Spoiler Alert: This summary and review contains spoilers.
Additionally, some images and text may include affiliate links, meaning we may earn a commission or receive products if you make a purchase.
In this post, you will find a collection of quotes from the Thirteen Reasons Why (Th1rteen R3asons Why or 13 Reasons Why) franchise. I hope you’ll enjoy what you find.
Best Of
The way I see it, there are two different kinds of death. If you’re lucky, you live a long life and one day your body stops working and it’s over. But if you’re not lucky, you die a little bit, over and over, until you realize it’s too late.
– “Tape 6, Side B” Thirteen Reasons Why
Dream big, they say. Shoot for the stars. Then they lock us away for 12 years and tell us where to sit, when to pee, and what to think. […] Then we turn 18 and even though we’ve never had an original thought, we have to make the most important decision of our lives. […] And if you don’t have the money and don’t really have the grades, a lot of the decision gets made for you.
– “Tape 4, Side B” Thirteen Reasons Why
The way I see it, there are two different kinds of death. If you’re lucky, you live a long life and one day your body stops working and it’s over. But if you’re not lucky, you die a little bit, over and over, until you realize it’s too late.
– “Tape 6, Side B” Thirteen Reasons Why
“[…] when you mess with one part of a person’s life, you’re not messing with just that part. Unfortunately, you can’t be that precise and selective. When you mess with one part of a person’s life, you’re messing with their entire life. Everything…affects everything.”
—Hannah Baker – Thirteen Reasons Why – Page 201
“Were they just being nosy, or did they really think knowing specifics was the best way to help? I’m not sure. A little of both, maybe. […] Truthfully, I don’t know what they could have said to sway me either way. Because maybe I was being I was being selfish. Maybe I was looking for attention. Maybe I just wanted to hear people discuss me and my problems. Or maybe I wanted someone to point a finger and say, ‘[…]Are you thinking about killing yourself? Please don’t do that, […] please?’”
—Hannah Baker – Th1rteen R3asons Why – Page 172-173
“[…] I hope you understand your role in all of this. Because it may seem like a small role now, but it matters. In the end, everything matters.”
—Hannah Baker – Th1rteen R3asons Why – Loc 273-274 (Cassette 1: Side A)
“Maybe if I forgot things once in a while, we’d all be a little bit happier.”
— Th1rteen R3asons Why – Loc 2723-2724 (Cassette 5: Side B)
I say “go on” and not “move on” because in some ways, we’ll never completely move on from what happened. […] And I don’t say “get back to normal” because life will never be normal again.
— Episode 13 “Bye”
[…] girls don’t just “get themselves” into bad situations. Guys make the situations bad.
— Episode 10 “Smile, Bitches”
I can let you go and still love you.
— Episode 8 “The Little Girl”
“When the house is on fire, do you discuss the fire or get out of the goddamn house?”
— Episode 3 “The Drunk Slut”
Sometimes keeping secrets is how you survive.
— Episode 2 “Two Girls Kissing”
Complete Collection
TV Series
Season 2
I say “go on” and not “move on” because in some ways, we’ll never completely move on from what happened. […] And I don’t say “get back to normal” because life will never be normal again.
— Episode 13 “Bye”
I know that hurt won’t ever go away, but there will come a day when I don’t feel it every minute. And the anger won’t be so hot, and the other feelings will fade, and I’ll be left with only love.
— Episode 13 “Bye”
I think you’re used to people chasing you and you’re used to getting away.
— Episode 13 “Bye”
No matter how many reasons there might be ‘why,’ there are always more ‘why not.’
— Episode 13 “Bye”
You say you love me, but you’re always willing to believe the worst of me.
— Episode 11 “Bryce and Chloe”
[…] you need to let go of your past wrongs and figure out what can you do right?
— Episode 10 “Smile, Bitches”
[…] girls don’t just “get themselves” into bad situations. Guys make the situations bad.
— Episode 10 “Smile, Bitches”
That’s not talking, that’s telling.
