Andrew Clements Quotes & Sayings

Books and people are hard to compare. — Andrew Clements

I glance into the faces of all these people out for a Sunday stroll, but I'm not seeing eyes and noses and mouths. I'm seeing stories. Every person has a story. All the hopes and dreams. And fears. And secrets.
In every face. — Andrew Clements

I have my own story, and I love my story, but I know I can't tell it alone, not now. Because stories have centers, but they don't have edges. No boundaries. — Andrew Clements

Okay heres the deal a whole day of NO TALKING IN SCJHOOL.Not in class,not in the halls, not on the plaground nowhere.No talking at all. And its a contest- BOYS AGAINST GIRLS. Whichever side talks less, wins. — Andrew Clements

Because a real kiss, a kiss that two real people choose to give each other - it's something that can't be filmed or
photographed or drawn, or even described with words. Because a kiss isn't what it looks like or how it feels.
A real kiss happens down deep inside of two hearts at the same time. It's hidden away. A real kiss is invisible. — Andrew Clements

It is not good to have TOO MUCH of anything. — Andrew Clements

I almost tell him that I'd never be able to do something like that, just take out my instrument and begin playing on a street corner. But it feels to personal. Yes, I'm shy, but why bring it to his attention? I'm too shy to talk about how shy I am. — Andrew Clements

When we read, we decide when, where, how long, and about what. One of the few places on earth that it is still possible to experience an instant sense of freedom and privacy is anywhere you open up a good book and begin to read. When we read silently, we are alone with our own thoughts and one other voice. We can take our time, consider, evaluate, and digest what we read - with no commercial interruptions, no emotional music or special effects manipulation. And in spite of the advances in electronic information exchange, the book is still the most important medium for presenting ideas of substance and value, still the only real home of literature. — Andrew Clements

And then I see what she means. Because I did have to tell her, just like she had to tell me all of this. I had to trust her. Sometimes you have to tell someone else what it's like. Because if you don't, you'll go nuts. — Andrew Clements

Dave couldn't remember the last time a grownup had apologized to him. — Andrew Clements

We both hang up, but it's like there's still a connection. I can feel it.

And it feels good. — Andrew Clements

The dictionary is like a time capsule of all of human thinking ever since words began to be written down. And exploring where words have come from can increase your understanding of the words themselves and expand your understanding of how to use the words, and all of this change happens in your thinking when you read the words. — Andrew Clements

Watch TV or something." That's what the note says.
So I say to myself, Fine. But I think I'll do the "or something" part. — Andrew Clements

I get wonderful letters from kids and teachers. I must have the best readers in the world. — Andrew Clements

A singing goat is like reading books, I love goats and dinosaurs.-Albert Einstein — Andrew Clements

Part of being a fiction writer is being able to imagine how someone else is thinking and feeling. I think I've always been good at that. — Andrew Clements

Darkness is only light's absence.
— Andrew Clements

I think the reason I'm a writer is because first, I was a reader. I loved to read. I read a lot of adventure stories and mystery books, and I have wonderful memories of my mom reading picture books aloud to me. I learned that words are powerful. — Andrew Clements

He spotted Jill sitting about thirty feet away, face tipped toward the sun, her straight brown hair tucked behind one ear and slanted across her neck. And Ben decided that when her mouth wasn't full of tuna salad, she was sort of pretty. — Andrew Clements

I had a high school English teacher who made me really work at writing. And once, when I got an assignment back, she'd written: 'This is so good, Andrew. This should be published!' That made a big impression on me. — Andrew Clements

Sooner or later,reality does occor and when it does, all the lies show up, like blood on snow. — Andrew Clements

But fear doesn't need doors and windows. It works from the inside. — Andrew Clements

Two wrongs don't make a right, but don't three lefts make a right? Two wrongs don't make a right, but don't two negatives make a positive? — Andrew Clements

Aha. The mom doesn't know. She's fishing. This next part has to be just right, or I'm blacklisted by the mother and hated by the daughter. The first would be an inconvenience; the second would be a tragedy. — Andrew Clements

We just have to go to that next class, read that next chapter, help that next person. You simply have to do that next good thing, and before you know it, you're living a good life. — Andrew Clements

This item belongs to Mrs. Granger and she may call it anything she likes.
-With love from Nicholas Allen — Andrew Clements

Darkness is only light's absence.
-Things that Are — Andrew Clements

Sometimes kids ask how I've been able to write so many books. The answer is simple: one word at a time. Which is another good lesson, I think. You don't have to do everything at once. You don't have to know how every story is going to end. You just have to take that next step, look for that next idea, write that next word. — Andrew Clements

Robert said, "This is great, huh? Sorry to butt in and everything, but I really need the extra points. For my grade."
Ben nodded and tried to smile. Right, for his grade. He probably wanted to get an A++ in social studies instead of just an A+ — Andrew Clements

And I love Jane Austen's use of language too
the way she takes her time to develop a phrase and gives it room to grow, so that these clever, complex statements form slowly and then bloom in my mind. Beethoven does the same thing with his cadence and phrasing and structure. It's a fact: Jane Austen is musical. And so's Yeats. And Wordsworth. All the great writers are musical. — Andrew Clements

It's about 65 degrees, so it feels like when the air conditioner is up on high. I can bear it, so I'm going for a walk. Today. Right now. In the sunshine. Because I can.
Because I want to. Because I'm not going to just sit around and wait for stuff to happen anymore. I'm still me, and I have a life. It's a weird life, but it's still mine.
It's still mine. — Andrew Clements

There's so much made of the exceptional and the celebrity, the famous, and the wannabees. — Andrew Clements

But of course, all of this is just a silly fad, and when you add an "e" to fad, you get fade. And I predict this fad will fade. — Andrew Clements

The highest praise is when a kid says, 'This book feels so real; this could have happened at my school.' — Andrew Clements

My sister called her pillow a pilgo. My brother called his pacifier his nimma. But I don't think I was much of a word generator myself. — Andrew Clements

who says dog means dog? — Andrew Clements