David Levithan Quotes

In the early days you have a tendency to intellectualize, but you're really just trying to sound smart and score with the chicks.

I always thought I wasn't cool enough in school, I was in the 'nerd' crew. I actually enjoyed studying.

I was a teenage girl once. I was not an overweight teenage girl, but I had really bad acne when I was 11 or 12 years old. It was heart-rending, and people made fun of me. People whispered when I walked by in the hallways, and I was sure they were whispering about me. My adult perspective is maybe they weren't.

I was that ginger kid who always wanted people to like him. It's hard, and you've got a big chip on your shoulder for a long time.

I never thought I was doing any great work. I never thought I would last. In the beginning, I was terrible. I never used to speak to people. I used to start crying. I was extra sensitive. I would run away home and feel miserable. I didn't know how to behave then. I was touchy. People interpreted it as arrogance.

I think a lot of my angst comes from feeling unaccepted.

I have had a lot of crushes but have never had the courage to go up to a girl and say what I feel. I am scared of rejection.

There is a healthy amount of self-doubt and criticism with most people that make music. You find your areas that are your best. Onstage, I am good. But talking to someone in the grocery store? Forget about it.

It's hard to trust people when your own friends seem to think poorly of you.

I'm very quiet. In the beginning, my brother would play the piano, and I would sing, because that's what my mom and dad did. And then along the way, somebody teased me for even thinking that I could get up there. That stayed with me, and I became very shy.

I knew in my heart that I wasn't cool, but I figured I could at least be cool by association.

I used to always hide my hand, I still do. I don't really like talking about it. Sometimes I still hide it and not even realize that I'm doing it.

I could come in the gym to train with the boys and they'd think I was alright, but I'd go home and sit there crying.

Looking back on my early romantic life, I was more worried about what impression I made on my dates than what I thought of them. I would approach them as though they were job interviews, trying to wow the man so that he would ask me out again and I got the 'job.'

I spent the first 33 years of my life with secrets, and lots of them. I spent a great deal of energy worrying over what people thought and obscuring the things I was ashamed of... trying to appear what I thought was normal.

I was horribly self-conscious; I wanted everybody to look at me and think me the most fascinating creature in the world, and yet I died a small hideous death if I saw even one person throw a casual glance at me.

…and you smile back and try not to think about the fact that you have nothing, absolutely nothing, to say to each other.

I'm tugging at my hair. I'm pulling at my clothes. I'm trying to keep my cool, I know it shows. I'm staring at my feet. My cheeks are turning red. I'm searching for the words inside my head. I'm feeling nervous trying to be perfect, 'cause I know you're worth it.

I think I'm scared a lot. I'm scared of almost everything. And I'm constantly trying to work my way through each obstacle, whether it's a present, past, or future relationship.

I've always felt a bit weird, very shy.

I used to be scared of pretty girls, until one confessed they're just as scared of me.

I try to be cool, but I'm not very good at it.

I was afraid of being rejected, yes. I was also afraid of being accepted for the wrong reasons.

I manage to think twice about everything / Why will they like me as they do / Or not as they do / Why will they praise me as they do / Or praise me not not as they do.

In my head there's a broken balcony I fall off of when I speak.