David Arnold Quotes & Sayings

a thing's not a thing until you say it out loud — David Arnold

Sometimes you tell the truth, and things are better for it. Other times truth hangs in the air like a fog, clouding the pretty lies. — David Arnold

You and Victor are my North, South, East, and West. You are my Due Everywhere. — David Arnold

I have limited experience, but I know this: moments of connection with another human being are patently rare. But rarer still are those who can recognize such a connection when they see one. — David Arnold

But that's the personality of change, isn't it? When it's slow, it's called growth; when it's fast, it's change. — David Arnold

I was lovely once, but he never loved me once. — David Arnold

Be a kid of honesty. Wave it like a banner for all to see.. Be a kid who loves surprises... Be curious, but content. Be loyal, but independent. Be kind. To everyone. Treat every day like you're making waffles... Live your effing life. Do it with gusto... Know yourself. Love yourself. Be a good friend. Be a kid of hope and substance. Be a kid of appetite — David Arnold

People talk about coincidence like it's some big thing. But it's not. We bump into one another all the time. Mostly I think people are just too blind to notice. — David Arnold

Home is hard. Harder than Reasons. It's more a storage unit for your life and its collections. It's more than an address, or even the house you grew up in. People say home is where the heart is, but I think maybe home is the heart. Not a place or a time, but an organ, pumping life into my life. There may be more mosquitos and stepmothers than I imagined, but it's still my heart. My home. — David Arnold

They lived and they laughed..
and they saw it was good. — David Arnold

I am not me, I said to the ocean, to the old feet, to the face in the mirror. And it was true. In the dream, the reflection staring back at me was not my own. It was my mother's. — David Arnold

..you should write. It's better than succumbing to the madness of the world... And cheaper than pills — David Arnold

I used to think love was bound by numbers: first kisses, second dances, infinite heartbreaks. I used to think numbers outlasted the love itself, surviving in the dark corners of the demolished heart. I used to think love was heavy and hard.
I don't think those things anymore. — David Arnold

I remember like it was yesterday. I remember because it was the last time we held hands — David Arnold

The thing about uniquely pretty girls is that their prettiness cares nothing for time or place. It cannot be rescheduled or relocated. They are pretty wherever they go, whenever they get there. It can be quite distracting. — David Arnold

Consider this: billions of people in the world, each with billions of I ams. I am a quiet observer, a champion wallflower. I am a lover of art, the Mets, the memory of Dad. I represent approximately one seven-billionth of the population; these are my momentous multitudes, and that's just for starters. — David Arnold

Don't underestimate the value of friends. — David Arnold

Home is hard... People say home is where the heart is, but I think maybe home IS the heart — David Arnold

Life, it seems, delivers the best punch lines only after we've forgotten we were part of a joke. — David Arnold

... we stood there on the quiet sidewalk, stuck between mutiny and mediocrity — David Arnold

Sinking into fiction: the if-only of if-onlys. — David Arnold

I swear the older I get, the more I value bad examples over good ones. It's a good thing too, because most people are egotistical, neurotic, self-absorbed peons, insistent on wearing near-sighted glasses in a far-sighted world. And it's this exact sort of myopic ignorance that has led to my groundbreaking new theory. I call it Mim's Theorem of Monkey See Monkey Don't, and what it boils down to is this: it is my belief that there are some people whose sole purpose of existence is to show the rest of how not to act. — David Arnold

Memories are as infinite as the horizon. — David Arnold

It was cold out, the kind you could see, where your breath blossomed like a floating lotus in front of your face. It was the kind of cold where you couldn't tell if it was cloudy, or if the whole sky was just the color of clouds. — David Arnold

He wraps an arm around me, and I swear we were once a single unit, a supercontinent divided millions of years ago - like my fifth grade science project - now reunited into some kaleidoscopic New Pangea. "I'm Madagascar," I say, sleepily. "You're what?" "I'm Madagascar. And you're Africa." He squeezes my shoulder, and - I think he gets it. I bet he does. — David Arnold

Music was more than subjective; it was erratic. It was the ship on the horizon that one sailor saw, the other sailor didn't. — David Arnold

