It seemed funny to me that the sunset she saw from her patio and the one I saw from the back steps was the same one. Maybe the two different worlds we lived in weren't so different. We saw the same sunset.
I could never understand people being scared of things they didn't know nothing about.
I can lie so easily that it spooks me sometimes— Soda says it comes form reading so much. But then, Two-Bit lias all the time too, and he never opens a book.
I do feel that the boys are getting left out. Girls will read boys' books, but boys won't read girls' books. If you're writing for a girl, you've got most of the audience on your side anyway.
Things were rough all over, but it was better that way. That way you could tell the other guy was human too.
Stay gold Pony Boy.
He died violent and young and desperate, just like we all knew he'd die someday.
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.
You know the rules. No jazz before a rumble.
Y'all were heroes from the beginning. You just didn't 'turn' all of a sudden.
But we can't be everything we read.
In our neighborhood it's rare to find a kid who doesn't drink once in a while. But Soda never touches a drop—he doesn't need to. He gets drunk on just plain living.
If we don't have each other, we don't have anything.
If people want to find me, they can. They'll see a middle-aged woman wandering around the grocery store, looking to see what to buy for dinner.
I go straight from thinking about my narrator to being him.
It was cliche, he knew, but he meant it classic.
It goes so fast, he thought, they don't tell you that, how fast it goes...
People get hurt in rumbles, maybe killed. I'm sick of it because it doesn't do any good. You can't win...even if you whip us. You'll still be where you were before- at the bottom. And we'll still be the lucky ones with all the breaks. So it doesn't do any good, the fighting and the killing. It doesn't prove a thing.
Greaser...greaser...greaser... Steve singsonged. O victim of environment, underprivileged, rotten, no-count hood!
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.
You still have a lot of time to make yourself be what you want.
Maybe the two worlds we lived in weren't so different. We saw the same sunset.
Darry thinks his life is enough without inspecting other people's.
If you're going to lead people, you've got to have somewhere to go.
I guess he had listened to more beefs and more problems from more people than any of us. A guy that'll really listen to you, listen and care about what you're saying, is something rare.
I don't know why I go to school unless for kicks, oh well might as well do dissect a frog.
Greasers will still be greasers and Socs will still be Socs. Sometimes I think it's the ones in the middle that are really the lucky stiffs.
Just don't forget that some of us watch the sunset too.
Some are going, some are staying....i'm in between.
When I see a movie with someone it's kind of uncomfortable.
Shoot. You got the whole gang. I mean, golly, Johnny, you got the whole gang.
Mason is ambidextrous. That means that he can use either his right or left hand. For some reason, when I was little, I thought that meant he was part water lizard. Don't ask why.
You can't say, 'This is just a stage' when its important to people what they're feeling. Maybe he'll outgrow it someday but right now it's important.
Anything you read can influence your work, so I try to read good stuff.
He can get drunk in a drag race or dancing without ever getting near alcohol. In our neighborhood it's rare to find a kid who doesn't drink once in a while. But Soda never touches a drop—he doesn't need to. He gets drunk on just plain living. And he understands everybody.
I knew he would be dead, because Dally Winston wanted to be dead and he always got what he wanted.
I like having a private name and a public name. It helps keep things straight.
Soda was glaring at him. Leave my kid brother alone, you hear? It ain't his fault he likes to go to the movies, and it ain't his fault the Socs like to jump us, and if he had been carrying a blade it would have been a good excuse to cut him to ribbons.
Get smart and nothing can touch you.
Since I am first of all a character writer, that character's emotions are as vivid to me as my own. I always begin with an emotion after I have established a character in my mind. I feel what they feel. I guess that is why it comes across so strongly.
Socs were just guys after all. Things were rough all over, but it was better that way. That way you could tell the other guy was human too.
Movies can't ruin books. They can only ruin movies.
I grew up here and my friends are here. There's nothing wrong with here.
When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the dark movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman, and a ride home. I was wishing I looked like Paul Newman - he looks tough and I don't - but I guess my own looks aren't so bad.
Nothing sparkly can stay.
They weren't looking for a fight, they were looking to fit in.
There isn't any real good reason for fighting except self-defense.
Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold . . . The pillow seemed to sink a little, and Johnny died. You read about people looking.
If you enjoy reading something, read it.
