"The universe was exploding, each particle away from the next, hurtling us into dark and lonely space, eternally tearing us away from each other - child out of the womb, friend away from friend, moving from each other, each through his own pathway towards the goal-box of solitary death."
"A short while ago I foolishly thought I could learn everything - all the knowledge in the world. Now I hope only to be able to know of its existence, and to understand one grain of it."
"Its easy to make frends if you let pepul laff at you."
"I just want to be smart like other pepul so I can have lots of frends who like me."
"I’m “exceptional”- a democratic term used to avoid the damning labels of “gifted” and “deprived” (which used to mean “bright” and “retarded”) and as soon as “exceptional” begins to mean anything to anyone they’ll change it. The idea seems to be: use an expression as long as it doesn’t mean anything to anybody. “Exceptional” refers to both ends of the spectrum, so all my life I’ve been exceptional."
"That's the most important thing. If I keep reading, maybe I can hold my own."
"Before, they had laughed at me, despising me for my ignorance and dullness; now, they hated me for my knowledge and understanding. Why? What in God's name did they want of me?"
"I am just as far away from Alice with an I.Q. of 185 as I was when I had an I.Q. of 70. And this time we both know it."
"Algernon is so smart he has to solve a problem with a lock that changes every time he goes in to eat so he has to lern something new to get his food. That made me sad because if he coulnt lern he wouldnt be able to eat and he would be hungry."
"I am in love with what I am doing, because the answer to this problem is right here in my mind, and soon - very soon - it will burst into consciousness."
"How many great men didn't know enough, or have enough faith in the creative process and in themselves, to let go for the whole mind to work at it?"
"This is beauty, love, and truth all rolled into one. This is joy. And now that I've found it, how can I give it up? Life and work are the most wonderful things a man can have."
"Even in the world of make-believe there have to be rules. The parts have to be consistent and belong together."
"Even a feeble-minded man wants to be like other men.A child may not know how to feed itself, or what to eat, yet it knows hunger."
"ARTIFICIALLY-INDUCED INTELLIGENCE DETERIORATES AT A RATE OF TIME DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL TO THE QUANTITY OF THE INCREASE."
"The world around me and my past seem far away and distorted, as if time and space were taffy being stretched and looped and twisted out of shape."
"It doesn't mean,' she shrugged. 'It just is"
"The more she talked that way, the worse I felt. She highlighted my awkwardness, my lack of knowledge about the right things to say and do. I was a blundering adolescent in her eyes, and she was trying to let me down easy."
"Even a feeble-minded man wants to be like other men."--Charlie Gordan"
"Shut up!Leave him alone! He cant understand. He cant help what he is ... but for God's sake, have some respect! He's a human being!"
"Other people had something I lacked something denied me. In my mental blindness, I had believed it was somehow connected with the ability to read and write, and I was sure that if I could get those skills I would have intelligence too.Even a feeble-minded man wants to be like other men. A child may not know how to feed itself, or what to eat, yet it knows hunger."
"What an incredible thing! How much less they had than other human beings. Mentally retarded, deaf, mute - and still eagerly sanding benches."
"The answer can't be found in books - or be solved by bringing it to other people. Not unless you want to remain a child all your life. You've got to find the answer inside you - feel the right thing to do. Charlie, you've got to learn to trust yourself"
"I was afraid it would come to this, but I have no patience with her now. I'm jealous of every moment away from the work - impatient with any one who tries to steal my time."
"Every part of me is attuned to the work. I soak it up to my pores during the day, and at night - in the moments before I pass off into sleep - ideas explode into my head like fireworks."