The hole in my heart, I can’t even begin to describe. It’s hard when you open your heart and let someone in and then suddenly they’re not in it anymore. It doesn’t matter whose fault it is; that empty spot stings so bad that you want to find any kind of relief, or wrap yourself up so tight you can’t feel it anymore. I knew it might be there a little while. Or maybe even a long while. For both of us.

Bill Konigsberg

Categorized in : Long Littles Heart

Having no room of my own to "take care of things" had begun to weigh on me. I wondered if storing up semen would have a health impact on me, positive or negative, like shinier hair or weight gain.

Bill Konigsberg

impact caring positive

And perhaps the best answer is not to tolerate differences, not even to accept them. But to celebrate them. Maybe then those who are different would feel more loved, and less, well, tolerated.

Bill Konigsberg

differences different answers

Straight people have it so much easier. They don’t understand. They can’t. There’s no such thing as openly straight.

Bill Konigsberg

easier people

Wouldn't it be nice if we lived in a world where no one thought being gay was even something to ride someone about?

Bill Konigsberg

gay nice world

The Greeks were smarter than us, and they had different words for different kinds of love. There's storge, which is family love. That's not us. There's eros, which is sexual love. There's philia, which is brotherly love. And then there's the highest form. Agape.” He pronounced it “aga-pay.” “That's transcendental love, like when you place the other person above yourself.

Bill Konigsberg

family-love different greek

I don't think about relatability (when writing), I think about th... by Bill Konigsberg

I don't think about relatability (when writing), I think about the heart of the character.

Bill Konigsberg

heart writing character

Do you know how you get the urge to clean your room, and it’s no big deal? But when your mom tells you that you have to clean your room, you don't want to? That's me, anyway.

Bill Konigsberg

mom want rooms

Guilt is about something you do. Shame is about who you are. by Bill Konigsberg

Guilt is about something you do. Shame is about who you are.

Bill Konigsberg

shame who-you-are guilt

It needs to be said that sometimes my mom forgets important details when she talks. Like the time she told us she was considering leather (couches, it turns out), or when I was little and she said, "Here's a napkin to put your balls in" (the Atomic Fireballs that I was eating, she meant).

Bill Konigsberg

details mom important

You can be anything you want, but when you go against who you are... by Bill Konigsberg

You can be anything you want, but when you go against who you are inside, it doesn't feel good.

Bill Konigsberg

feel-good want feels

The world needs people who are more comfortable standing still. We keep the earth on it axis when everybody else is bouncing around.

Bill Konigsberg

axes life people