Quote

I am a runner. That's what I do. That's who I am. Running is all I know, or want, or care about.

Wendelin Van Draanen

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Wendelin Van Draanen
Age: 59
Born: 1965
Born: January 6
Author
Novelist
Writer
Chicago
Illinois
Running
Care
Runner
Runners

More quotes by Wendelin Van Draanen

Image
You got nothin' to lose but your self-respect.
Wendelin Van Draanen
Image
I fell asleep that night thinking about the kiss that might have been. What did a kiss feel like, anyway? Somehow I knew it wouldn’t be like the one I got from Mom or Dad at bedtime. The same species, maybe, but a radically different beast, to be sure. Like a wolf and a whippet – only science would put them on the same tree.
Wendelin Van Draanen
Image
There was other stuff, too, like how something can be so much more than the parts it took to make it, and why people need things around them that lift them above their lives and make them feel the miracle of living.
Wendelin Van Draanen
Image
If chaos is a necessary step in the organization of one's universe, then I was well on my way.
Wendelin Van Draanen
Image
...and I realized that Garrett was right about one thing- I had flipped. Completely.
Wendelin Van Draanen
Image
If the mind's not strong, the body acts weak, even if it's not. If the mind says it's too cold or too rainy or too windy to run, the body will be more than happy to agree. If the mind says it would be better to rest or recover or cut practice, the body will be glad to oblige.
Wendelin Van Draanen
Image
I operate under the assumption that people don't notice the good in me. That's just how things always seem to play out. I get blamed, while con-artist kids like Venus, and Camille, and Gemma get believed. But the rescue lady noticed. In the background, just observing, she noticed.
Wendelin Van Draanen
Image
Holly, I understand that you are upset because Gemma pulled down your ants, but why did you think pouring motor oil inside her backpack is the way to solve the problem?
Wendelin Van Draanen
Image
There's no winning arguments with your parents
Wendelin Van Draanen
Image
You never forget your first love.
Wendelin Van Draanen
Image
I'd scale that monster sycamore if I could. Right to the top. And I'd yell her name across the rooftops for the whole world to hear. -Bryce
Wendelin Van Draanen
Image
One's character is set at an early age. The choices you make now will affect you for the rest of your life. I hate to see you swim out so far you can't swim back.
Wendelin Van Draanen
Image
It's disturbing how fast weeds take root in my garden of worthiness. They're so hard to pull. And grow back so easily.
Wendelin Van Draanen
Image
Was it so much to ask just to be left alone?
Wendelin Van Draanen
Image
But in my heart I knew the old Bryce was toast. There was no going back. Not to Garrett or Shelly or Miranda or any of the other people who wouldn't understand. Juli was different, but after all these years that didn't bother me anymore. I liked it. I liked her.
Wendelin Van Draanen
Image
He tells us that life isn't about what happens to you, it's about what you do about what happens to you.
Wendelin Van Draanen
Image
Some of us get dipped in flat, some in satin, some in gloss.... He turned to me. But every once in a while, you find someone who's iridescent, and when you do, nothing will ever compare.
Wendelin Van Draanen
Image
As I run, I wonder how many of these people helped buy my leg. I wonder about the deep, wide abyss between good intentions and concrete action, and how many of them leapt across it.
Wendelin Van Draanen
Image
Julie always tried to stand beside me, or talk to me, or in some other way mortify me.
Wendelin Van Draanen
Image
I wipe away my tears and nod, because the pain in my leg is nothing compare to the one in my heart.
Wendelin Van Draanen