Perfect Quotes

“HOW

do you define a word without concrete meaning? To each his own, the saying goes, so

WHY

push to attain an ideal state of being that no two random people will agree is

WHERE

you want to be? Faultless. Finished. Incomparable. People can never be these, and anyway,

WHEN

did creating a flawless facade become a more vital goal than learning to love the person

WHO

lives inside your skin? The outside belongs to others. Only you should decide for you -

WHAT

is perfect.”
― Ellen Hopkins, Perfect

“She is madness,
sanity. She is hell, and
paradise.”
― Ellen Hopkins, Perfect

“...what good would it
do to
shutter your windows, never
dream of rainbows or find hope
in promises? Why choose to
walk away
rather than hold your ground
and fight for love?”
― Ellen Hopkins, Perfect

“Bad choices or good, if you never take chances, someone else will build your life for you.”
― Ellen Hopkins, Perfect

“Ghosts don't scare me. Flesh and blood people do.”
― Ellen Hopkins, Perfect

“Love

Is
a curious thing. Sometimes
it barrels into you, leaves you
breathless. Other times, it comes
in-
to your life, a tentative beam
of morning sun sneaking
through the blinds, and you think
this
light isn't possible. The shutters
are drawn. Night should linger
on. I don't feel like waking. Yet the
room
comes slowly lit. Sleep slithers
away, and at last you can no
longer deny the dawning.”
― Ellen Hopkins, Perfect

“Am I more afraid
Of taking a chance and
learning I'm somebody
I don't know, or of risking
new territory,
only to find I'm the same
old me? There is comfort
in the tried and true.
Breaking ground
might uncover a sinkhole,
one impossible to climb out
of. And setting sail in
uncharted waters
might mean capsizing into
a sea monster's jaws.
Easier to turn my back on
these things
than to try tjem and fail.
And yet, a whisper insists
I need to know if they are or
aren't integral to me.
Status quo is a swamp.
And stagnation is slow death.”
― Ellen Hopkins, Perfect

“Death Is only the easy way out if you are the one who dies.”
― Ellen Hopkins, Perfect

“Fake
Is that what you are
if you choose to improve
the basic not perfect you?”
― Ellen Hopkins, Perfect

“When did creating a flawless facade become a more vital goal than learning to love the person who lives inside your skin?”
― Ellen Hopkins, Perfect

“When you've only got one little shimmer of sunshine, you capture it best you can.”
― Ellen Hopkins, Perfect

“If all you can promise me is today, I'll take it and hope for tomorrow.”
― Ellen Hopkins, Perfect

“Perfect?

How
do you define a word without
concrete meaning? To each
his own, the saying goes, so

why
push to attain an ideal
state of being that no two
random people will agree is

where
you want to be? Faultless.
Finished. Incomparable. People
can never be these, and anyway,

when
did creating a flawless facade
become a more vital goal
than learning to love the person

who
lives inside your skin?
The outside belongs to others.
Only you should decide for you---

what
is perfect”
― Ellen Hopkins, Perfect

“She is angle. I am
curve. Together, we are geometric
sculpture, and we make perfect sense.”
― Ellen Hopkins, Perfect

“A Problem Is really just a solution in need of a reason to exist.”
― Ellen Hopkins, Perfect

“Living means taking chances. Risks. Playing safe all the time is being dead inside, even if you happen to still be breathing.”
― Ellen Hopkins, Perfect

“Transformation
Isn't easy when most of the people
in your life think you're already
perfect, and want you to stay just
how they see you. Try to begin

a new phase, you'd better expect
push-back. Try to create a whole
new you, your friend list will shrink
considerably.”
― Ellen Hopkins, Perfect

“Not exactly. I see a girl who wants to present someone special to the world. Someone beautiful. The pinnacle of beauty. But she has lost her hold on reality. Real beauty isn’t thin. It isn’t size two, unless you happen to be four foot ten. What the world sees when they look at you is someone who believes self-worth is all about how she looks, and that very often means that what she’s missing is love. Not someone else’s love. But love and respect for herself.”
― Ellen Hopkins, Perfect

“The truth is, I've always been afraid of letting anyone get too close. I built a wall around me, a barricade to hide behind those few times someone wanted entry to my heart.”
― Ellen Hopkins, Perfect

“Love is Chocolate
The unprocessed kind. Dark. Bitter.
But always with the promise of sweet
perfection. All it takes is sugar-
that certain someone's kiss, flavored

with possibility. If Dani has taught
me anything, it's that life is brimming
with possibilities. Every single day
brings choices.”
― Ellen Hopkins, Perfect

“There will never be color
blindness in a culture of
fear.”
― Ellen Hopkins, Perfect

“For a long while. Finally she says, I don't believe in love. Not sure it really exists, but even if it does for some people, it won't for me. She is serious. Then she lightens up. But, hey, if you think you love me, cool.”
― Ellen Hopkins, Perfect

“Anger is easier than forgiveness.”
― Ellen Hopkins, Perfect

“I can see why she feels left behind. Maybe even discarded. Is that why she refuses to accept my love and return it? Afraid that love doesn't last? Doesn't really exist? Afraid if her own father can withdraw his love (or at least the manifestation of his love), that maybe she somehow isn't worthy of the emotion?”
― Ellen Hopkins, Perfect

“Paradise
A concept embraced by almost every culture. A land of peace
and harmony. Some say it
doesn't
belong to the earth, that there
is no Shangri-la, no utopian
wilderness for the living.”
― Ellen Hopkins, Perfect

“Real love shouldn't be disposable.”
― Ellen Hopkins, Perfect

“Commitment means losing yourself to gain something temporary. Nothing lasts. Not looks. Not love. I'm living large and living for today because there might not be a tomorrow.”
― Ellen Hopkins, Perfect

“The wind kicks in stronger, branches clatter. Or maybe skeletons. Bones of abandonment. Ghosts that will never be.”
― Ellen Hopkins, Perfect

“When I was little, my friends would gush over wedding gowns and honeymoons. But I saw too many people flush decades together down the toilet over money or kids or meaningless flings. My own parents chose to stay married, which I think is rather funny, since they show about as much affection for each other as pit bulls in a ring. Tying the knot means slipping a noose around love and choking it to death.”
― Ellen Hopkins, Perfect

“The Stain

That Conner left on our lives will

not vanish as easily. I don’t care

about Mom and her birds.

Their estimation of my brother

doesn’t bother me at all. Neither

do I worry about Dad and

what his lobbyist buddies think.

His political clout has not diminished.

As twins go, Conner and I don’t share

a deep affection, but we do have

a nine-months-in-the-same-womb

connection. Not to mention

a crowd of mutual friends. God,

I’ll never forget going to school

the day after that ugly scene.

The plan was to sever the gossip

grapevine from the start with

an obvious explanation—

accident. Mom’s orders were

clear. Conner’s reputation

was to be protected at all costs.

When I arrived, the rumors

had already started, thanks

to our neighbor, Bobby Duvall.

Conner Sykes got hurt.

Conner Sykes was shot.

Conner Sykes is in the hospital.

Is Conner Sykes, like, dead?

I fielded every single question

with the agreed fabrication.

But eventually, I was forced to

concede that, though his wounds

would heal, he was not coming

back to school right away.

Conner Sykes wasn’t dead.

But he wasn’t exactly “okay.”
― Ellen Hopkins, Perfect