Ari And Dante Quotes

I renamed myself Ari. If I switched the letter, my name was Air. I thought it might be a great thing to be the air. I could be something and nothing at the same time. I could be necessary and also invisible. Everyone would need me and no one would be able to see me.

I love swimming" "I know," I said. "I love swimming," he said again. He was quiet for a little while. And then he said, "I love swimming—and you." I didn't say anything. "Swimming and you, Ari. Those are the things I love the most.

I wished it was raining," he said. "I don't need the rain," I said. "I need you.

Try it again," I said. "Kiss me." "No," he said. "Kiss me." "No," And then he smiled. "You kiss me." I placed my hand on the back of his neck. I pulled him toward me. And kissed him. I kissed him. And I kissed him. And I kissed him. And I kissed him. And he kept kissing me back.

He tried not to laugh, but he wasn't good at controlling all the laughter that lived inside of him.

There are worst things in life than kissing boys.

What do you love, Ari? What do you really love?" "I love the desert. God, I love the desert." "It's so lonely." "Is it?" Dante didn't understand. I was unknowable.

The Ari I used to be didn't exist anymore. And the Ari I was becoming? He didn't exist yet.

You belong everywhere you go. That’s just how you are.

I guess I did miss Dante-even though I tried hard to not think about him. The problem with trying hard not to think about something was that you thought about it even more.

Ari?” My father’s voice was soft. “Ari, Ari, Ari. You’re fighting this war in the worst possible way.” “I don’t know how to fight it, Dad.” “You should ask for help,” he said. “I don’t know how to do that, either.

I thought it might be a great thing to be the air. I could be something and nothing all at the same time. I could be necessary and also invisible. Everyone would need me and no one would be able to see me.

Bullshit, Ari. You have the harder rule to follow? Buffalo shit. Coyote shit. All you have to do is be loyal to the most brilliant guy you've ever met—which is like walking barefoot through the park. I, on the other hand, have to refrain from kissing the greatest guy in the universe—which is like walking barefoot on hot coals.

I found myself whispering, "Do you think we'll ever discover all the secrets of the universe?" I was surprised to hear Susie's voice answering my question. "That would be a beautiful thing, wouldn't it, Ari?" "Yeah," I whispered. "Really beautiful." "Do you think, Ari, that love has anything to do with the secrets of the universe?

My father nodded. 'Ari, the problem isn't just that Dante's in love with you. The real problem--for you anyway--is that you're in love with him.

So much of me died. It took me a long time to feel alive again. Life, Ari, can be an ugly thing. But life can be so incredibly beautiful. It’s both. And we have to learn to hold the contradictions inside us without despairing, without losing our hope.

Don’t, amor. Te adoro. I’ve already lost a son. I’m not going to lose another. You’re not alone, Ari. I know it feels that way. But you’re not.” “How can you love me so much?” “How could I not love you? You’re the most beautiful boy in the world.

The world according to Ari and Dante. Dante and me walking through a world, a world nobody had ever seen, and mapping out all the rivers and valleys and creating paths so that the journeys of all of those who came after us through the wilderness wouldn't be scary. No one who came after us would ever get lost because of the maps we'd made.

In transition? What kind of a Mexican mother are you?” “I’m an educated woman. That doesn’t un-Mexicanize me, Ari.

It's like I said, Ari, we don't always do the right things, you know? We don't always say the right things. Sometimes, it seems like it hurts too much to look at something. So you don't. You just don't look. But it doesn't go away...

Ari: Dad? Why are you saying these things? Dad: Because i can't stand watching all that loneliness that lives inside you.

I also knew I had inherited the name of the world's most famous philosopher. I hated that. Everyone expected something from me. Something I just couldn't give. So I renamed myself Ari. If I switched the letter, my name was Air. I thought it might be a great thing to be the air. I could be something and nothing at the same time. I could be necessary and also invisible. Everyone would need me and no one would be able to see me.

The truth is, Ari, I miss El Paso. When we first moved there, I hated it. But now I think about El Paso all the time. And I think of you. Always, Dante P.S.

I’ll tell you a secret. I’m not responsible for whether my students care or don’t care. That care has to come from them—not me.” “Where does that leave you?” “No matter what, Ari, my job is to care.” “Even when they don’t?” “Even when they don’t.” “No matter what?” “No matter what.

