sixteen years on the streets and you can learn a lot. But all the wrong things, not the things you want to learn. Sixteen years on the streets and you see a lot. But all the wrong sights, not the things you want to see.

You know a guy a longtime, and I mean really know him, you don't get used to the idea that he's dead just overnight.

When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home.

Can you see the sunset real good on the West side? You can see it on the East side too.

I never base a character on someone I know. You can get ideas from real life, but every character you write is some aspect of yourself.

Nothing sparkly can stay.

If you enjoy reading something, read it.

Your mother is not crazy. Neither, contrary to popular belief, is your brother. He is merely miscast in a play. He would have made the perfect knight in a different century, or a very good pagan prince in a time of heroes. He was born in the wrong era, on the wrong side of the river, with the ability to do anything and finding nothing he wants to do.

He sure put things into words good.

Stay gold, Ponyboy, stay gold.

He died violent and young and desperate, just like we all knew he'd die someday.

It ain't fair that we have all the rough breaks!

I like having a private name and a public name. It helps keep things straight.

California is like a beautiful wild kid on heroin, high as a kite and thinking she's on top of the world, not knowing she's dying, not believing it even if you show her the marks.

Even the most primite societies have an innate resepect for the insane.

You get tough like me and you don't get hurt. You look out for yourself and nothin' can touch you.

That's why people don't ever think to blame the Socs and are always ready to jump on us. We look hoody and they look decent. It could be just the other way around - half of the hoods I know are pretty decent guys underneath all that grease, and from what I've heard, a lot of Socs are just cold-blooded mean - but people usually go by looks.

I used to be sure of things. Me, once i had all the answers. I wish i was a kid again, when i had all the answers

Asleep, he looked a lot younger than going-on-seventeen, but I had noticed that Johnny looked younger when he was asleep too, so I figured everyone did. Maybe people are younger when they are asleep.

Rat race is the perfect name for it,' she said. 'We're always going and going and going, and never asking where. Did you ever hear of having more than you wanted? So that you couldn't want anything else and then started looking for something else to want? It seems like we're always searching for something to satisfy is, and never finding it. Maybe if we could lose our cool we would.

Suddenly it wasn't only a personal thing to me. I could picture hundreds and hundreds of boys living on the wrong sides of cities, boys with black eyes who jumped at their own shadows. Hundreds of boys who maybe watched sunsets and looked at stars and ached for something better. I could see boys going down under street lights because they were mean and tough and hated the world, and it was too late to tell them that there was still good in it, and they wouldn't believe you if you did.