I can do anything I want. Be with anyone I want. And it'll be my choice.

— Tahereh Mafi

I can't be my own person if I constantly require someone else to hold me together.

— Tahereh Mafi

I can’t be my own person, if I constantly require someone else to hold me together.

— Tahereh Mafi

I clench my fists and try not to scream, and I tuck my friends in my he

— Tahereh Mafi

I count everything. Even numbers, odd numbers, multiples of 10. I count the ticks of the clock I count the rocks of the clock I count the lines between the lines on a sheet of paper. I count the broken beats of my heart I count my pulse and my blinks and the number of tries it takes to inhale enough oxygen for my lungs. Furthermore, I stay like this I stand like this I count like this until the feeling stops. Until the tears stop spilling, until my fists stop shaking, until my heart stops aching. There are never enough numbers.

— Tahereh Mafi

I didn't want the clothes or the perfect shoes or the expensive anything. I didn't want to be draped in silk. All I ever wanted was to reach out and touch another human being not just with my hands but with my heart.

— Tahereh Mafi

I do know that I don't want to wake him. We were up very late last night.

— Tahereh Mafi

I feel like I’ve been split open and stuffed with sunshine.

— Tahereh Mafi

I felt the tears streak down my cheeks, but I wasn't crying.

— Tahereh Mafi

I grieve nothing. I take everything.

— Tahereh Mafi