Harlan Coben Quotes

I became conflicted in my late teens.

I feel like I flunked at adolescence really badly. I found it really difficult.

There was a three-year chunk as a teen where I should have been tranquilized and put in a cage.

I don't write about adolescence. I write about war. For adolescents.

THE CONFLICT: HELL & THE HIGH SCHOOL

In my teenage years, there was a lot of angst going on.

When you're an adolescent, you suddenly wake up one morning and your body is an enemy. There are hormonal changes, physical changes, emotional changes. People are saying to you, 'Now you have to make the decisions that define the rest of your life.' The X-Men takes those elements and pushes them one giant step farther.

You do not know what wars are going on down there where the spirit meets the bone.

I've always been drawn to stories and characters facing some sort of struggle against forces beyond our control, be it love, loss, betrayal.

There's nothing glorious about war. There's nothing glorious about holding your friends in your arms and watching them die. There's nothing glorious about having to leave your home for 6 to 8 months while your family's back here and you're away.

When I was 20, my mother died and I went off the rails a little bit. I kinda had my slightly dark period.

Although I'm a retired teenager, I remember what it was like to be one. I could have sworn I was riding an emotional roller coaster most of the time. Looking back, I'm actually amazed that I survived. Barely.

And from my place, and from the time that I went through my divorce, I also had my father pass away in the middle of all that. And it kind of made everything else just kind of like the back burner, you know.

Well, the years from 10 to 20, when your body, mind and everything is like changing every five minutes, can be pretty torturing. And most of the interesting characters, I think, are somewhat tortured or torturous. I'm 20 now, so I'm only just an adult.

I was an angst-y journal writing kid.

Everything in war is very simple. But the simplest thing is difficult.

'Pears like my heart go flutter, flutter, and then they may say, 'Peace, Peace,' as much as they likes - I know it's goin' to be war!

I've always been at war with myself, for right or wrong.

Adolescence represents an inner emotional upheaval, a struggle between the eternal human wish to cling to the past and the equally powerful wish to get on with the future.

Adolescence is a difficult time at the best of times, and especially in a smaller town - there's all these different energies going on.

Our Generation has had no Great war, no Great Depression. Our war is spiritual. Our depression is our lives.

In school, I had a tough time fitting in, and dancing was my way of being in my own element. As a teenager, I became a bit disillusioned with it. Even with competitions, I'd win, but still there would be tears.

Adolescence is a plague on the senses.

Other than dying, I think puberty is probably about as rough as it gets.

Nothing could be as hard as middle school.