Wonder Palacio Quotes & Sayings

She picked up a different photo from the nightstand and handed it to me to look at. At first, I thought it was just another copy of the class picture, because it was exactly the same size as the class picture Dad had in his hands, and everything in it was exactly the same. I started to look away in disgust, but Mom pointed to a place on the photo - the place where Auggie used to be! He was nowhere in the photo. — R.J. Palacio

Your deeds are your monuments. — R.J. Palacio

Sometimes it's good to start over — R.J. Palacio

HENRY JOPLIN'S PRECEPT
Don't be friends with jerks. — R.J. Palacio

When I finally calmed down, I handed her the Ewok. "Can you go back and give it to him" I said. "Oh, honey," she answered. "That's so sweet of you. But Isabel can clean the Lego set. It'll be good as new for Auggie, don't worry." "No, for the other kid," I answered. She looked at me a second, like she didn't know what to say. "Via said he doesn't speak any English," I sai. "It must be really scary for him, being in the hospital." She nodded slowly. "Yeah," she whispered. "It must be." She closed her eyes and hugged me again. And then she took me over to the security desk, where I waited until she went back up the elevator and, after about five minutes, came back down again. "Did he like it?" I asked. "Honeyboy," she said softly, brushing the hair out of my eyes. "You made his day. — R.J. Palacio

What is beautiful is good, and who is good will soon be beautiful. — Sappho

Then they came out of the narrow valley and at once she saw the reason. There stood Peter and Edmund and all the rest of Aslan's army fighting desperately against the crowd of horrible creatures whom she had seen last night; only now, in the daylight, they looked even stranger and more evil and more deformed. — R.J. Palacio

A fresh start gives us the chance to reflect on the past, weigh the things we've done, and apply what we've learned from those things to the future. — R.J. Palacio

I kind of wanted to tell them that. Like, it's okay, I know I'm weird-looking, take a look, I don't bite. Hey, the truth is, if a Wookiee started going to the school all of a sudden, I'd be curious, I'd probably stare a bit! — R.J. Palacio

He is the greatest whose strength carries up the most hearts by the attraction of his own. — R.J. Palacio

I do not like to dwell on the past. Life is ahead of us. If we spend too much time looking backward, we can't see where we are going! — R.J. Palacio

I wasn't even sure why I was getting this medal, really.
No, that's not true. I knew why.
It's like people you see sometimes, and you can't imagine what it would be like to be that person, whether it's somebody in a wheelchair or somebody who can't talk. Only, I know that I'm that person to other people, maybe to every single person in that whole auditorium.
To me, though, I'm just me. An ordinary kid.
But hey, if they want to give me a medal for being me, that's okay. I'll take it. I didn't destroy a Death Star or anything like that, but I did just get through the fifth grade. And that's not easy, even if you're not me. — R.J. Palacio

And I wondered how it would feel to be in Heaven and not have my face matter anymore. Just like how it never, ever mattered to Daisy. — R.J. Palacio

Things that happen to us, even the bad stuff, can often teach us a little bit about ourselves. — R.J. Palacio

There's no rule book that tells you how to act in every given situation in life, you know? So what I always say is that it's always better to err on the side of kindness. That's the secret. If you don't know what to do, just be kind. You can't go wrong. — R.J. Palacio

She had only hesitated for a millionth of a second, but I could tell the moment she saw me. Like I said : I'm used to it by now. — R.J. Palacio

Good friendships are worth a little extra effort! — R.J. Palacio

You are a wonder. — R.J. Palacio

Everyone should always have a standing ovation at least once in their life. — R.J. Palacio

I love that feeling when you first open your eyes in the morning and you don't even know why everything seems different than usual. Then it hits you: Everything is quiet. No cars honking. No buses going down the street. Then you run over to the window, and outside everything is covered in white: the sidewalks, the trees, the cars on the street, your windowpanes. And when that happens on a school day and you find out your school is closed, well, I don't care how old I get: I'm always going to think that that's the best feeling in the world. And I'm never going to be one of those grown-ups that use an umbrella when it's snowing - ever. — R.J. Palacio

