Brandon Stanton

The amplitudes of life get smaller as you age. There are less and less things to experience for the first time. And each time you experience something, you don't get quite as excited. But you don't get quite as hurt, either. I wonder what it will feel like when I'm seventy...

My dad died in 9/11. They opened up the museum to families today, so I went this morning. My plan was to go to work after, but I just couldn’t do it.”“What happened to him?”“He was a cop. He actually had the day off. But as soon as he heard, he drove into the city and got there just in time for the second tower to fall. A witness said that my dad had started to run when the tower fell, but turned back because a trapped woman was calling to him.”“What do you remember?”“I was in science class. And my teacher told us that there had been a plane crash. That’s all she said. Then I noticed all these kids around me getting phone calls and text messages, and they’d run out of class. So I knew something big was happening. Soon we got let out of school. On the ride home, I remember thinking that my dad was going to be working overtime on this. I imagined he’d be down there everyday, saving people. ‘I bet I won’t see him for weeks,’ I said.

It's important to always have people who remember you at various stages of your life. It's especially important as you get older, because there are less of those people around. And they remind you of who you are.

The sadness is under the thoughts. It's like when you're on a camping trip, and it's really cold, and you put on extra socks and an extra sweater, but you still can't get warm, because the coldness is in your bones.

She won't talk to me until I get my shit together.'
'Who's she?'
'Every man has a She.

I have a lot of mental illness right now. Half of my energy goes into taking care of myself. I've been daydreaming about shaving my head fully 'cause then I'll look as sick as I feel.

HONY is one of the only things keeping people from getting lost in the matrix.

I remember taking an anthropology class in college and the professor was explaining that there is little 'sexual dimorphism' in humans. He meant that there are few outward, observable differences between makes and females. At the time I was confused, so I raised my hand. 'I feel like it's very easy to tell men and women apart,' I said.

'That's due to culture,' he answered.

Who’s influenced you the most in your life?” “My principal, Ms. Lopez.” “How has she influenced you?” “When we get in trouble, she doesn’t suspend us. She calls us to her office and explains to us how society was built down around us. And she tells us that each time somebody fails out of school, a new jail cell gets built. And one time she made every student stand up, one at a time, and she told each one of us that we matter.

I'm a feminist. So if a woman and I are going for the last empty seat on the subway, I'm not holding back.

But in a world where stories are selected for their negativity, randomness can easily be mistaken for positivity.

It’s quite rare to find a person who enjoys being rude. Rudeness is almost always a reaction to stress. It’s a means of protection. It’s a shield.

Every time I force myself to go outside something wonderful happens (Humans of New York photographed subject)

Great stories never end with the struggle.

I still dream about him almost every night. And I still sleep with a teddy bear that he gave me. He was the only one why ever knew me. It wasn't always good - especially toward the end. But when I was with him I felt like I had a place. When I came home at night, there was somebody who actually wanted me to be there. And you can't just let go of something like that. Especially when you'd never felt it before. And you've never felt it since. Carmine was the only one who ever loved Stephanie.