Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World (Aristotle and Dante, #2)

by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

and even though words were important, they weren’t everything. A lot of things happened outside the world of words.

Sometimes silence was the only song worth singing.

Not everyone you love is meant to stay in your life forever.

you matter more to the universe than you will ever know.”

Besides, there wasn’t anything wrong with being sad. It was okay to be sad about some things.

Life wasn’t a nightmare—but it wasn’t a good dream either. Life wasn’t a dream at all—it was something we all had to live.

And you can also discover all the hurt that exists in the world in your own tears—if you listen to the song your tears are singing.

If we’re lucky. If we’re very lucky, the universe will send us the people we need to survive.

Jaime and I have always believed that a parent holds a sacred office. And we will never abdicate or resign from that office just because things get difficult.

It’s easy to tell a dog you love her. It’s not so easy to say those words to the people around you.

No one asks to be born. And no one wants to die. We don’t bring ourselves into the world, and when it’s time for us to leave, the decision will not be ours to make. But what we do with the time in between the day we are born and the day we die, that is what constitutes a human life. You will have to make choices—and those choices will map out the shape and course of your life. We are all cartographers—all of us. We all want to write our names on the map of the world.

Now is the only thing that’s real. Tomorrow is just an idea.

to love was one thing. To let yourself be loved, well, that was the most difficult thing of all.

And you shouldn’t blame God for all the stupid and mean things people say. And we’re both pretty sure God isn’t homophobic.

Cowards start wars, and the brave fight them.”

I do remember thinking that the world had ended and wondering why I was still here, on this earth, in this world that had ended.

“I just lost a good friend today. A very passionate and wise and good friend. I don’t want to grieve in front of you. It seems disrespectful. What is my grief compared to yours?”

once the energy of something living enters the world, it never dies, and that we are, and always will be, connected.