Whaley Quotes & Sayings

In the middle of my fourth year teaching is when I got my book contract - in 2010. I knew the book would come out in May 2011. — John Corey Whaley

Maybe we all just exist, all versions of us exist at times, and we have to figure out a way to get to each of them, to find each one and tell that version that it's okay, that it's all justthe way it works, a concept too powerful to ignore but too complicated to explain. — John Corey Whaley

I guess the most interesting thing about Gabriel was that he didn't seem to care at all what people were thinking about him. He walked down the hallway at school with his head down not because he wanted to avoid being seen or dissuade social predators or anything , but simply because he didn't see any reason to lift up his head. — John Corey Whaley

Secrets, he said, will boil under your skin until it feels like every time you speak, every time you look in the mirror, every time you hug someone or kiss someone or tell someone you love them, it feels like you're going to die. — John Corey Whaley

I was thrilled when this year's National Book Award for Young People's Literature went to Neal Schusterman's 'Challenger Deep.' This brilliant book takes you into the mind of a mentally ill teenager and deserves all the accolades it's received. — John Corey Whaley

Writing was, is, and will always be my favorite job. — John Corey Whaley

A sibling represents a person's past, present, and future — John Corey Whaley

I wanted the world to sit back, listen up, and let me explain to it that when someone is sad and hopeless, the last thing they need to feel is that they are the only ones in the world with that feeling. So, if you feel sorry for someone, don't pretend to be happy. Don't pretend to care only about their problems. — John Corey Whaley

The thing to know about my brother was that even though he was fifteen, he looked to be about the same age as me. Only, I'm not sure if that was because he looked older or I looked younger. I like to think it was a healthy mixture of both. — John Corey Whaley

The Quit Man cometh, his minion at his heels. — John Corey Whaley

Your mind has a way of not letting you forget things you wish you could. Especially with people. Like, you'll always try your best to forget things that people say to you or about you, but you always remember. And you'll try to forget things you've seen that no one should see, but you just can't do it. And when you try to forget someone's face, you can't get it out of your head. — John Corey Whaley

Dr. Webb says that losing a sibling is oftentimes much harder for a person than losing any other member of the family. "A sibling represents a person's past, present, and future," he says. "Spouses have each other, and even when one eventually dies, they have memories of a time when they existed before that other person and can more readily imagine a life without them. Likewise, parents may have other children to be concerned with
a future to protect for them. To lose a sibling is to lose the one person with whom one shares a lifelong bond that is meant to continue on into the future. — John Corey Whaley

I know what it's like to be from an incredibly small town and the oppressiveness of it and the desire to get out. But I didn't realize that readers in Seattle, New York, and San Francisco might not get that so instinctively. — John Corey Whaley

When I asked him the meaning of life, Dr. Webb got very quiet and then told me life has no one meaning, it only has whatever meaning each of us puts on our own life. I'll tell you now that I still don't know the meaning of mine. And Lucas Cader, with all his brains and talent, doesn't know the meaning of his, either. But I'll tell you the meaning of all this. The meaning of some bird showing up and some boy disappearing and you knowing all about it. The meaning of this was not to save you, but to warn you instead. To warn you of confusion and delusion and assumption. To warn you of psychics and zombies and ghosts of your lost brother. To warn you of Ada Taylor and her sympathy and mothers who wake you up with vacuums. To warn you of two-foot-tall birds that say they can help, but never do. — John Corey Whaley

They say using your imagination makes you live longer. — John Corey Whaley

When one of us is dying, they say a part of all of us is. I think that's why it hurts. We go our whole lives losing little chunks until we can't lose any more of them. — John Corey Whaley

Some people sign on for the impossible. And they're the ones everybody remembers. — John Corey Whaley

I've found that a combination of therapy and medication, along with lifestyle choices like eating better and exercising regularly, helps me cope well with my anxiety. — John Corey Whaley

Cullen?"
"Hey, Mom."
"Can you do me a favor?" she asked in that way that implied that saying no would cause someone to die. — John Corey Whaley

Is that what you think I'm going to do? Snap and kill you?" he asked. "Not me, you won't. I keep mace in my purse. You never know what kind of creep'll be shopping for a house." "Wait ... what?" "Invite — John Corey Whaley

We all get lots of people. And maybe we don't always get to have them the exact way we want them, but if we can figure out a way to compromise, you know, then we can keep them all. — John Corey Whaley

I did some research on cryonics and cryogenics, but I kept it to a minimum because I didn't want the science part of the novel to overshadow the fiction. Being medically accurate wasn't my main goal. — John Corey Whaley