I have a license," says a voice behind us. I turn to find 17C scrolling through pictures on his camera, standing in the front yard like a deep-rooted tree, like he's been there for years. Somehow, that black eye only makes him more desirable. "And you are . . . ?" asks Moses. A) Perfect B) The god of Devastating Attractiveness C) A flawless specimen, created in a lab by mad scientists in an effort to toy with the heart of Mary Iris Malone D) All of the above I circle D. Final effing answer. — David Arnold

It's just the two of us, cursed to face one another amid the ravenous elements of this bus station for all of forever. — David Arnold

Pain is what matters. Not fast cars or big words or fabulous stories in exotic settings. And certainly not some French-toasted-sunrise-sensei-servant-motherfucker. I — David Arnold

It's okay." I say again. Because if I keep saying it, maybe it will be true. It's okay it's okay it's okay it's okay. — David Arnold

Arlene was one of a kind, a true friend when I needed one, a grande dame from the old school. She was the sweetest of old ladies, and I will miss her dearly. All of those things are true, but the words I choose are far more profound.
"She smelled like cookies," I whisper through tears. — David Arnold

Sometimes a thing doesn't seem real until we say it out loud. — David Arnold

Remember that, Iz. Be a kid of honesty. Wave it like a banner for all to see. Also, while I'm thinking about it - be a kid who loves surprises. Squeal with delight over puppies and cupcakes and birthday parties. Be curious, but content. Be loyal, but independent. Be kind. To everyone. Treat every day like you're making waffles. Don't settle for the first guy (or girl) unless he's the right guy (or girl). Live your effing life. Do so with gusto, because my God, there's nothing sorrier than a gusto-less existence. Know yourself. Love yourself. Be a good friend. Be a kid of hope and substance. Be a kid of appetite, Iz. You know what I mean, don't you? (Of course you do. You're a Malone.) Okay, that's all for now. Catch you on the flip side.
Blimey, get ready.
Signing off,
Mary Iris Malone,
Your Big Sister — David Arnold

I'm a Picasso, not a Vermeer — David Arnold

I sat there frozen, wondering if this icy truth could ever melt, if the madness of the world could ever be cured — David Arnold

I think Mad saw in books what I saw in art: the weightless beauty of the universe. — David Arnold

I am Mary Iris Malone, and I am empty, cleaned the fuck out. All that's left is a fierce hunger for flight. — David Arnold

A real apology cost something, because you had to stand there like an idiot and say it out loud for the world to hear - I'M SORRY. And the world, as always, would respond with a resounding, 'Yes. Yes, you are. — David Arnold

So I float in silence, watching the final touches of this perfect moonrise, and in a moment of heavenly revelation, it occurs to me that detours are not without purpose. They provide safe passage to a destination, avoiding pitfalls in the process. — David Arnold

...the people arrogant enough to use the words 'I understand' are the ones who can't possibly understand. — David Arnold

Yes, Mom but how does the music get from that needle" - I pointed my chubby little finger to the record player -"to my heart." My earliest memories of music had nothing to do with listening, and everything in the world to do with feeling. - Mim, Mosquitoland — David Arnold

Help is help to anyone, Mary. Even if they don't know they're asking for it." I said that made a whole lot of sense, because it did. And it still does. Here's the thing, Iz: my mom needs help right now. And I know it, even if she doesn't. — David Arnold

I often thought the most unfair thing about having Moebius wasn't Moebius at all, but other people's inability to define me by anything else. — David Arnold

And behind the good doctor, his Wall of Hubris: I counted seven framed degrees, hung with care and pride and more than a little jackassedness. Oh-ho, you don't believe I'm important, eh? Well then, how do you explain these?!?!?! — David Arnold

Russ remarked how hot it had been. I agreed it had been very hot. He said, 'Aren't you from the Congo?' I said, 'Well, I am an American citizen now, but yes - I was born in the Republic of the Congo. Why do you ask?' Russ said, 'Oh, nothing, I just figured you would be used to the heat, having lived in the jungle.' I looked Russ in his eyes, asked him, 'Are you from New Jersey?' 'Yes,' said Russ, 'born and raised.' I nodded. 'So I assume you strip down to your underwear and make out with very tan girls in hot tubs.' Russ raised an eyebrow and smiled. 'No,' he said, 'why would you think that?' I said, 'I have seen the television show Jersey Shore, so I am educated in the way all people from New Jersey live. — David Arnold

Till we're old-new. — David Arnold

Exactly why I don't have a boyfriend," I whisper, turning to the window. Because you've referenced The Lord of the Rings twice before lunch, or because you're talking to yourself? I have to admit, I've got me there. — David Arnold

So like--imagine each person is a unit, and each unit makes so many decisions in a day, and each decision takes each unit in so many directions, it seems kind of silly to think we'd never run into one another, you know? Especially considering units tend to cluster and linger."