What are you thinking, Ari? Tell me.” “I’m thinking that if I died right now it would be okay with me.” “Nobody’s ever said anything like that to me before. It’s a lovely thing to say. Truly it is. Except it wouldn’t be okay with me if we died right here and now.” “Why not?” “Because you haven’t made love to me yet.” That made me smile. That really made me smile.

If Dante were a girl and I were not gay, I would be imagining a future for us. But there was no imagining a future. Because the world we lived in censored our imaginations and limited what was possible and what wasn't possible. There was no future for Ari and Dante.

..they were always asking me lots of questions. Questions I didn't want to answer. They wanted to get to know me. Yeah, well, I wasn't interested in being known. I wanted to buy a t-shirt that read: I AM UNKNOWNABLE.

Merry Christmas, Ari.” “Merry Christmas, Dante.” “Someday we’ll spend Christmas together.” “Someday.

Do you think, Ari, that love has anything to do with the secrets of the universe?” “I don’t know. Maybe.

You know what I think, Ari? I think Mexicans don’t like me.

Maybe everyone loves differently. Maybe that’s all that matters

We studied each other for a moment as I lay in bed. "You were looking for me," he said. I looked at him. "In your dream. You were looking for me." "I'm always looking for you," I whispered.

I don’t know if I believed in the war or not, Ari. I don’t think I did. I think about it a lot. But I signed up. And I don’t know what I felt about this country. I do know that the only country I had were the men that fought side by side. They were my country, Ari. Them. Louie and Beckett and Garcia and Al and Gio—they were my country. I’m not proud of everything I did in that war. I wasn’t always a good soldier. I wasn’t always a good man. War did something to us. To me. To all of us. But the men we left behind. Those are the ones who are in my dreams.

What kind of dog do you want?” “I don’t know, Ari. One that comes from the shelter. You know, one of those dogs that someone’s thrown away.” “Yeah,” I said. “But how will you know which one to pick? There’s a lot of dogs at the shelter. And they all want to be saved.” “It’s because people are so mean. They throw dogs away like they’re trash. I hate that.

Someday, I’m going to have to break some of your rules, Mom.” “I know,” she said. “Try and do it behind my back, will you?” “You can bet on that, Mom.” We both sat there and laughed. (Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe - page 171)

I wonder if he’d been as beautiful as Dante. And I wondered why I thought that.

Yes, it was true that words could lead to understanding. But they could lead to misunderstandings, too. Words were imperfect.

You and Dante are going to map out a new world

Do you know what dead skin looks like when they take off a cast? That was my life, all that dead skin. It was strange to feel like the Ari I used to be. Except that wasn’t totally true. The Ari I used to be didn’t exist anymore. And the Ari I was becoming? He didn’t exist yet.

How was he different?" "There's a wound somewhere inside of him, Ari." "But what is it? The hurt? What is it?" "I don't know." "How can you not know, Mom?" "Because it's his. It's just his, Ari." I understood that she had just accepted my father's private wound. "Will it ever heal?" "I don't think so.

The next morning, I watched his older brother hold him in his arms as he looked at me with tears in his eyes. "It's a boy, Ari. It's a boy!" And I knew what he was thinking. And he's going to be straight. And he's going to give my parents the grandchildren I will never be able to give them. Does being gay screw with our heads and our hearts?

It was strange to feel like the Ari I used to be. Except that wasn’t totally true. The Ari I used to be didn’t exist anymore. And the Ari I was becoming? He didn’t exist yet.

The stars incline us, they do not bind us.

You were looking for me,' he said. I looked at him. 'In your dream. You were looking for me.' 'I'm always looking for you,' I whispered

You're the rain and you're the desert and you're the erase that's making the word 'loneliness' disappear

— Amo nadar... e você. Fiquei calado. — Nadar e você, Ari. São as coisas que mais amo.

My mother had told me he was beautiful. I wonder if he'd been as beautiful as Dante. And I wondered why I thought that.

I liked the way he said "Nice to meet you, Ari." Like he meant it.

Hijo de mi corazon, I’ll tell you a secret. You help me bear it. You help me bear all my losses. You, Ari.

Ari, it’s time you stopped running.

My father’s voice was soft. ‘Ari, Ari, Ari.