Do people look the same when they go to heaven, mommy?"
"I don't know. I don't think so."
"Then how do people recognize each other?"
"I don't know, sweetie. They just feel it. You don't need your eyes to love, right? — R.J. Palacio

Middle School is about as bad as it gets, and then it gets better. — R.J. Palacio

I opened the box. Inside was the cutest little puppy I've ever seen in my life. It was black and furry, with a pointy little snout and bright black eyes and small ears that flopped down. — R.J. Palacio

Every person's story weaves in and out of someone else's story. — R.J. Palacio

Maybe it is a lottery, but the universe makes it all even out in the end. The universe takes care of its birds. — R.J. Palacio

But realizing that Ximena Chin, under her layers and layers and layers of snarkiness and mischief, could actually be kind of sweet. When she wasn't being kind of mean. — R.J. Palacio

They can try to forecast the odds, but they can't guarantee them. They use terms like "germline mosaicism," "chromosome rearrangement," or "delayed mutation" to explain why their science is not an exact science. I actually like how doctors talk. I like the sound of science. I like how words you don't understand explain things you can't understand. There are countless people under words like "germline mosaicism," "chromosome rearrangement," or "delayed mutation." Countless — R.J. Palacio

We should be remembered for the things we do. The things we do are the most important things of all. They are more important than what we say or what we look like. The things we do outlast our mortality. The things we do are like monuments that people build to honour heroes after they've died. They're like the pyramids that the Egyptians built to honour the Pharaohs. Only instead of being made out of stone, they're made out of the memories people have of you. That's why your deeds are like your monuments. Built with memories instead of with stone. — R.J. Palacio

And far away, like in another world, we could hear Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens. — R.J. Palacio

Or, what does a poor man have, a rich man need, and you would die if you ate it? Stuff — R.J. Palacio

No, sweeties, don't let them do that to you. You were there for more than forty-eight hours, and that awful part lasted one hour. Don't let them take that away from you, okay? — R.J. Palacio

He meticulously tries to get every hair in place. He tilts his head to look at himself from different angles, like there's some magic perspective in the mirror that could change the dimensions of his face'
-Olivia/Via thinking — R.J. Palacio

Maybe he knew it and maybe he didn't, but for someone like me, words like that are worth all the medals in the world. — R.J. Palacio

I mean, I don't want to brag or anything, but I'm actually considered something of a medical wonder, you know. — R.J. Palacio

You ever wonder what happens to people when they die?" I asked. He shrugged. "Not really. I mean, I guess they go to heaven? That's where my Grans went." "I think about it a lot," I said. "I think when people die, their souls go to heaven but just for a little while. Like that's where they see their old friends and stuff, and kind of catch up on old times. But then I actually think the souls start thinking about their lives on earth, like if they were good or bad or whatever. And then they get born again as brand-new babies in the world." "Why would they want to do that?" "Because then they get another chance to get it right," I answered. "Their souls get a chance to have a do-over. — R.J. Palacio

You don't need your eyes to love right? You just feel it inside you — R.J. Palacio

Thank you for making me go to school," I said quietly. She hugged me close and leaned down and kissed the top of my head. "Thank you, Auggie," she answered softly. "For what?" "For everything you've given us," she said. "For coming into our lives. For being you." She bent down and whispered in my ear. "You really are a wonder, Auggie. You are a wonder. — R.J. Palacio

I wish every day could be Halloween. We could all wear masks all the time. Then we could walk around and get to know each other before we got to see what we looked like under the masks. — R.J. Palacio

I think we're too young to be dating. I mean I don't see what the rush is." Summer says.
"Yeah, I agree," said August. "Which is kind of a shame, you know what with all those babes who keep throwing themselves at me and stuff? — R.J. Palacio

