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Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
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Speak Quotes Showing 31-60 of 302

"A little kid asks my dad why that man is chopping down the tree.

Dad: He's not chopping it down. He's saving it. Those branches were long dead from disease. All plants are like that. By cutting off the damage you make it possible for the tree to grow again. You watch - by the end of summer, this tree will be the strongest on the block."
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak

"Principal Principal: Where's your late pass, mister?
Errant Student: I'm on my way to get one now.
PP: But you can't be in the hall without a pass.
ES: I know, I'm so upset. That's why I need to hurry, so I can get a pass.
Principal Principal pauses with a look on his face like Daffy Duck's when Bugs is pulling a fast one.
PP: Well, hurry up, then, and get that pass."
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak

"Mr Freeman: "Art without emotion is like chocolate cake without sugar. It makes you gag." He sticks his finger down his throat. "The next time you work on your trees, don't think about trees. Think about love, or hate, or joy, or pain- whatever makes you feel something, makes your palms sweat, or your toes curl. Focus on that feeling.
When people don't express themselves, they die on piece at a time. You'd be shocked at how many adults are really dead inside- walking through their days with no idea who they are, just waiting for a heart attack or cancer or a mack truck to come along and finish the job. It's the saddest thing I know."
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak

"I want to be in fifth grade again. Now, that is a deep dark secret, almost as big as the other one. Fifth grade was easy -- old enough to play outside without Mom, too young to go off the block. The perfect leash length."
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak

"Mr. Freeman: You are getting better at this, but it's not good enough. This looks like a tree,but it is an average, ordinary, everyday, boring tree. Breathe life into it. Make it bend - trees are flexible, so they don't snap. Scar it, give it a twisted branch - perfect trees don't exist. Nothing is perfect. Flaws are interesting. Be the tree."
― laurie halse anderson, Speak

"Nothing is perfect. Flaws are interesting. Be the tree."
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak

"It is my first morning of high school. I have seven new notebooks, a skirt I hate, and a stomachache."
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak

"I make it through the first two weeks of school without a nuclear meltdown. "
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak

"Rumors are spread by jealous people"
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak

"This is wonderful, wonderful! Be the bird. You are the bird. Sacrifice yourself to abandoned family values...."
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak

"My parents didn't raise me to be religious. The closest we come to worship is the Trinity of Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. I think the Merryweather cheerleaders confuse me because I missed out on Sunday School. It has to be a miracle. There is no other explanation. How else could they sleep with the football team on Saturday night and be reincarnated as virginal goddesses on Monday?"
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak

"My face becomes a Picasso sketch, my body slicing into pieces."
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak

"It doesn't hurt. Nothing hurts except the small smiles and blushes that flash across the room like tiny sparrows."
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak

"I just thought of a great theory that explains everything. When I went to that party, I was abducted by aliens. They have created a fake Earth and fake high school to study me and my reactions. This certainly explains cafeteria food."
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak

"My English teacher has no face. She has uncombed stringy hair that droops on her shoulders. The hair is black from her part to her ears and then neon orange to the frizzy ends. I can't decide if she had pissed off her hairdresser or is morphing into a monarch butterfly. I call her Hairwoman."
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak

"The same boys who got detention in elementary school for beating the crap out of people are now rewarded for it. They call it football."
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak

"I watch the Eruptions. Mount Dad, long dormant, now considered armed and dangerous. Mount Saint Mom, oozing lava, spitting flame. Warn the villagers to run into the sea."
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak

"To keep up appearances, I stomp my room and slam the door."
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak

"All that crap you hear on TV about communication and expressing feelings is a lie. Nobody really wants to hear what you have to say."
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak

"I see IT in the hallway. IT goes to Merryweather. IT is walking with Aubrey cheerleader. IT is my nightmare and I can't wake up.IT sees me. IT smiles and winks. Good thing my lips are stitched together or I'd throw up."
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak

"I cry to let everything out"
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak

"They say they have noticed me drawing. I almost tell them right then and there. They noticed."
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak

"The one good thing about being kind of shy is that nobody bugs you when you want to be left alone."
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak

"He says a million things without saying a word. I have never heard a more eloquent
silence."
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak

"Don't expect to make a difference unless you speak up for yourself."
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak

"Too much sun after a Syracuse winter does strange things to your head, makes you feel strong, even if you aren't."
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak

"I can't do everything for you. You must walk alone to find your soul."
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak

"I am not going to think about it. It was ugly, but it's over, and I'm not going to think about it."
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak

"I pull my lower lip all the way in between my teeth. If I try hard enough, maybe I can gobble my whole self this way.... I didn't try hard enough to swallow myself."
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak

"My first class is biology. I can't find it and get my first demerit for wandering the hall. It is 8:50 in the morning. Only 699 days and 7 class periods until graduation."
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak

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Source: https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/118521-speak?page=2

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