#adolescence

"Despite the fact that I have no regrets about how things turned out in my life, I still can't help wanting to understand my intense relationship with Leo, as well as that turbulent time between adolescence and adulthood when everything feels raw and invigorating and scary-and why those feelings are all coming back to me now."

"No adolescent ever wants to be understood, which is why they complain about being misunderstood all the time."

"We must be careful not to discourage our twelve-year-olds by making them waste the best years of their lives preparing for examinations."

"Girls are always saying things like, “I’m so unhappy that I’m going to overdose on aspirin,” but they’d be awfully surprised if they succeeded. They have no intention of dying. At the first sight of blood, they panic."

"I spent half my childhood trying to be like my dad. True for most boys, I think. It turns with adolescence. The last thing I wanted was to be like my dad. It took becoming a man to realize how lucky I’d been. It took a few hard knocks in life to make me realize the only thing my dad had ever wanted or worked for was to give me a chance at being better than him."

"She was free in her wildness. She was a wanderess, a drop of free water. She belonged to no man and to no city"