Pero Ari, no siempre tengo que entender a la gente que amo. —Bueno, quizá yo sí.

I wondered about the science of storms and how sometimes it seemed that a storm wanted to break the world and how the world refused to break.

Does it still hurt a lot?” “A lot, Ari. Even after all these years.” “Will it always hurt?” “Always.” “How do you stand it?” “I don’t know. We all have to bear things, Ari. All of us.

You're like the water, Ari. I can't live without water.' 'You're like the air, Dante. I can't live without the air.' 'You're like the sky.' 'You're like the rain.' We were smiling. We were playing a game. And we would both win. There were no losers in this game. 'You're like the night.' 'You're like the sun.' 'You're the ocean.' 'You're the dawn.' 'I love you, Aristotle Mendoza.

Do you think we’ll ever discover all the secrets of the universe?” “That would be a beautiful thing, wouldn’t it, Ari?” “Yeah. Really beautiful.” “Do you think, Ari, that love has anything to do with the secrets of the universe?” “I don’t know. Maybe.

Así que me renombré Ari. Si cambiaba la letra, mi nombre era Air, «aire» en inglés. Pensé que podría ser una gran cosa ser aire. Podría ser algo y nada a la vez. Podría ser necesario y también invisible. Todos me necesitarían y nadie sería capaz de verme.

You are smart, Ari. Very smart. And anyway, being smart isn't everything. People just make fun of you. My dad says it's all right if people make fun of you. You know what he said to me? He said, 'Dante, you're an intellectual. That's who you are. Don't be ashamed of that.'" I noticed his smile was a little sad. Maybe everyone was a little sad. Maybe so.

-¿Qué tipo de perro quieres? -No lo sé, Ari. Uno que venga de un refugio. Ya sabes, uno de esos perros que alguien abandonó. -Sí -dije-, ¿pero cómo vas a saber cuál escoger? Hoy un montón de perros en el refugio. Y todos quieren que los salven. -Eso es porque la gente es tan cruel. Se deshacen de los perros como si fueran basura. Odio eso.

A veces haces cosas, y las haces no porque estés pensando, sino porque estás sintiendo.

¿Sabes qué? Ari, me cuesta trabajo caminar junto a ti y no querer tomarte la mano

A part of me wanted to run away from all the complications of being in love with Dante. Maybe Ari plus Dante equaled love, but it also equaled complicated. It also equaled playing hide-and-seek with the world. But there was a difference between the art of running and the art of running away.

Oh, Ari, let your sisters love you. Let yourself be loved. For all you know, there's a long line of people wanting you to let them in.

I know you feel like you shouldn't have to put up with racist teachers. But all of us have some racism lodged in the way we think. That's what the world we inhabit teaches us from childhood. If Mrs. Livermore is a racist, it's because she was taught to be one. It's awfully hard to unlearn those kinds of terrible lessons, especially if you don't recognize that what you learned was wrong. A lot of White people-and I don't say all White people- think they're a little bit better, a little more American and a lot of those people aren't bad people. They aren't even aware of the fact that they're a part of an entire system that is centered around them. It's complicated, Ari. I don't think I'm explaining this very well.

Así me renombré Ari. Si cambiaba la letra, mi nombre es Air, "aire" en inglés. Pensé que podría ser una gran cosa ser aire. Podría ser algo y nada a la vez. Podría ser necesario y también invisible. Todos me necesitarían y nadie sería capaz de verme

We fell into a silence as if there were no words to say what we had to say. I knew he wanted to say he was sorry. And I wanted to say that I was sorry too. But it was so unnecessary to acknowledge the hurt because the hurt was gone now. And it was unnecessary to say 'I love you' at that moment because sometimes it felt cheap to say such an obvious thing - so it was better to keep the silence because it was so rare and so sacred. I felt him take my hand in his, a hand that held all the secrets of the universe...

So I renamed myself Ari. If I switched the letter, my name was Air. I thought it might be a great thing to be the air. I could be something and nothing at the same time. I could be necessary and also invisible. Everyone would need me and no one would be able to see me.

