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

by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Sometimes I had beautiful words living inside of me and I just couldn’t push those words out so that other people could see they were there.

You get used to not talking. You get used to the silence. It’s hard, you know, to break a silence that becomes a part of how you see yourself. Silence becomes a way of living.

I didn’t know if I liked thinking about how much mothers loved, because it hurt to know that. And I didn’t want to live in hurt. But it was much better than self-hatred, which was just a stupid way to live.

And what was it about human beings that wanted to measure love as if it were something that could be measured?

Every human being—each of us—is like a country. You can build walls around yourself to protect yourself, to keep others out, never letting anybody visit you, never letting anybody in, never letting anybody see the beauty of the treasures you carry within. Building walls can lead to a sad and lonely existence. But we can also decide to give people visas and let them in so they can see for themselves all the wealth you have to offer. You can decide to let those who visit you see your pain and the courage it has taken you to survive. Letting other people in—letting them see your country—this is the key to happiness.

“When you let people put you down, then you’re a dead man. You know what you are, Cassandra? You’re a killer. You use your looks as a weapon. You’re a loaded gun disguised as girl.”

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

I didn’t want to live my life in a fantasy. The world I wanted to live in didn’t exist. And I was struggling to love the world I did live in. I wondered if I was strong enough or good enough to love a world that hated me.

But the problem was that love was never safe. Love took you to places you had always been afraid to go.

I felt that I knew everything there was to know about love. But, for me, to love was one thing. To let yourself be loved, well, that was the most difficult thing of all.

“I want to kiss you.” “You’re mocking me.” “I’m not. Now I’m going to want to kiss you all the time.” “You always want to kiss me all the time.” “Yeah, but now, it’s like I want to tear your clothes off all the time.” “I can’t believe you just said that.” “Oh well, I thought that honesty was the best policy.” “Honesty doesn’t have to be verbally expressed.” “Silence equals death.”

These two..

“Don’t ever let anybody tell you that war is something beautiful or heroic. When people say war is hell, war is hell. Cowards start wars, and the brave fight them.”

“ ‘But I have promises to keep.’ ” “ ‘And miles to go before I sleep.’ ”

Thank you to Mrs. Krueger for introducing and instilling this Robert Frost poem into me in 2nd grade.

“Ari, you look so sad. And all this love I have for you, it can’t make you un-sad. I wish I could take all your pain away.” “But the pain is mine, Dante. And you can’t have it. If you took it away, I would miss it.”

Life, Ari, can be an ugly thing. But life can be so incredibly beautiful. It’s both. And we have to learn to hold the contradictions inside us without despairing, without losing our hope.”