I hadn't even solved the mystery of my own body.

— Benjamin Alire Sáenz

I had to be the world's biggest loser, writing about hair, and stuff about my body. No wonder I stopped keeping a journal. It was like keeping a record of my own stupidity. Why would I want to do that?

— Benjamin Alire Sáenz

I have it in my head that when we’re born, God writes things down on our hearts. See, on some people’s hearts he writes happy and on some people’s hearts he writes sad and on some people’s hearts he writes crazy and on some people’s hearts he writes genius and on some people’s hearts he writes angry and on some people’s hearts he writes winner and on some people’s hearts he writes loser.

— Benjamin Alire Sáenz

I have this idea stuck in my head that you have to be born beautiful in order to dream beautiful things. God didn't write beautiful on my heart. I'm stuck with all my bad dreams. Bad dreams for bad boys. I guess that's the way it is for me. Look, there's nothing I can do about it.

— Benjamin Alire Sáenz

I have this idea that the reason we have dreams is that we're thinking about things that we don't know we're thinking about-and those things, well, they sneak out of us in our dreams. Maybe we're like tires with too much air in them. The air has to leak out. That's what dreams are.

— Benjamin Alire Sáenz

I live in an eco tone. Employment must coexist with goofing off. Responsibility must coexist with irresponsibility.

— Benjamin Alire Sáenz

I mean, okay, let's say we're all going to get better. Let's just pretend we will. Fine. Where are we going to go after we get better? What are we going to do with all of our newfound healthy behaviors? Back out into the world that screwed us up and screwed us over. This does not sound promising.

— Benjamin Alire Sáenz

I mean, when do we start feeling like the world belongs to us? I wanted to tell him that the world would never belong to us. 'I don't know', I said. 'Tomorrow.

— Benjamin Alire Sáenz

I’m not a good kid. Yeah, look, I’m just a piece of paper with the word sad and a bunch of cuss words written on it. A lousy piece of paper. That’s me. A piece of paper that’s waiting to be torn up.

— Benjamin Alire Sáenz

In the distance, I can see a storm coming in, the dark clouds and the lightning on the horizon moving towards me. I wait, and I wait, and I wait for the storm. And then it comes, and the rains wash away the nightmares and the memories. And I'm not afraid.

— Benjamin Alire Sáenz