Olivia reminds me of a bird sometimes, how her feathers get all ruffled when she's mad. and when she's fragile like this, she's a little lost bird looking for its nest. — R.J. Palacio

Oh wow, there's another fly on the wall! Look, there's a new dog sleeping on the sidewalk. Yippee. — R.J. Palacio

Do people look the same when they get to heaven?" "I don't know. I don't think so." "Then how do people recognize each other?" "I don't know, sweetie." She sounded tired. "They just feel it. You don't need your eyes to love, right? You just feel it inside you. That's how it is in heaven. It's just love, and no one forgets who they love. — R.J. Palacio

I want you to start a brand-new section in your notebooks and call it Mr. Browne's Precepts." He kept talking as we did what he was telling us to do. "Put today's date at the top of the first page. And from now on, at the beginning of every month, I'm going to write a new Mr. Browne precept on the chalkboard and you're going to write it down in your notebook. Then we're going to discuss that precept and what it means. And at the end of the month, you're going to write an essay about it, about what it means to you. So by the end of the year, you'll all have your own list of precepts to take away with you. — R.J. Palacio

You were wearing that helmet all the time. And the real, real, real, real truth is: I missed seeing your face, Auggie. I know you don't always love it, but you have to understand ... I love it. I love this face of yours, Auggie, completely and passionately. And it kind of broke my heart that you were always covering it up. — R.J. Palacio

AMOS CONTI'S PRECEPT
Don't try too hard to be cool. It always shows, and that's uncool. — R.J. Palacio

Jack, sometimes you don't have to be mean to hurt someone. — R.J. Palacio

It's not enough to be friendly. You have to be a friend. — R.J. Palacio

But the good thing about life, Julian," she continued, "is that we can fix our mistakes sometimes. We learn from them. We get better. One mistake does not define you. — R.J. Palacio

One of the reasons I grew my hair long last year was that I like how my bangs cover my eyes: it helps me block out the things I don't want to see.
-August thinking — R.J. Palacio

Via had warned me about lunch in middle school, so I guess I should have known it would be hard. — R.J. Palacio

He cleared his throat and read from the book: " 'It was at moments such as these that Joseph recognized the face of God in human form. It glimmered in their kindness to him, it glowed in their keenness, it hinted in their caring, indeed it caressed in their gaze.' " He paused and took off his reading glasses again. "It glimmered in their kindness to him," he repeated, smiling. "Such a simple thing, kindness. Such a simple thing. A nice word of encouragement given when needed. An act of friendship. A passing smile." He — R.J. Palacio

I couldn't wait to go home. — R.J. Palacio

Such a simple thing, kindness. Such a simple thing. A nice word of encouragement, given when needed. An act of friendship. A passing smile. — R.J. Palacio

But hey, if they want to give me a medal for being me, that's okay. I'll take it. — R.J. Palacio

The first look I got of August, well, it made me want to cover my eyes and run away screaming. — R.J. Palacio

Now that I look back, I don't know why I was so stressed about it all this time. Funny how sometimes you worry a lot about something and it turns out to be nothing. — R.J. Palacio

We would spend hours playing pretend games about missions to deep space, or landing on Pluto. That became our favorite planet to travel to. Pluto was our Tatooine. We — R.J. Palacio

To thine own self be true. — R.J. Palacio

Everyone born of God overcometh the world. — R.J. Palacio

It's like people you see sometimes, and you can't imagine what it would be like to be that person, whether it's somebody in a wheelchair or somebody who can't talk. Only, I know that I'm that person to other people, maybe to every single person in that whole auditorium.
To me, though, I'm just me. An ordinary kid. — R.J. Palacio

East Harlem accent: — R.J. Palacio

As we get older and wiser, that we all learn to trust each other enough so that we can truly be ourselves, and accept each other for who we really are. — R.J. Palacio

When given the choice between being right or being kind, choose kind. - Dr Wayne W. Dyer — R.J. Palacio

Olivia is a girl who sees everything. — R.J. Palacio