"Consider this. You're flying in the sky, not in a plane, but with your arms and hands. Like a miraculous bird. You're thousands of feet above the earth, drifting through the night. The red lights are in constant motion, blinking, shuffling between buildings and trees and houses. Old ones disappear, new ones are born. Over time, you notice the lights bump into one another occasionally. Are you surprised?"

I shook my head. "No."

"I call it the inevitability of corresponding units. — David Arnold

And I'm sick of things the way they are, my many oddities, my limited depth perception, as if it's not bad enough I only see half the world, but it always seems to be the wrong half. — David Arnold

Because this is my life, the only one I get. And if it's a choice between a life Albilitoled, or a life full of Life... well, that's not really a choice at all. — David Arnold

I see a million miles of life, a million lives in one, a million headaches, heartaches, brainaches, a million ingredients in her eyes — David Arnold

Sometimes you walk into a room one person, and when you come out the other side, you're someone else altogether. — David Arnold

Where did they go?" asked Coco. "Here? Did Coconut bring Fro-Yo back here?"
"No," I said. "They walked into that sunset, because it was something no one had ever done or heard about, or seen at all anywhere ever. And they lived drippily ever after. The end. — David Arnold

There are times when I absolutely, 110 percent, without a doubt, have to laugh at a thing. 'Cause if I don't, that same thing will make me go stark-raving bananas. I — David Arnold

They understood that lasting pain could only be dealt at the root. — David Arnold

I smile at Beck, a wide-eyed, can-you-believe-the-awesomeness-that-is-Walt sort of smile. He's wearing the same one. "I think we'll all remember the rendezvouski. — David Arnold

Mom and Dad had gathered their love like kindling, burned it together. And now that love is being scattered all over the place. — David Arnold

Have a vision, unclouded by fear. — David Arnold

I ask, "You ever hear that a person has to go through fire to become who they're meant to be?"
Mendes sips her coffee, nods. "Sure."
"I've always wanted to be strong, Miss Mendes, I just wish there wasn't so much fire. — David Arnold

Closing his eyes again, Beck repositions his head on the back of his seat, and in one sure movement, reaches over and grabs my hand. Even with his eyes closed, he knew where to find me. I want to cry for a thousand reasons, laugh for a thousand others; this is my anomalous balance, the place where Beck and I can let the ridiculousness of our collective sentences marinate, and other things, too. It's a singular moment of clarity between two people, and rare or not, I'm not about to let go.
I'm done roaming hillsides.
I've scoured the corners of the earth.
And I've found my people.
God, I'm almost jealous of myself.
Holding Beck's hand in my lap, I find a courage I never knew I had and drop my head on his shoulder. — David Arnold

What would I tell her? The truth, I hope. That in my longing for originality and relational honesty and a hundred other I-don't-know-whats, this action, while strange and socially awkward, makes more sense than just about anything else in my world. And even though it's cryptic and more than a little odd, sometimes cryptic and odd are better than lying down for the Man. — David Arnold

But there's quality behind Dustin's eyes when he talks, a dimness, like the slow fade of a dying flashlight. Like someone forgot to replace the batteries in Dustin's face. This kind of emptiness can only be filled with heartache and struggle and I-don't-know-what...the enormity of things. The shit-stink of life. And neither the enormity nor the shit-stink can be found in a pancake breakfast. Pain is what matters. — David Arnold

Life can be a real son of a bitch sometimes, bringing things back around long after you've said good-bye. — David Arnold

... anything to avoid the uncomfortable nearness of strangers — David Arnold

My Reasons may be hard, but my Objectives are quite simple. — David Arnold

And suddenly, my symphony of travel crescendos, achieving its rumbling, mighty End — David Arnold

Everything sounds better on vinyl. It's not a trend. It's a fact. I — David Arnold

We are all part of the same story, each of us different chapters. We may not have the power to choose setting or plot, but we can choose what kind of character we want to be. — David Arnold

However, if you're cursed as I am with a love of storytelling and adventures in galaxies far, far away, and mythical creatures from fictional lands who are more real to you than actual people with blood and bones---which is to say, people who exist---well, let me be the first to pass on my condolences.
Because life is rarely what you imagined it would be. — David Arnold

I hope you were right," he whispered. "I hope there's beauty in my asymmetry."

