Humans of New York Quotes

“I've learned that every feeling will pass if you give it time. And if you learn to deal with your feelings, they'll pass by faster each time. So don't rush to cover them up by medicating them. You've got to deal with them.”
― Brandon Stanton, Humans of New York: Stories

“The great thing about New York is that if you sit in one place long enough, the whole world comes to you.”
― Brandon Stanton, Humans of New York: Stories

“The sadness is under the thoughts. It's like when you're on a camping trip, and it's really cold, and you put on extra socks and an extra sweater, but you still can't get warm, because the coldness is in your bones.”
― Brandon Stanton, Humans of New York: Stories

“I'm having trouble dealing with society."
"What aspect of society?"
"The whole thing.”
― Brandon Stanton, Humans of New York: Stories

“I wish I’d partied a little less. People always say ‘be true to yourself.’ But that’s misleading, because there are two selves. There’s your short term self, and there’s your long term self. And if you’re only true to your short term self, your long term self slowly decays.”
― Brandon Stanton, Humans of New York: Stories

“I'm a feminist. So if a woman and I are going for the last empty seat on the subway, I'm not holding back.”
― Brandon Stanton, Humans of New York: Stories

“Shes's always been very accepting and patient with my trust issues. I've always had a hard time getting close. But no matter how many times I doubted, she just kept saying: 'I'm not going anywhere.”
― Brandon Stanton, Humans of New York: Stories

“I have a lot of mental illness right now. Half of my energy goes into taking care of myself. I've been daydreaming about shaving my head fully 'cause then I'll look as sick as I feel.”
― Brandon Stanton, Humans of New York: Stories

“Anyone who has a two hundred-plus IQ runs the risk of just hanging out because you get too involved in your own thoughts and you just want to sit there and think about them.”
― Brandon Stanton, Humans of New York: Stories

“Anyone who has a two hundred-plus IQ runs the risk of just hanging out because you get too involved in your own thoughts and you just want to sit there and think about .”
― Brandon Stanton, Humans of New York: Stories

“My dad died in 9/11. They opened up the museum to families today, so I went this morning. My plan was to go to work after, but I just couldn’t do it.”“What happened to him?”“He was a cop. He actually had the day off. But as soon as he heard, he drove into the city and got there just in time for the second tower to fall. A witness said that my dad had started to run when the tower fell, but turned back because a trapped woman was calling to him.”“What do you remember?”“I was in science class. And my teacher told us that there had been a plane crash. That’s all she said. Then I noticed all these kids around me getting phone calls and text messages, and they’d run out of class. So I knew something big was happening. Soon we got let out of school. On the ride home, I remember thinking that my dad was going to be working overtime on this. I imagined he’d be down there everyday, saving people. ‘I bet I won’t see him for weeks,’ I said.”
― Brandon Stanton, Humans of New York: Stories

“If you're a thief, don't complain about being robbed.”
― Brandon Stanton, Humans of New York: Stories

“It might be a cultural thing, but I was always scolded for showing emotion. Sadness was always met with anger.”
― Brandon Stanton, Humans of New York: Stories

“The more times I fall in love, the less sure I am about love.”
― Brandon Stanton, Humans of New York: Stories

“I turned out okay because of the people in foster care who didn’t go anywhere when I tried to push them away.”

“Anyone in particular?”

“There were a lot. But there was a counselor at one of my group homes named Jenelle Bugue. And when I woke up crying at 3 A.M. because I felt nobody loved me, she would sit with me and tell me that she cared about me, and she wasn’t going anywhere.”
― Brandon Stanton, Humans of New York: Stories

“Who’s influenced you the most in your life?” “My principal, Ms. Lopez.” “How has she influenced you?” “When we get in trouble, she doesn’t suspend us. She calls us to her office and explains to us how society was built down around us. And she tells us that each time somebody fails out of school, a new jail cell gets built. And one time she made every student stand up, one at a time, and she told each one of us that we matter.”
― Brandon Stanton, Humans of New York: Stories

“Right after I lost vision in my eye, I was so bad at walking that I ran into a girl eating ice cream, and knocked her cone out of her hand. She screamed: ‘Are you blind!?!?’ I turned to her and said: 'I am blind actually, I’m so sorry, I’ll buy you a new cone.’ And she said: 'Oh my God! I’m so sorry! Don’t worry! It’s no problem at all! I’ll buy another one.’ So we walked into the ice cream store together, and the clerk said: 'I heard the whole thing. Ice cream is free.”
― Brandon Stanton, Humans of New York: Stories

“I'm trying to write a book based on myself, but i keep changing.”
― Brandon Stanton, Humans of New York: Stories

“There are two books in America: one for the poor and one for the rich. The poor person does a crime and gets forty years. A rich person gets a slap on the wrist for the same crime.”
― Brandon Stanton, Humans of New York: Stories

“Sometimes it's hard not to fall in love with your friends.”
― Brandon Stanton, Humans of New York: Stories

“You're not a hero if you do your job. We're all just grains of sand. The act of living is a farce and it's ridiculous. No, it's not ridiculous. It's a horror. Get up and do it again. Get up and do it again. Do your best to take care of your body while it falls apart anyway. People say: 'Have a good day.' There's no such thing as a good day. You can do some things during a day that might give you a little joy and a little gratification but a day is a day ... Your best hope is to have a purpose, because that provides a distraction from the fact life is a ridiculous farce and a horror.”
― Brandon Stanton, Humans of New York: Stories

“People like to make exceptions of themselves. They hold other people to moral codes that they aren't willing to follow themselves.”
― Brandon Stanton, Humans of New York: Stories

“People like to make exceptions of themselves. They hold other people to moral codes that they aren't willing to follow themselves”
― Brandon Stanton, Humans of New York: Stories

“For the longest time, I was so focused on being deaf in my left ear that I almost forgot my other ear was perfectly fine.”
― Brandon Stanton, Humans of New York: Stories

“You're not a hero if you do your job. We're all just grains of sand. The act of living is farce and it's ridiculous. No, it's not ridiculous. It's a horror. Get up and do it again. Get up and do it again. Do your best to take care of your body while it falls apart anyway. People say: 'Have a good day.' There's no such thing as a good day. You can do some things during a day that might give you a little joy and a little gratification but a day is a day ... Your best hope is to have a purpose, because that provides a distraction from the fact life is a ridiculous farce and a horror.”
― Brandon Stanton, Humans of New York: Stories

“And I hate to say this because I know it hurts my kids, but I'd rather die with him in addiction than be sober alone.”
― Brandon Stanton, Humans of New York: Stories

“It's important to always have people who remember you at various stages of your life. It's especially important as you get older, because there are less of those people around. And they remind you of who you are.”
― Brandon Stanton, Humans of New York: Stories

“She won't talk to me until I get my shit together.'
'Who's she?'
'Every man has a She.”
― Brandon Stanton, Humans of New York: Stories

“Sometimes, when I'm going home to see her, I think: "Nobody should be this happy on a Tuesday.”
― Brandon Stanton, Humans of New York: Stories

“I'm having a hard time trusting in The Process.'
'What process?'
'The process that says if I do my part, everything will turn out right.”
― Brandon Stanton, Humans of New York: Stories