--- title: "6 Asking Quotes By John Green" description: "6 Asking quotes by John Green. Plus more from John Green and more Asking sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/617/john-green-12_arms_what-can-we-do-mom-asked-again-i-shrugge_291226.jpg" --- > [What can we do?" Mom asked again. I shrugged. But she kept asking, as if there were something she could do, until…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/what-can-we-do-mom-asked-again-i-shrugged-but-she-kept-asking-as-if/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/617/john-green-12_arms_what-can-we-do-mom-asked-again-i-shrugge_291226.jpg) > [And I vaguely remember her smiling at me from the door way the glittering ambiguity of a girls smile, which seems to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/and-i-vaguely-remember-her-smiling-at-me-from-the-door-way-the/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/61c/john-green-12_ambiguity_and-i-vaguely-remember-her-smiling-at-me_799181.jpg) > [Given the final futility of our struggle, is the fleeting jolt of meaning that art gives us valuable? Or is the only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/given-the-final-futility-of-our-struggle-is-the-fleeting-jolt-of/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c8/john-green-12_alarms_given-the-final-futility-of-our-struggle_893263.jpg) > [“One of the reasons that metaphor and symbolism are important in books is because they are also important to life. Like, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/one-of-the-reasons-that-metaphor-and-symbolism-are-important-in-books/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c13/john-green-12_asking_one-of-the-reasons-that-metaphor-and-sym_956164.jpg) > [“Being vulnerable is asking to get used.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/being-vulnerable-is-asking-to-get-used/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd3/john-green-12_quote_being-vulnerable-is-asking-to-get-used-1_1327823.jpg) > [The act of leaning in to kiss someone, or asking them, is fraught with the possibility of rejection, so the person least…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/the-act-of-leaning-in-to-kiss-someone-or-asking-them-is-fraught-with/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/363/john-green-12_asking_the-act-of-leaning-in-to-kiss-someone-or_2721802.jpg) ## Other authors on Asking ## More by John Green > [Issac:"I dislike living in a world without Augustus Waters." Computer: "I don't understand-" Issac: "Me neither. Pause](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/issac-i-dislike-living-in-a-world-without-augustus-waters-computer-i/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“I just want to stay away from people and read books and think”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-just-want-to-stay-away-from-people-and-read-books-and-think/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [She smiled with all the delight of a kid on Christmas morning and said, "Y'all smoke to enjoy it. I smoke to die." -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/she-smiled-with-all-the-delight-of-a-kid-on-christmas-morning-and/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [A Margo for each of us--and each more mirror than window.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/a-margo-for-each-of-us-and-each-more-mirror-than-window/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“No one ever says good-bye unless they want to see you again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/no-one-ever-says-good-bye-unless-they-want-to-see-you-again/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Neither novels or their readers benefit from any attempts to divine whether any facts hide inside a story. Such efforts attack the very idea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/neither-novels-or-their-readers-benefit-from-any-attempts-to-divine/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“Traffic's not too bad on Sheridan, and I'm cornering the car like it's the Indy 500, and we're listening to my favorite NMH song,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/traffic-s-not-too-bad-on-sheridan-and-i-m-cornering-the-car-like-it-s/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“Praise God for good nurses.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/praise-god-for-good-nurses/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [So I was ugly. I was never fat, really, and I never wore headgear or had zits or anything. But I was ugly. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/so-i-was-ugly-i-was-never-fat-really-and-i-never-wore-headgear-or-had/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Nothing has ever looked like that ever in all of human history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/nothing-has-ever-looked-like-that-ever-in-all-of-human-history/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“said to him quietly, as if I couldn’t hear or something. Dad was about to respond but I interrupted.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/said-to-him-quietly-as-if-i-couldn-t-hear-or-something-dad-was-about/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [I believe humans have souls, and I believe in the conservation of souls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-believe-humans-have-souls-and-i-believe-in-the-conservation-of-souls/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“He was hot. A nonhotboy stares at you relentlessly and it is, at best, awkward and, at worst, a form of assault. But a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/he-was-hot-a-nonhotboy-stares-at-you-relentlessly-and-it-is-at-best/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [I think if you keep the box closed long enough you do kill the cat, actually.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-think-if-you-keep-the-box-closed-long-enough-you-do-kill-the-cat/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Imagining the future is a kind of nostalgia. (...) You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth, thinking about how you'll escape it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/imagining-the-future-is-a-kind-of-nostalgia-you-spend-your-whole-life/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asking/john-green/#itemlist", "name": "6 Asking Quotes By John Green", "numberOfItems": 6, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What can we do?\" Mom asked again. I shrugged. But she kept asking, as if there were something she could do, until I just kind of crawled across the couch into her lap and my dad came over and held my legs really tight and I wrapped my arms all the way around my mom's middle and they held on to me for hours while the tide rolled in.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Green" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/what-can-we-do-mom-asked-again-i-shrugged-but-she-kept-asking-as-if/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/617/john-green-12_arms_what-can-we-do-mom-asked-again-i-shrugge_291226.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/617/john-green-12_arms_what-can-we-do-mom-asked-again-i-shrugge_291226.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/617/john-green-12_arms_what-can-we-do-mom-asked-again-i-shrugge_291226.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What can we do?\" Mom asked again. I shrugged. 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The question, the one we’ve all been asking since girls stopped being gross, the question that is to simple to be uncomplicated: Does she like me or does she LIKE me?", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Green" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/and-i-vaguely-remember-her-smiling-at-me-from-the-door-way-the/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/61c/john-green-12_ambiguity_and-i-vaguely-remember-her-smiling-at-me_799181.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/61c/john-green-12_ambiguity_and-i-vaguely-remember-her-smiling-at-me_799181.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/61c/john-green-12_ambiguity_and-i-vaguely-remember-her-smiling-at-me_799181.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“And I vaguely remember her smiling at me from the door way the glittering ambiguity of a girls smile, which…” — John Green", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Given the final futility of our struggle, is the fleeting jolt of meaning that art gives us valuable? Or is the only value in passing the time as comfortable as possible? What should a story seek to emulate, Augustus? A ringing alarm? A call to arms? A morphine drip? Of course, like all interrogation of the universe, this line of inquiry inevitably reduces us to asking what it means to be human and whether—to borrow a phrase from the angst-encumbered sixteeen-year-olds you no doubt revile—there is a point to it all.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Green" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/given-the-final-futility-of-our-struggle-is-the-fleeting-jolt-of/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c8/john-green-12_alarms_given-the-final-futility-of-our-struggle_893263.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c8/john-green-12_alarms_given-the-final-futility-of-our-struggle_893263.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c8/john-green-12_alarms_given-the-final-futility-of-our-struggle_893263.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Given the final futility of our struggle, is the fleeting jolt of meaning that art gives us valuable? 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