Brandon Stanton

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

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

There are two books in America: one for the poor and one for the rich. The poor person does a crime and gets forty years. A rich person gets a slap on the wrist for the same crime.

If our shields are what separate us, it’s what’s behind them that brings us together: the struggles, the worries, the pain, the weakness. All the soft spots. The places we protect. These are the things that make us most relatable to others. These ads the things that connect us - if only we allow them to be seen.

I’ve got what I want. I’ve got a place to live, a girlfriend, and a child. My biggest struggle is just figuring out how to maintain.

She had the most beautiful awkwardness

If you love the wrong one so much, just imagine how much you can love the right one.

Anyone who has a two hundred-plus IQ runs the risk of just hanging out because you get too involved in your own thoughts and you just want to sit there and think about .

It seems that a lot of people my age try to be interesting by having problems or starting conflicts. I'd rather be interesting because I created something beautiful.

Sometimes you need to allow life to save you from getting what you want.

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.

That's the problem with growing up in a white world. You think you can do anything that white people can do.

In an age of iPhones and Playstations, it's great to see that somebody's still rocking the bus-on-a-string.

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.

They say that you’re supposed to stand up to bullies, but there’s not much you can do when the whole class is like that.” “Why do they make fun of you?” “Let’s see. My weight, obviously. The fact that I read for fun. Mostly sci-fi and fantasy. I watch Nova. I don’t like sports. You know those loud, obnoxious kids you see hanging out in groups, screaming at people? That’s my whole school.” “So what do they do to you?” “Just yell at me and throw stuff at me. But I am proud of one thing. Most kids who get picked on completely spaz out at some point, and get violent. That hasn’t happened to me yet.