"There are some things in this world you rely on, like a sure bet. And when they let you down, shifting from where you’ve carefully placed them, it shakes your faith, right where you stand."

Sarah Dessen, Someone Like You

"If you try anything, if you try to lose weight, or to improve yourself, or to love, or to make the world a better place, you have already achieved something wonderful, before you even begin."

Sarah Dessen, Keeping the Moon

"It’s like the hidden secret that no one tells you. We can all be beautiful girls. It’s like Dorothy clicking her heels to go home. You could do it all along."

Sarah Dessen, Keeping the Moon

"I had this wild thought that he was the only one in all this chaos who was just like me, and that was comforting and profound all at once."

Sarah Dessen, Dreamland

"I didn’t want to fix it, to forget. It wasn’t something that was broken. It’s just…something that happened. And like that hole, I’m just finding ways, every day, of working around it. Respecting and remembering and getting on at the same time."

Sarah Dessen, The Truth About Forever

"Life is full of screw ups. You’re supposed to fail, sometimes. It’s a required part of the human existence."

Sarah Dessen, Along for the Ride

"I just thought to myself, all of a sudden, that we had something in common. A natural chemistry. And I had a feeling that something big was going to happen. To both of us. That we were, in fact, meant to be together."

Sarah Dessen, This Lullaby

"I just don’t know,” I said, my voice sounding bumby, not like mine, “how do you help someone who doesn’t want your help. What do you do when you can’t do anything?"

Sarah Dessen, Lock and Key