Octavia E. Butler Quotes

It was tough for me at school... trying to blend in and get along with other kids. I was an oddity and kids are scared of things they don't understand.

I was nervous to even talk to other kids in my class. I would hide in my room when my parents had people over.

I've never been a social person. When I grew up, the other girls would all be combing their hair and exchanging lipstick, and I just couldn't do that group thing.

I was always the kid at the side of the playground, looking at the other kids. I didn't know how to get into the group. I was quiet and bookish, a bit of a geek. I was into orienteering when my friends were out clubbing.

I had friends, but I was always a bit weird.

Kids will pick up on weakness, and I was very shy growing up. I was skinny and flat-chested; I didn't have the latest clothes. For me, it was about being left out and not having any friends and being laughed at. I was very lonely, but that happens to so many people.

I was the awkward, shy chick in high school.

People would beat me up after school; they would throw names at me. Children are brutal... Being different when you're a child is always a challenge.

I'm from Cleveland, Ohio. I was the only black girl in my grade. And I was just, like, really dorky. Like, I wasn't cool.

I was pretty dorky in high school. I was pretty much of a recluse.

I tended to be the nerdy kid - stood at the back, watching other people having fun - I wasn't always necessarily a big part of the fun myself.

I experienced bullying a lot. I was an only child, and I was kind of a small kid with a big mouth, and so I always got myself in trouble.

Let's face it. No kid in high school feels as though they fit in.

I did get bullied and I did get picked on and I did have that feeling in my gut of being incredibly self-conscious. I naturally gravitated towards my elders because I didn't know how to speak or be present with my peers.

I've never had friends, and I don't like to be around big groups of people.

I just don't have this magnetic personality that everyone is drawn to. I don't make friends easily... I'm just not one of those people.

I was almost tragically shy, like, clinically. I should've been admitted somewhere. I think my parents knew, but maybe they didn't think much about it. It's hard walking the Earth shy. You miss out on a lot.

I sense from people that they get frustrated with me for not being out and about. But I guess I'm a shy boy.

At one point in time or another, everyone's an outcast, and you have to deal with those sort of issues in society. Especially for teenage kids, I don't think there's anyone that's really been through childhood and not been an outcast in one way or another.

I was regarded as the school freak which further reinforced a lot of inhibitions and doubts I had about myself. I was a shy, frightened teenager for a long time.

When I was in first grade, everyone made fun of my name, of course. I think it's kind of a big name to hold up when you're nine years old. It seemed goofy. I used to tell people I wanted to change the world and they used to think, 'This kid's really weird'.

I know this sounds strange, but as a kid, I was really shy. Painfully shy. The turning point was freshman year, when I was the biggest geek alive. No one, I mean no one, even talked to me.

In school, I was the quietest girl ever! I had a lot of trouble in school. Kids were mean to me.

I absolutely hated high school. As a freshman, I was 5 feet tall and weighed 95 pounds... When I got to high school, I had no social skills. Was I a nerd? More of a dork. Definitely not one of the popular kids.

I never felt comfortable with myself, because I was never part of the majority. I always felt awkward and shy and on the outside of the momentum of my friends' lives.