"You weren't a nuisance," he continued, his words growing louder in the cold, snowy silence. "You were the Northern Dancer, sire of the century, the superest of all racehorses. — David Arnold

I swear, the longer I live, the less things make sense. — David Arnold

Have a vision, Mary, unclouded by fear. — David Arnold

I cry because I've never smiled like that, not once in my life. I cry because I love. For some reason, I always have. — David Arnold

Pain makes people who they are. — David Arnold

As simple as it sounds, I think understanding who you are - and who you are not - is not the most important thing of all Important Things. — David Arnold

Later in life, it would occur to me that this was the ultimate dichotomy: for a person to want what's best but draw from their worst. — David Arnold

Beck's smile is intense and sincere, a smile with, not a smile at. Mom used to say you could tell a lot by the way a person treats the innocent, and Walt is nothing if not innocence personified. — David Arnold

Sometimes being with gets overlooked I think. — David Arnold

Like a Siren, it tempts me with whispered promises of the ever-elusive Normal Life. — David Arnold

I'm already jealous of myself five minutes ago. Because you can't un-know a honky-tonk — David Arnold

You spend you life roaming the hillsides, scouring the four corners of the earth, searching desperately for just one persons to fucking get you. And I'm thinking, if you can find that, you've found home. — David Arnold

It's a fortress of passion, a crash--a fatal collision of neurons and electrons and fibers, my circus of oddities coming together as one, imploding in a fiery blaze. It's . . . I-don't-know-what . . . my collection of shiny.

It's love. — David Arnold

You ever have the feeling you lost something important, only to discover it was never there to begin with? — David Arnold

My heart was so full, I thought it might explode into the ether, creating some bizarre new solar system whose inhabitants ate only love, drank only hope, and breathed only joy. What a substantial galaxy that would be. — David Arnold

I wish wishing were enough, but it's not. Sometimes you need a thing. — David Arnold

Every great character, Iz, be it on page or screen, is multidimensional. The good guys aren't all good, the bad guys aren't all bad, and any character wholly one or the other shouldn't exist at all. Remember this when I describe the antics that follow, for though I am not a villain, I am not immune to villainy. — David Arnold

... it occurs to me how often laughter accompanies tears — David Arnold

We are, each of us, hopeless hopers. — David Arnold

I am a collection of oddities, a circus of neurons and electrons: my heart is the ringmaster, my soul is the trapeze artist, and the world is my audience. It sounds strange because it is, and it is, because I am strange. — David Arnold

I lowered my voice, because as I'd learned some time ago, a whisper was louder than a scream — David Arnold

Don't look at the colors that are there, V. Look at the colors that aren't. — David Arnold

Look at you," I whisper, smiling, crying. "Lovely. — David Arnold

A pall fell over the room. A black shroud of disease and deathbeds and all the worst things from all the worst places. This mutant world, a tragic portmanteau, the unnatural marriage of two roots as different as could be. 'And do you, Ability take Vitriol to be your lawfully wedded suffix?' I wanted to scream objections to the unholy matrimony, but nothing came out. My mouth was clammy and dry, full of sand. Dr. Wilson smiled on, rambling about the benefits of Abilitol while my father nodded like a toy bobblehead immune to the deepening shadow in the room.

As they spoke, I caught my mother's eye. I could tell by her face that she felt the deepening shadow too.

Neither of us smiled.
Neither of us spoke.
We felt the shadow together. — David Arnold

Peer pressure is one thing, but when your dad's the pusher, it's something else entirely. — David Arnold

And in the night sky, the soaring sopranos fly out over the city, guarding it with song, catching the souls of those rare, lovely heart-thinkers. — David Arnold

Sometimes, things are more embarrassing when you're alone. I guess when no one's around to hear your stupidity, you're forced to bear the brunt of it. — David Arnold

The longer you hold onto an apology, the harder it is to give. — David Arnold

They lived and laughed and they saw that it was good. — David Arnold

She never said so out loud, but some things speak loud enough on their own. — David Arnold

I act like I don't care, but I do. I always have. And my God, what wouldn't I give to put the pieces together? — David Arnold