Quotezine Team 
You might notice that some of our most popular collections feature book and movie quotes. A great story can be home to many great quotes that make an audience think, laugh and more importantly feel. Stephen Chbosky‘s coming of age novel is a perfect example of this.
When we were choosing which Perks of Being A Wallflower quotes to feature in this collection, we had to consider if everyone was familiar with the protagonist Charlie, a socially awkward young high school student who finds himself mixed in with a group of equally but different awkward friends. We also had to remember that the dark themes explored in the book may be good for the plotline, but may not necessarily inspire the reader.
That said, there were still so many pieces of the book that make for great quotes. Even fragments of sentences have the ability to evoke emotion and feeling in a reader and that’s what makes them work so well in this collection.
Most of these quotes are concise, but profound. They call deeply on nostalgia and encourage the readers to look inside themselves to relate. Books can inspire even non-readers to feel, which is why they make for such great quotes.
1. We accept the love we think we deserve.
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2. So, this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I’m still trying to figure out how that could be.
3. Maybe it’s good to put things in perspective, but sometimes, I think that the only perspective is to really be there.
4. It’s great that you can listen and be a shoulder to someone, but what about when someone doesn’t need a shoulder? What if they need the arms or something like that? You can’t just sit there and put everybody’s lives ahead of yours and think that counts as love. You just can’t. You have to do things.
5. I look at people holding hands in the hallways, and I try to think about how it all works. At the school dances, I sit in the background, and I tap my toe, and I wonder how many couples will dance to ‘their song.’ In the hallways, I see the girls wearing the guys’ jackets, and I think about the idea of property. And I wonder if anyone is really happy. I hope they are. I really hope they are.
6. And In That Moment I swear we were infinite.
7. It was the kind of kiss that made me know that I was never so happy in my whole life.
8. It’s just that I don’t want to be somebody’s crush. If somebody likes me, I want them to like the real me, not what they think I am. And I don’t want them to carry it around inside. I want them to show me, so I can feel it too. I want them to be able to do whatever they want around me. And if they do something I don’t like, I’ll tell them.
9. Enjoy it. Because it’s happening.
10. So, this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I’m still trying to figure out how that could be.
11. So I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we’ll never know most of them. But even if we don’t have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them.
12. And in that moment, I swear we were infinite.
13. And we kept dancing. It was the one time all day that I really wanted the clock to stop. And just be there for a long time.
14. If you care about somebody you should want them to be happy. Even if you wind up being left out.
15. I am very interested and fascinated by how everyone loves each other, but no one really likes each other.
16. Everyone else is either asleep or having sex. I’ve been watching cable television and eating jell-o.
17. There’s nothing like deep breaths after laughing that hard. Nothing in the world like a sore stomach for the right reasons.
18. And if somebody else has it much worse, that doesn’t really change the fact that you have what you have. Good and bad.
19. And nobody felt sad as long as we could post-pone tomorrow with more nostalgia.
20. So, if this does end up being my last letter, please believe that things are good with me, and even when they’re not, they will be soon enough. And I will believe the same about you.
There they are, the most inspirational quotes from the book. Let us know in the comments if you think we forgot any great words of wisdom from Charlie, Alice or anyone else from the novel.
header image: danica s
image via: denise carrasco