Swimming and you, Ari. Those are the things I love

All this time I had been trying to figure out the secrets of the universe, the secrets of my own body, of my own heart. All of the answers had always been so close and yet I had always fought them without even knowing it. From the minute I had met Dante, I had fallen in love with him. I just didn't let myself know it, think it, feel it. My father was right. And it was true what my mother said. We all fight our own private wars

And then I knew, I finally knew, about this thing called desire

Making a map of the new world. Wouldn't that be something fantastically, amazingly beautiful? The world according to Ari and Dante. Dante and me waking through a world, a world nobody had ever seen, and mapping out all the rivers and valleys and creating paths so that those who came after us wouldn't have to be afraid - and they wouldn't get lost. How beautiful was that?

Maybe Ari plus Dante equalled love, but it also equalled complicated. It also equalled playing hide-and-seek with the world. But there was a difference between the art of running and the art of running away

I was going to ask you to marry me. But they won't let us do that

We'll spend our time writing our names on the map of the city of love

Do you think we'll ever discover all the secrets of the universe?" [...] "Do you think, Ari, that love has anything to do with the secrets of the universe?" [...] "Too bad we can't lie out here forever.

Então passei a me chamar Ari. Se tirasse uma letra, meu nome seria Ar. Achava que devia ser ótimo ser o ar. Eu poderia ser alguma coisa e nada ao mesmo tempo. Ser necessário e invisível. Todos precisariam de mim e ninguém conseguiria me ver.

Ari, Ari,” he said. “You're the bravest boy in the world.

The truth is, Ari, I miss El Paso. When we first moved there, I hated it. But now I think about El Paso all the time. And I think of you.

The world is not a safe place for us. There are cartographers who came and made a map of the world as they saw it. They did not leave a place for us to write our names on that map. But here we are, we’re in it, this world that does not want us, a world that will never love us, a world that would choose to destroy us rather than make a space for us even though there is more than enough room. There is no room for us because it has already been decided that exile is our only choice.

The Ari I used to be didn’t exist anymore. And the Ari I was becoming? He didn’t exist yet.

Oh Ari. Lascia che le tue sorelle ti vogliano bene. Lasciati voler bene. Per quel che ne sai, c’è una lunga fila di persone che aspettano solo il tuo permesso per entrare nella tua vita.

-Ho una teoria sul motivo per cui le mamme sono così severe. -È perché ci amano, Ari. -C'è anche quello sì. Ma c'è un altro motivo. Vogliono che restiamo ragazzi per sempre.

– Not everything is that complicated, Ari. – Not everything is as simple as you think it is.

—Quan era petit, sovint em despertava pensant que el món s'estava a punt d'acabar. M'aixecava, em mirava al mirall i tenia els ulls tristos. —Vols dir com els meus? —Sí. —Jo sempre tinc els ulls tristos. —El món no s'està acabant, Ari. —No siguis idiota. Esclar que no s'està acabant. —Llavors no estiguis trist. —Trist, trist, trist —vaig dir. —Trist, trist, trist —va dir.

Jo bevia cervesa i mirava amunt cap a les estrelles. I em vaig descobrir xiuxiuejant: —Creieu que descobrirem mai tots els secrets de l'univers? Em va sorprendre sentir la Susie contrastant a la pregunta. —Seria bonic saber-ho, oi, Ari? —Sí —vaig xiuxiuejar—, molt bonic. —Tu creus, Ari, que l'amor té res a veure que els secrets de l'univers? —No ho sé. Potser sí.

—No sempre prenem les decisions adequades, Ari. Fem el que podem.

Em va agradar la manera com va dir «Encantat de coneixe't, Ari». Com si ho pensés de veritat.

—Tinc una teoria sobre per què les mares són tan estrictes. En Dante gairebé va somriure. —És perquè ens estimen, Ari.

De fet, era quasi feliç. Jo, l'Ari, quasi feliç. —T'ha tornat el somriure. —Això és el que va dir en Dante. —Els somriures són així. Van i venen.

Aprendí que la vida es sagrada, Ari. Una vida, la vida de cualquiera, la vida de todos, es sagrada. Y ese imbécil sale en televisión para decirle al mundo entero que él no luchó por ellos porque no se lo merecían. Pues esa es exactamente la gente por quien peleaba. Estaba luchando por su derecho a ser escuchados. Y la vida de él no es más sagrada que la de ellos.

