"Okay, I know you’re thinking, “What is this? Kid spends a few days in the hospital and all his problems are cured?” But I’m not. I know I’m not. I can tell this is just the beginning. I still need to face my homework, my school, my friends. My dad. But the difference between today and last Saturday is that for the first time in a while, I can look forward to the things I want to do in my life. Bike, eat, drink, talk. Ride the subway, read, read maps. Make maps, make art. Finish the Gates application. Tell my dad not to stress about it. Hug my mom. Kiss my little sister. Kiss my dad. Make out with Noelle. Make out with her more. Take her on a picnic. See a movie with her. See a movie with Aaron. Heck, see a movie with Nia. Have a party. Tell people my story. Volunteer at 3 North. Help people like Bobby. Like Muqtada. Like me. Draw more. Draw a person. Draw a naked person. Draw Noelle naked. Run, travel, swim, skip. Yeah, I know it’s lame, but, whatever. Skip anyway. Breathe… Live."

"

” Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people. Learn form the mistakes of others. you can’t live long enough to make them all yourself. To handle yourself, use your mind; to handle others, use your heart. Many people will walk in and out of your live, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart.”-Eleanor Roosevelt

” Love is a promise, love is a souvenir, once given never forgotten, never let it disappear”-John Lennon

“Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans”-John Lennon

“Nothing happens unless first we dream.”-Carl Sandburg

“The world is but a canvas to the imagination.”-Henry David Thoreau

“The world of reality has its limits; the world of imagination is boundless.” -Jean-Jacques Rousseau

“It is a thousand times better to have common sense without education than to have education without common sense.”-Robert G. Ingersoll

“Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something.”-Plato

“The beginning of wisdom is found in doubting; by doubting we come to the question, and by seeking we may come upon the truth.”-Pierre Abelard

“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells.”-Dr. Seuss

“It is better to be hated for what you are than loved for what you are not.”-André Gide

“Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.”-Mark Twain

"