Jasper Jones

by Craig Silvey

See, most people you meet, they’ll talk to you through fifty layers of gauze and tinting.

My point is this: the more you have to lose, the braver you are for standing up.

“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear—not absence of fear.”

Everyone can learn a trade and pay taxes and have a family. But that’s not growin up. It’s about how you act when your shit gets shaken up, it’s about how much you see around you. That’s what makes a man. And

“Right. I guess it must be comforting to actually believe in God and Jesus and all that. It must fill in all that space so you don’t have to worry about it anymore. But it’s a bit like closing a door when there’s a cold draft, isn’t it? It’s still cold out there, it’s just that you don’t notice anymore because you’re warm.”

It’s better to shut up and appear stupid than open your mouth and remove all doubt.