God was like the best musician in the world, because he put together all the sounds of nature and gave people like Jimi Hendrix his fingers and John Lennon his brain. — John Corey Whaley

You're like Lady Macbeth without the murder." "Thank you. You have no idea how much of a compliment that is to me. — John Corey Whaley

Watch it,' her mom snapped. 'Don't start a fight just because it's the easiest thing to do. — John Corey Whaley

If I'm really under pressure to get work done, I can adapt to most situations, but I prefer to be at home, in a comfortable chair, with as few distractions as possible. — John Corey Whaley

- Do they know? That you're gay?
- Why waste their time with it? It's not like it'll ever be an issue anyway.
- Yeah, but, it's who you are, right?
- I guess so, - he said. - I don't really know how to be any way else.
- When did you know?
- I was twelve, maybe. Something I just knew one day, even though I hadn't known it the day before.
- So it's like that, huh? A feeling? Not just being into other dudes?
- Oh no, it's that too. Of course it's that. But it's more, I think. Not so much a feeling as a fact, like having blue eyes or brown hair. It's just maybe something you don't discover until you're ready to understand it better.
- Like being straight, - she said. Only we don't have to deal with all that closet bullshit.
- Bingo, - he said. — John Corey Whaley

I thought maybe a day was coming when I'd stop constantly worrying about how to live. Maybe at some point I'd just start living, no questions asked. — John Corey Whaley

He hasn't left his house in three years, he's not crazy, he's a genius; just tv and videogames twenty four-seven, I think he's my new hero ... — John Corey Whaley

People dreamed. People left. And they all came back. — John Corey Whaley

Dealing with chronic anxiety has taught me to better understand the nuances of mental illness and the very individual nature of it. — John Corey Whaley

That's how I knew I loved her so much, because not loving her didn't make any sense once I'd known what it felt like. — John Corey Whaley

I'm sorry, Cullen. I really am. I know this sucks. But you're better off anyway. And you'll be fine. You needed me. Now someone else needs me. — John Corey Whaley

All that time I'd spent worrying about why I'm here and how I'm supposed to live had kept me from remembering that Jeremy Pratt will never be back. His people will never have him again. He is Jeremy Pratt who died and stayed dead and will never get a second chance. And even though that hand that spent the last five years holding hers was somehow doing it again, it wasn't Jeremy Pratt's anyone — John Corey Whaley

I remember, for the first time, sitting down and consuming books in a matter of hours. This was such a new experience for me because reading, up until that point, had been such a struggle and source of stress. I think I just needed to find the right kind of stories with which I could identify. — John Corey Whaley

I'm a huge movie nerd. — John Corey Whaley

Call it egotistical or narcissist, but I think that's what we all look for in books - the right stories that help us make sense of the world that we, on a very personal level, live in every day. — John Corey Whaley

I do come from a very close family. And I'm fascinated, in particular, with family relationships and the relationships that we all form with friends who feel as close, if not closer, than family. — John Corey Whaley

The unspoken philosophy of all those in love with Ada was something like this: If I have to die to get that, then death it is. — John Corey Whaley

I'm not sure I can do this anymore."
"Do what?"
"This. Exist. Be here like this with everything so fucked up."
"Hey, Travis? I don't think it really matters if you know how to exist."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't think any of us do."
"Then what are we doing?"
"I don't know. We're just meandering. — John Corey Whaley

We are who we are. You know that better than anyone. — John Corey Whaley

Do you ever stand in here with that garage door open?"

"No I do not."

"Interesting," Clark said. — John Corey Whaley

But at home, that same day he'd jumped into the fountain, he'd gotten so anxious, pacing around the living room listening to his parents try to calm him, that he suddenly just lost it completely and slapped his face. He immediately started crying, confused and guilty, looking up at his parents like he had no idea how it happened. And, really, that's the way it always was with the hitting. It would happen so fast, his body shaking to release the tension that built up from all the thoughts swirling through his mind and all the air he was having trouble breathing and all the loud beating of his own heart ringing in his ears. It had to get out and that was the path it chose. Slap. Instant relief. — John Corey Whaley

Janis was completely caught off guard that Lisa finally stood up for herself — John Corey Whaley

Solomon had good days and he had bad days, but the good had far outnumbered the bad since Lisa and Clark had started coming around. Sometimes, though, they'd show up and he's look completely exhausted, drained of all his charm and moving in slow motion. They could do that to him - the attacks. Something about the physical response to panic can drain all the energy out of a person, and it doesn't matter what causes it or how long it lasts. What Solomon had was unforgiving and sneaky and as smart as any other illness. It was like a virus or cancer that would hide just long enough to fool him into thinking it was gone. And because it showed up when it damn well pleased, he'd learned to be honest about it, knowing that embarrassment only made it worse. — John Corey Whaley

