Home > Author > Kacen Callender
41 " I don't really know what's worse: living without love so that you don't get hurt, or getting hurt repeatedly in an attempt to find it. "
― Kacen Callender , This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story
42 " A lot of people who use they/them pronouns don’t feel like they’re a boy or a girl, which is something that could maybe, possibly, describe that niggling feeling—that being seen as a girl definitely isn’t right, but being seen as a guy isn’t totally right, either. "
― Kacen Callender , Felix Ever After
43 " It takes time. Grief takes a lot of forms, and it stays with you until the end of your days. Isn't that right? "
― Kacen Callender , King and the Dragonflies
44 " When someone hurts me, I either obsess over how to convince them I’m worthy of their love or obsess over how to destroy them. "
45 " Second of all,” he says, “it doesn’t matter what they think. It only matters what you think. Do you think you’re worthy of respect and love?” My mouth is still open, but now, no sound comes out. “I think you are,” he tells me, still watching me—totally unashamed to be staring. "
46 " The straights say that we’ve got an agenda to turn people gay,” Marisol says, “but then will try to force toddlers on each other and say it’s so cute and they’re destined to get married. Seriously. "
47 " I want to be in love. I've never, you know- felt the kind of passion great artists talk about. I want that. I want to feel that level of intensity. "
48 " White people once used the Bible to say that we should be slaves.” “What does that have anything to do with this?” “Everything,” I tell her. “It means we should think for ourselves. Decide if something is wrong just because someone says it’s so, or decide it’s right because that’s how we feel. "
― Kacen Callender , Hurricane Child
49 " But it was a tough lesson to learn, realizing that I couldn't wait for her to decide she would love me again. It wasn't healthy. If I fall in love again, it'll be with a woman who loves me also - not someone who I have to convince to love me. It's easier, I think, to love someone you know won't love you - to chase them, knowing they won't feel the same way - than to love someone who might love you back. To risk loving each other and losing it all" -Dad "
50 " You don't need to die for each other to make this exciting. Just the fact that you're here, together--that's epic enough. "
51 " But it took me a little longer to figure out that just because I love her, doesn't mean it's a good kind of love. It can be easier, sometimes, to choose to love someone you know won't return your feelings. At least you know how that will end. It's easier to accept hurt and pain, sometimes, than love and acceptance. It's the real, loving relationships that can be the scariest" -Dad "
52 " I used to hope that he’d decide to change his mind—that he could accept me, because I was his son. And then I’d laugh at myself. Like, how fucking arrogant is that? Expecting my dad to love me more than he loves God. "
53 " I never hated you. I could never hate you. "
54 " For trans and nonbinary youth: You're beautiful. You're important. You're valid. You're perfect. "
55 " It feels good to me, to know I’m not alone. That someone else has felt the same way I’ve felt, experienced the same things I’ve experienced. It’s validating. "
56 " Live. Live them for the people who didn't get to enjoy being a teenager. For the people who never lived past being a teenager. "
57 " It makes me wonder if I really am Felix, no matter how loud I shout that name. "
58 " If the world was perfect, maybe we wouldn’t need labels. But the world isn’t perfect, and labels can really be a source of pride—especially when we’ve got to deal with so much crap. I’m really freaking proud to be a lesbian. "
59 " I’m not pretending to be a boy. Just because you haven’t evolved to realize gender identity doesn’t equal biology, doesn’t mean you get to say who I am and who I’m not. You don’t have that power. Only I have the power to say who I am. "
60 " I honestly don’t care that much about labels. I mean, I know they’re important to a lot of people, and I can see why—I’m not knocking them. It’s just . . . I kind of wish we could exist without having to worry about putting ourselves into categories "