--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Just tell me how to be different in a way…" description: "\"“Just tell me how to be different in a way that makes sense. To make this all go away. And disappear. I know that's wrong, because it's my responsibilt..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e3/stephen-chbosky-387_heart-breaking_just-tell-me-how-to-be-different-in-a-wa_2916751.png" --- # Just tell me how to be different in a way that makes… ![“Just tell me how to be different in a way that makes sense. To make this all go away. And disappear. I know that's wrong, because it's my responsibilty, and I know things have to get worse before they get better. I walk around the school hallways and look at the people. I look at the teachers and…” quote by Stephen Chbosky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e3/stephen-chbosky-387_heart-breaking_just-tell-me-how-to-be-different-in-a-wa_2916751.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e3/stephen-chbosky-387_heart-breaking_just-tell-me-how-to-be-different-in-a-wa_2916751.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e3/stephen-chbosky-387_heart-breaking_just-tell-me-how-to-be-different-in-a-wa_2916751.png) > ““Just tell me how to be different in a way that makes sense. To make this all go away. And disappear. I know that's wrong, because it's my responsibilty, and I know things have to get worse before they get better. I walk around the school hallways and look at the people. I look at the teachers and wonder why their here. If they like their jobs. Or us. I wonder how smart they were when they were fifteen. Not in a mean way. In a curious way. It's like looking at all the students and wondering who's had their heart broken that day. And how they cope with having three quizes and a book report. On top of that. Or wondering who did the heart breaking. And wondering why. Especially since I know that if they went to another school, the person who had their heart broken would have had their heart broken by somebody else, so why does it have to be personal? It's much easier to not know things sometimes. Things change and friends leave. And life doesn't stop for anybody. I wanted to laugh. Or maybe get mad. Or maybe shrug at how strange everybody was, especiall me. I think the idea is that every person has to live for his or her own life and than make the choice to share it with other people. You can't just sit their and put everybody's lives ahead of yours and think that counts as love. You just can't. You have to do things. I'm going to do what I want to do. I'm going to be who I really am. And I'm going to figure out what that is. And we could all sit around and wonder and feel bad about each other and blame a lot of people for what they did or didn't do or what they didn't know. I don't know. I guess there could always be someone to blame. It's just different. Maybe it's good to put things in perspective, but sometimes, I think that the only perspective is to really be there. Because it's okay to feel things. I was really there. And that was enough to make me feel infinite. I feel infinite.”” [Stephen Chbosky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-chbosky/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker reflects on personal responsibility, empathy, and the struggle to understand others while seeking authentic self‑expression. **In simple terms:** People feel lost, want to be true, and wonder about others' pain. Key Takeaway Embrace authenticity and compassion. Themes identity responsibility empathy growth Mood reflective introspective Type philosophical personal When to use this quote - school life - friendship - personal crisis - self‑acceptance Key Concepts self‑discovery social observation mental health Questions to Reflect On - How can you balance personal truth with caring for others? - What does “feeling infinite” mean to you? 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Healing takes time. heart breaking anytime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/superman/while-being-in-love-there-are-two-requirements-heart-breaking-and/) [Superman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/superman/) [Browse all 159 Heart breaking quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart-breaking/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Just tell me how to be different in a way that makes sense. To make this all go away. And disappear. I know that's wrong, because it's my responsibilty, and I know things have to get worse before they get better. I walk around the school hallways and look at the people. I look at the teachers and wonder why their here. If they like their jobs. Or us. I wonder how smart they were when they were fifteen. Not in a mean way. In a curious way. It's like looking at all the students and wondering who's had their heart broken that day. And how they cope with having three quizes and a book report. On top of that. Or wondering who did the heart breaking. And wondering why. Especially since I know that if they went to another school, the person who had their heart broken would have had their heart broken by somebody else, so why does it have to be personal? It's much easier to not know things sometimes. Things change and friends leave. And life doesn't stop for anybody. I wanted to laugh. Or maybe get mad. Or maybe shrug at how strange everybody was, especiall me. I think the idea is that every person has to live for his or her own life and than make the choice to share it with other people. You can't just sit their and put everybody's lives ahead of yours and think that counts as love. You just can't. You have to do things. I'm going to do what I want to do. I'm going to be who I really am. And I'm going to figure out what that is. And we could all sit around and wonder and feel bad about each other and blame a lot of people for what they did or didn't do or what they didn't know. I don't know. I guess there could always be someone to blame. It's just different. Maybe it's good to put things in perspective, but sometimes, I think that the only perspective is to really be there. Because it's okay to feel things. I was really there. And that was enough to make me feel infinite. 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