Jay Asher > Quotes

“You don’t know what goes on in anyone’s life but your own. And when you mess with one part of a person’s life, you’re not messing with just that part. Unfortunately, you can’t be that precise and selective. When you mess with one part of a person’s life, you’re messing with their entire life. Everything. . . affects everything.”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“No one knows for certain how much impact they have on the lives of other people. Oftentimes, we have no clue. Yet we push it just the same.”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“You can't stop the future
You can't rewind the past
The only way to learn the secret
...is to press play.”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“A lot of you cared, just not enough.”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“But you can't get away from yourself. You can't decide not to see yourself anymore. You can't decide to turn off the noise in your head.”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“Sometimes we have thoughts that even we don't understand. Thoughts that aren't even true—that aren't really how we feel—but they're running through our heads anyway because they're interesting to think about.”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“If my love were an ocean,
there would be no more land.
If my love were a desert,
you would see only sand.
If my love were a star-
late at night, only light.
And if my love could grow wings,
I'd be soaring in flight.”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“ If you hear a song that makes you cry and you don't want to cry anymore, you don't listen to that song anymore.
But you can't get away from yourself. You can't decide not to see yourself anymore. You can't decide to turn off the noise in your head.”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“You can't go back to how things were. How you thought they were. All you really have is...now.”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“Like driving along a bumpy road and losing control of the steering wheel, tossing you--just a tad--off the road. The wheels kick up some dirt, but you're able to pull it back. Yet no matter how hard you try to drive straight, something keeps jerking you to the side. You have so little control over anything anymore. And at some point, the struggle becomes too much--too tiring--and you consider letting go. Allowing tragedy...or whatever...to happen.”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“In the end....everything matters.”
― Jay Asher

“When you try rescuing someone and discover they can't be reached, why would you ever throw that back in their face?

—Hannah Baker ”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“I hope you're ready, because I'm about to tell you the story of my life. More specifically, why my life ended. And if you're listening to these tapes, you're one of the reasons why.”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“Everything...affects everything”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“I wanted people to trust me, despite anything they'd heard. And more than that, I wanted them to know me. Not the stuff they thought they knew about me. No, the real me. I wanted them to get past the rumors. To see beyond the relationships I once had, or maybe still had but that they didn't agree with.

—Hannah Baker”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“Soul Alone by Hannah Baker

I meet your eyes
you don't even see me
You hardly respond
when I whisper
hello
Could be my soul mate
two kindred spirits
Maybe we're not
I guess we'll never
know

My own mother
you carried me in you
Now you see nothing
but what I wear
People ask you
how I'm doing
You smile and nod
don't let it end
there

Put me
underneath God's sky and
know me
don't just see me with your eyes
Take away
this mask of flesh and bone and
See me
for my soul

alone”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“A flood of emotions rushes into me. Pain and anger. Sadness and pity. But most surprising of all, hope.”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“Maybe it didn’t seem like a big deal to you Zach. But now, I hope you understand. My world was collapsing. I needed those notes. I needed any hope those notes might have offered. And you? You took that hope away. You decided I didn’t deserve to have it. ”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“Fun drunks make a nice addition to any party. Not looking to fight. Not looking to score. Just looking to get drunk and laugh.”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“It's hard to be disappointed when what you expected turns out to be true.”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“I sat. And I thought. And the more I thought, connecting the events in my life, the more my heart collapsed.”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“And after I dropped him off, I took the longest possible route home...I explored alleys and hidden roads I never knew existed. I discovered neighborhoods entirely new to me. And finally. . . I discovered I was sick of this town and everything in it.”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“Everything affects everything.”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“I’m sorry.” Once again, those were the words. And now, anytime someone says I’m sorry, I’m going to think of her.”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“A week went by and nothing. But eventually, as they always will, the rumors reached me. And everyone knows you can't disprove a rumor.”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“Sometimes we have thoughts that even we don’t understand. Thoughts that aren’t even true—that aren’t really how we feel—but they’re running through our heads anyway because they’re interesting to think about.