You can find ways to be okay with dying, but you can't fake your way through living. — John Corey Whaley

I've been an assistant to a folklorist and a teacher. There may or may not have been some sandwich-making at a certain sub chain in my past as well. — John Corey Whaley

I don't want to lie about who I am, even if it doesn't matter. It's who I am. It's part of me. — John Corey Whaley

Ada Taylor knelt beside me on the floor as I cried for the first time over the thought that my favorite person in the world was probably dead. — John Corey Whaley

Before they knew it, Ormsby Island would become a paranormal attraction like Waverly Hills or Houghton Mansion or the Whaley House. The place would be crawling with people anxious to catch a ghost on camera or audio. — Hunter Shea

It was easier for me to hate everyone in town than hate myself for being afraid I'd be just like them. — John Corey Whaley

I thought, 'What if I were 17, and it was my small town of Springhill, Louisiana? How would I feel if people started flooding in to see some bird?' — John Corey Whaley

She just looked right at him the only way she ever had, like he was the only other person in the world. — John Corey Whaley

I jotted down Oslo After Death. This would be a great title for a book, I thought. That is what I do sometimes. I jot down titles for books that I one day intend to write. — John Corey Whaley

We've learned from this that death can hurt us. It can surprise us. It can scare us. It can keep us up a night. But we've also learned the things that death cannot do. It cannot crush our hopes. It cannot take away the love and support of our family and friends. It cannot make us lose our unending faith in world and in God. It has saddened us, but it will not prevail. — John Corey Whaley

I often found myself in situations where I had, without thinking, said too much to too many with too little caution. — John Corey Whaley

Think Han, not Lonely Agoraphobe. — John Corey Whaley

I love meeting readers and booksellers and am beyond overwhelmed and gratified at the reception. Each day feels like an adventure. — John Corey Whaley

But she believed there was a thin line between accepting one's fears and giving in to them altogether. — John Corey Whaley

I like to make movies about how people actually live, realistically. — Frank Whaley

He tried to help the world, but the world wouldn't let him. — John Corey Whaley

It was like looking at the sun and not going blind — John Corey Whaley

Fulton Dumas, do you know where Gabriel Witter is?"
"No," he said, his expression changing suddenly from surprised embarrassment to sadness.
"Are you sure?" Lucas asked.
"Why would I know where he is?"
"I don't know, Fulton. Why do you need a thousand stuffed bears? Have you seen Gabriel Witter? — John Corey Whaley

I've been in situations where I've been sent scripts to direct, and I always end up becoming very controlling and wanting to rewrite it to fit what I think it should say, and it just usually doesn't work. — Frank Whaley

In terms of the films I make, I'm just more excited about it if I've written it. It's like living in a house that you've built rather than a rental. — Frank Whaley

I don't think anyone, no matter what, can find perfect happiness until they understand exactly who they are and how every little thing they do can affect the world around them. I think perfect happiness would be a world where everyone is constantly striving to understand everyone else. — John Corey Whaley

Mongrel A mongrel dog is the result of having beer-goggle eyes on a Friday or Saturday night and then waking up the following morning, still unsure who or what you've slept with. Mongrel dogs are the result of random breeding where the parents are of mixed ancestry too. Each one is unique. — Simon Whaley

We talked for a while longer about whether or not I was going to study writing or just be like everyone else who wanted to be a writer and become a teacher instead. — John Corey Whaley

Life, he says, doesn't have to be so bad all the time. We don't have to be anxious about everything. We can just be. We can get up, anticipate that the day will probably have a few good moments and a few bad ones, and then just deal with it. Take it all in and deal as best we can. — John Corey Whaley

There are no boring places, only boring people, — John Corey Whaley

They say the heart is just a muscle. They say it plays absolutely no role in our emotions and that its use as a symbol for love is based on archaic theories of it being the seat of the soul or something ridiculous like that. But as I quietly listened to every word she was saying to me, as each syllable shot a sharp arrow through the phone and into my ear, I swear I felt like my entire chest would collapse in on itself. I knew this feeling. They say a heart can't really break because there's nothing to be broken. But see, I once had to leave everyone I loved, and it felt this same way. — John Corey Whaley

Cabot Searcy began to care about learning not for the sake of making good grades, but because he still wanted to change the world. — John Corey Whaley

His brother, he thinks, was in love with everyone he knew. — John Corey Whaley

My family and friends have been monumentally supportive from well before I was a published author. — John Corey Whaley

