100+ Powerful Quotes from The Outsiders – Iconic Copywriting & Sayings

"I lie to myself all the time. But I never believe me."

"I was supposed to be the deep one. Darry was supposed to be the worker. Soda was supposed to be the happy-go-lucky one."

"I could picture hundreds and hundreds of boys living on the wrong sides of cities."

"Sixteen years isn't much of a life."

"I was two-bit for a while. Then I decided I was Dally. Now I'm going to be me."

"I am not a juvenile delinquent. I have never robbed a grocery store."

"Sometimes I think it's the ones in the middle that are really the lucky ones."

"I used to want to save the world."

"I lie to myself all the time, but I never believe me."

"I know better now. I know that we're all like that—like the petals of a flower."

"I was real glad I didn’t look like Dallas Winston."

"I’m different—that’s all."

"When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home."

"We needed Johnny as much as he needed the gang. And for the same reason."

"You get tough like me and you don’t get hurt. You look out for yourself and nothin’ can touch you."

"He would kill the next person who jumped him. Kill him."

"Greasers will still be greasers and Socs will still be Socs."

"It’s okay, buddy. It’s okay. We’re gonna get you out of here."

"We stick together—no matter what."

"Johnny was the gang’s pet. We all loved him."

"We’re poorer than the Socs and the middle class. I reckon we’re wilder, too."

"Dally was tougher than the rest of us—tougher, colder, meaner."

"We’re always together."

"I’ll kill anyone who touches him."

"It’s the same thing, Jeeves. The rich kids and the poor kids."

"Socs were always behind a wall of aloofness, careful not to let their feelings show."

"They’ve got all the breaks and still they get drunk and beat up on kids like Johnny."

"It’s not money, it’s feeling—missing your parents, or hating them, or just not belonging."

"The gang’s all we’ve got in the world."

"We’re rougher, tougher. They’re soft and they show it."

"Money is what separates us."

"It’s not fair that some people have all the breaks and others don’t."

"They’re always going and coming and never asking where."

"The middle class knows better than to wreck cars and throw beer blasts."

"We’re less dangerous than the Socs with their Mustangs and Corvairs."

"They have all the advantages and still they’re not satisfied."

"I’d kill myself before I let those Socs get me."

"They had it comin’. They were lookin’ for a fight."

"A blade flashed in the light from the street lamp. It was rusty, old, and sharp."

"I killed him… I killed that boy."

"The ground rushed up to meet me and I fell down."

"Johnny had it worse than I did. He hated the Socs."

"I couldn’t move. I couldn’t make a sound."

"It was better that way. That way I wouldn’t feel anything."

"He was dead. He wasn’t ever going to move again."

"Violence isn’t the answer. It never was."

"I wanted to cry, but greasers don’t cry in front of strangers."

"You get tough like me and you don’t get hurt."

"I had taken the long way around. I had told about it all—about Johnny, and Dally, and about Bob."

"I was in the hospital for a week. When I came out, Johnny was dead."

"I was real glad I didn’t look like Dallas Winston. I was real glad I didn’t die like him."

"He was more than a brother. He was a good buddy."

"I don’t think I’ll ever be able to put into words how I felt when I saw Johnny’s face."

"Nothing gold can stay."

"I was in denial. I kept thinking he’d walk through the door."

"I couldn’t accept that he was gone."

"He died gallant. He died like a hero."

"Dally died because he was tired of fighting."

"I lost someone who mattered."

"I realized how fragile life really is."

"Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold."

"He looked fine, he sounded fine, but I knew he was dying inside."

"You can see the sunset real good from the West Side."

"I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now."

"I had seen hundreds of sunsets. But that one was gold."

"He meant you’re gold when you’re a kid, like green. When you’re a kid everything’s new, dawn."

"It’s kind of funny, talking to a dead guy, but it’s better than talking to nobody."

"I wanted to be a child again, just for a day."

"I used to watch movies and pretend I was in them."

"I missed being innocent. I missed not knowing."

"I didn’t want to grow up. I wanted to stay in that moment."

"Growing up means losing parts of yourself."

"We have troubles you've never even heard of."

"You know, sometimes I think the Socs have troubles too."

"They don’t hate us. They’re just afraid of us."

"It doesn’t matter if a man is black or white—it matters if he’s right or wrong."

"We judge by appearances, but we live by experiences."

"Maybe the two different worlds we lived in weren’t so different."

"We both watch the same sunsets."

"They have their own problems. They’re just different from ours."

"It’s not always about money or clothes. It’s about understanding."

"People forget that other people have feelings too."

"If we could just sit down and talk, maybe we could understand each other."

"Empathy starts with listening."

"He saved those kids. He was a hero."

"Johnny didn’t mean to kill Bob. He was saving me."

"I fought fire with my bare hands to save those children."

"Running into that burning church took more guts than any of us ever had."

"Courage isn’t a man with a gun in his hand."

"Johnny was the bravest of us all."

"He gave his life to save others."

"Sacrifice means putting someone else first."

"He died a hero. Not a hoodlum."

"Real courage is facing fear and doing it anyway."

"He didn’t care about himself—he cared about us."

"Some people are heroes without wearing capes."

"I thought about us—how we could be friends with the Socs."

"There’s still good in the world."

"Maybe someday things will change."

"I want to believe that people can change."

"Even bad endings can lead to something good."

"Writing this helped me heal."

"Redemption starts with truth."

"I’m not going to live in fear anymore."

"Hope is seeing light in the dark."

"I choose to believe in second chances."

"Change begins with one voice."

"I wrote this for Johnny. For Dally. For me."

"Nothing gold can stay."

"Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold."

"I was supposed to be the deep one."

"Life is worth fighting for."

"We’re all we’ve got."

"The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows."

"I figured out that people are pretty much alike."

"Meaning comes from connection."

"Every life has value."

"I want to live, not just survive."

"The point is, gold is rare. Hold onto it."

"Life is short. Be kind."