If you could hear other people’s thoughts, you’d overhear things that are true as well as things that are completely random. And you wouldn’t know one from the other. It’d drive you insane. What’s true? What’s not? A million ideas, but what do they mean?”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“normally when a person has a stellar image another person's waithng in the wings to tear them apart. they're waiting for that one fatal flaw to expose itself.”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“My breathing begins to slow. The tension in my muscles starts to relax.
Then, a click in the headphones. A slow breath of air.
I open my eyes to bright moonlight.
And Hannah, with warmth.
Thank you.”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“That's why you did it. You wanted your world to collapse around you. You wanted everything to get as dark as possible.”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“Because when you're posed, you know someone's watching. You put on your very best smile. You let your sweetest personality shine.”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“I repeat his words in my head. What's going on? What's going on? Oh, well, since you asked, I got a bunch of tapes in the mail today from a girl who killed herself. Apparently, I had something to do with it. I'm not sure what that is, so I was wondering if I could borrow your Walkman to find out.
'Not much,' I say.”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“I'm listening to someone give up. Someone I knew - someone I liked. I'm listening.. but still, I'm too late. -Clay”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“Could be my soul mate / two kindred spirits / Maybe we're not / I guess we'll never / know”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“What you don't understand, you can make mean anything.”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“I don't know what's going on with you,' the man says from across the counter, 'but I'm not taking your money.' He blows into a straw and pinches both ends shut.
I shake my head and reach back for my wallet. 'No, I'll pay.'
He winds the straw tighter and tighter. 'I'm serious. It was only a milkshake. And like I said, I don't know what's going on, and I don't know how I can help, but something's clearly gone wrong in your life, so I want you to keep your money.' His eyes search mine, and I know he means it.
I don't know what to say. Even if the words would come, my throat is so tight it won't let them escape.”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“Watching those guys pummel each other so no one would suspect them of being weak was too much for me. Their reputations were more important than their faces.”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“Maybe you didn't know what people thought of you because they themselves didn't know what they thought of you. Maybe you didn't give us enough to go on, Hannah.”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“If you're angry, you don't have to write a poem dealing with the cause of your anger. But it needs to be an angry poem. So go ahead...write one. I know you're at least a little bit angry with me.
And when you're done with your poem, decipher it as if you'd just found it printed in a textbook and know absolutely nothing about its author. The results can be amazing...and scary. But it's always cheaper than a therapist.”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“You can hear rumors. But you can't know them.”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“When you are done listening to all thirteen sides – because there are thirteen sides to every story – rewind the tapes, put them back in the box, and pass them on to whoever follows your little tale. And you, lucky number thirteen, you can take the tapes straight to hell. Depending on your religion, maybe I’ll see you there.”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“He looks out into the empty street, allowing me to sit in his car and just miss her. To miss her each time I pull in a breath of air. To miss her with a heart that feels so cold by itself, but warm when thoughts of her flow through me.”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“I can't. You can't rewrite the past.”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“Hannah wasn't my first kiss, but the first kiss that mattered: the first kiss with someone who mattered. (pg 222).”
― Jay Asher

“When the right moment appears, the key is to not let it pass.”
― Jay Asher, The Future of Us

“Justin, honey, you were my very first kiss. My very first hand to hold. But you were nothing more than an average guy. And I don't say that to be mean- I don't. There was just something about you that made me need to be your girlfriend to this day I don't know exactly what that was. But it was there.. and it was amazingly strong. -Thirteen Reasons Why”
― Jay Asher

“If time was a string connecting all of your stories, that party would be the point where everything knots up. And that knot keeps growing and growing, getting more and more tangled, dragging the rest of your stories into it.”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“Half of them kept repeating my name, trying to get it right, while the other half laughed.
But they were harmless. Fun drunks make a nice addition to any party: Not looking to fight. Not looking to score. Just looking to get drunk and laugh.
I remember those guys. Like the mascots of the party.
"Clay! Whatcha doon here? Bah-ha-ha-ha!”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“Then come to realize that you're making mountains out of molehills. Realize how petty you've become. Sure, it may feel like you can't get a grip on this town. It may seem that every time someone offers you a hand up, they just let go and you slip further down. But you must stop being so pessimistic, Hannah, and learn to trust those around you. So I do. One more time.”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“If you could hear other people's thoughts, you'd overhear things that are true as well as things that are completely random. And you wouldn't know one from the other. It'd drive you insane. What's true? What's not? A million ideas, but what do they mean?”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

“ Imagine ten or tweleve orange chairs arrainged in a circle, with the happy woen from the flyer sitting at opposite ends. Only problem was, from day one, they weren't happy. Someone, whoever made that flyer, must have digitally turned their frowns upside down.
They wrote about death. About the evilness of men. About the destruction of-and I quote- "the greenish, bluish orb with wisps of white."
Seriously, that's how they descibed it. They went on to call Earth a knocked-up gaseous alien needing an abortion.”
― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why