I'm completely obsessed with Andrew Smith's 'Winger.' A great, hilarious, and moving story. — John Corey Whaley

But, you see, it is not so much in the things we say to them about Christ, but more in the things we do for them that mirror the ways of Christ. — John Corey Whaley

He was an astronaut without a suit, but he was still breathing. — John Corey Whaley

I can't seem to be a pessimist long enough to overlook the possibility of things being overwhelmingly good. — John Corey Whaley

I regret waiting until my mid-twenties to really start seeing the world. I think I should have taken more risks when I was younger and worried less about being ready to grow up. — John Corey Whaley

I would love to be able to direct episodic television, because it's a great way to make a living, and it's something where I think I could utilize my talents as well as my ability to work fast. — Frank Whaley

We all get people that help us make sense of the world, right? We just have to figure out how to keep them however we can. — John Corey Whaley

We're just floating in space trying to figure out what it means to be human. — John Corey Whaley

It's a real shame. I like how people act on holidays. Everyone just seems ... I don't know
lighter, maybe. Like they're allowed to have fun all day long and eat anything they want and do silly things, and no one cares because, hey, it's a holiday, so why not? — John Corey Whaley

I'm always trying to make movies. It's what I love to do more than anything. I love to write and direct. — Frank Whaley

No matter how evil man gets, he always gets a second chance one way or another. — John Corey Whaley

someone who wants to trust everyone so much that they don't see a lie when it's slapping them right in the face. — John Corey Whaley

Death can surprise us. It can scare us. It can keep us up at night. But we've also learned the things that death cannot do. It cannot crush our hopes. It cannot take away the love and support of our friends and family. — John Corey Whaley

As smart as I am, it took a boy stuck in his house to teach me that sometimes it doesn't matter where you are at all. It only matters whos with you. — John Corey Whaley

That's what we do sometimes. We let people disappear. We want them to. If everyone just stays quiet and out of the way, then the rest of us can pretend everything's fine. But everything is not fine. — John Corey Whaley

You ever feel like you know someone so much that they can breathe for you? Like when their chest and your chest rise and fall, they do it together because they have to? That's how it felt. That's how it always felt. — John Corey Whaley

Approaching my second novel was, admittedly, a bit of a struggle. But having an amazing team at Atheneum Books, especially my very patient, brilliant editor Namrata Tripathi, took a stressful situation and turned it into a really great learning experience for me. — John Corey Whaley

I knew the second I met you that you'd save my life someday. — John Corey Whaley

But in that moment I understood what they say about nostalgia, that no matter if you're thinking of something good or bad, it always leaves you a little emptier afterward. — John Corey Whaley

You know things are weird when you start appreciating your farts. — John Corey Whaley

You have to forget about people when you can't have them anymore. That's the only way to be okay. — John Corey Whaley

She hadn't heard the words Star Trek in seven days and it felt amazing. The — John Corey Whaley

And then he spent three years wondering why everyone found that so hard to understand. All he was doing was living instead of dying. Some people get cancer. Some people get crazy. Nobody tries to take the chemo away. — John Corey Whaley

Not only had my brother disappeared, but
and bear with me here
a part of my very being had gone with him. Stories about us could, from them on, be told from only one perspective. Memories could be told but not shared. — John Corey Whaley

If you could be any character on The Next Generation, who would you be?"
"Easy," Solomon said. "Data. For sure."
"That makes sense," Clark said.
"You?"
"I always liked Wesley Crusher."
"What?" Solomon was appalled. "Nobody likes Wesley Crusher."
"Why not?" Lisa asked.
"Because he's a total Mary Sue," Solomon said. "He's too perfect."
"But he's always saving the day," Clark argued. "Like, always."
"Exactly. He's just a talking deus ex machina. Everybody on the ship treats him like a dumb kid, then he saves them at the last minute and, every single time, they go right back to treating him like a dumb kid again. Do I need to remind you that the starship Enterprise is full of genius scientists and engineers? Why's this kid who can't get into Starfleet Academy smarter than all of them?"
"Good point," Clark said. "He's still my choice, though. — John Corey Whaley

You think too much," Lucas said to me on the banks of the White River the next day.
"I think too much?" I asked, my voice raised.
"Yeah. You can't just sit back and relax without analyzing every little thing," he said.
"That's what you do, Lucas!" I said.
"Only sometimes," he said back.
"Just as much as I do, I'd say."
"Whatever. That's not the point. The point is, you - sorry, we need to learn how to just calm down and take everything in before trying to pick it all apart."
"Why?" I asked.
"Because we always end up ruinin' it before it begins. — John Corey Whaley