But in this house, Ari, there is only belonging. You belong to us. And we belong to you." "But isn't it wrong to be gay? Everybody seems to think so." "Not everybody. That's a cheap and mean morality. Your aunt Ophelia took the words I don't belong and wrote them on her heart. It took her a long time to take those words and throw them out of her body. She threw out those words one letter at a time.

Aprì la finestra e cominciò a cantare accompagnandosi con lo strumento: E ’l viver mio (omai esser de’ poco) fin a la morte mia sospira e dice: «Per quella moro ch’ha nome Beatrice». E il miracolo avvenne ancora. Non aveva neanche finito la seconda stanza, che vide la finestra di fronte spalancarsi e Bice “spuntare” in tutta la sua bellezza. «Salute...», gli disse. «Risponderei “salute” anch’io, se detto da me significasse la stessa cosa...», balbettò. Tanto gentile e tanto onesta pare la donna mia quand’ella altrui saluta, ch’ogne lingua deven tremando muta, e li occhi no l’ardiscon di guardare... «Cosa c’è nel mio “salute” che non potreste rendermi per le rime?», chiese lei. «Detto da voi significa “salvezza”, perché la vostra bellezza è quella di un angelo». «Mi auguro vivamente di no, perché una simile bellezza sarebbe una condanna più che una benedizione: prometterebbe a chi mi guarda una felicità che io non potrei mai offrire a chi da un angelo, invece, se l’aspetterebbe». Ella si va, sentendosi laudare, benignamente d’umiltà vestuta; e par che sia una cosa venuta da cielo in terra a miracol mostrare... «Io mi accontenterei anche della semplice promessa: mi basterebbe vivere come posso, com’è concesso a un qualsiasi mortale, ma mi darei le arie di uno che abbia già prenotato da tempo il suo posto in Paradiso...». Il sorriso che Beatrice gli rivolse allora gli sbriciolò l’anima come un violino suonato da un arcangelo. Mostrasi sì piacente a chi la mira, che dà per li occhi una dolcezza al core, che ’ntender no la può chi no la prova... «Se vi basta la semplice promessa», lei gli rispose, «sappiate che già v’appartiene come la vista del mio volto adesso, che nessuno potrà togliervi mai...». E par che de la sua labbia si mova un spirito soave pien d’amore, che va dicendo a l’anima: Sospira.

Can I tell you a secret, Ari?" "Can I stop you?" "You don't like knowing my secrets." "Sometimes your secrets scare me.

Ari, the problem isn’t just that Dante’s in love with you. The real problem—for you, anyway—is that you’re in love with him

I laughed. “I have a harder rule to follow.” He laughed too. He touched my shoulder—then smiled. “Bullshit, Ari. You have the harder rule to follow? Buffalo shit. Coyote shit. All you have to do is be loyal to the most brilliant guy you’ve ever met—which is like walking barefoot through the park. I, on the other hand, have to refrain from kissing the greatest guy in the universe—which is like walking barefoot on hot coals.

I laughed. 'I have a harder rule to follow.' He laughed too. He touched my shoulder—then smiled. 'Bullshit, Ari. You have the harder rule to follow? Buffalo shit. Coyote shit. All you have to do is be loyal to the most brilliant guy you’ve ever met—which is like walking barefoot through the park. I, on the other hand, have to refrain from kissing the greatest guy in the universe—which is like walking barefoot on hot coals.

the love of Francesca and Paolo, often essayed by artists, yet never rendered, even by Ary Scheffer, as Dante would have had it, and as it was rendered here. There were no vulgarities of a fabled Hell; there were the two, alone in that true torture — Ricordarsi del tempo felice nella miseria —  yet happy, because together. Her face and form were in full light, his in shadow. Heart beating against heart, their arms round each other, they looked down into each other’s eyes. On his face were the fierce passions, against which he had had no strength, mingled with deep and yearning regret for the fate he had drawn in with his own. On hers, lifted up to him, was all the love at sight of which he who beheld it “swooned even as unto death;” the love — — placer si forte, Che come vedi ancor non m’abbandona — the love which made hell, paradise; and torture together, dearer than heaven alone.

¿Crees, Ari, que el amor tenga algo que ver con los secretos del universo?

You saved my life, Ari.” “Dante’s hero. Just what I always wanted to be.

Make it a nice summer Ari