— Episode 9 “The Missing Page”
[…] you can run as far as you want, you will never get away from who you are.
— Episode 9 “The Missing Page”
[…] are you right with you? Are you at peace in your own heart?
— Episode 9 “The Missing Page”
I can let you go and still love you.
— Episode 8 “The Little Girl”
I want to close a door I can never go back through.
— Episode 7 “The Third Polaroid”
You gotta handle the lows if you wanna chase the highs.
— Episode 7 “The Third Polaroid”
A soul in need needs a way to express it. Silence is never the answer. But when there’s so much going on inside you, society expects us to stay silent.
— Episode 5 “The Chalk Machine”
“When the house is on fire, do you discuss the fire or get out of the goddamn house?”
— Episode 3 “The Drunk Slut”
“It’s like I have all of these feelings, and I can’t control them. Like I’m a visitor in my own mind.”
— Episode 3 “The Drunk Slut”
“The truth doesn’t always make things right.”
— Episode 3 “The Drunk Slut”
Season 1
It was a hot chocolate friendship, good for cold months, but maybe not perfect for all seasons.
– Tape 1, Side B (Episode 2) | 13 Reasons Why
Dream big, they say. Shoot for the stars. Then they lock us away for 12 years and tell us where to sit, when to pee, and what to think. […] Then we turn 18 and even though we’ve never had an original thought, we have to make the most important decision of our lives. […] And if you don’t have the money and don’t really have the grades, a lot of the decision gets made for you.
– “Tape 4, Side B” Thirteen Reasons Why
Everybody wants to talk. No one wants to do anything.
– “Tape 4, Side B” Thirteen Reasons Why
The way I see it, there are two different kinds of death. If you’re lucky, you live a long life and one day your body stops working and it’s over. But if you’re not lucky, you die a little bit, over and over, until you realize it’s too late.
– “Tape 6, Side B” Thirteen Reasons Why
[adinserter name=”Amazon – Native Shopping Ads”]
Book
“[They weren’t] my first kiss, but the first kiss that mattered; the first kiss with someone who mattered.”
—Clay Jensen – Thirteen Reasons Why – Page 222
“[…] what if I got to know you and you turned out to be just like they said? What if you weren’t the person I hoped you were? That more than anything, would have hurt the most.”
—Clay Jensen – Thirteen Reasons Why – Page 207
“[…] when you mess with one part of a person’s life, you’re not messing with just that part. Unfortunately, you can’t be that precise and selective. When you mess with one part of a person’s life, you’re messing with their entire life. Everything…affects everything.”
—Hannah Baker – Thirteen Reasons Why – Page 201
“That’s what I love about poetry. The more abstract, the better. The stuff where you’re not sure what the poet’s talking about. You may have an idea, but you can’t be sure. Not a hundred percent. Each word, specifically chose, could have a million different meanings. Is it a stand-in—-a symbol—-for another idea? Does it fit into a larger, more hidden, metaphor? […] See poetry as a puzzle. It’s up to the reader to decipher the code, or the words, based on everything they know about life and emotions.”
—Hannah Baker – Th1rteen R3asons Why – Page 175
“Were they just being nosy, or did they really think knowing specifics was the best way to help? I’m not sure. A little of both, maybe. […] Truthfully, I don’t know what they could have said to sway me either way. Because maybe I was being I was being selfish. Maybe I was looking for attention. Maybe I just wanted to hear people discuss me and my problems. Or maybe I wanted someone to point a finger and say, ‘[…]Are you thinking about killing yourself? Please don’t do that, […] please?’”
—Hannah Baker – Th1rteen R3asons Why – Page 172-173
“I’ve heard so many stories that I don’t know which one is the most popular, but I do know which is the least popular: The Truth.”
—Hannah Baker – Th1rteen R3asons Why – Page 29
“[…] I hope you understand your role in all of this. Because it may seem like a small role now, but it matters. In the end, everything matters.”
—Hannah Baker – Th1rteen R3asons Why – Loc 273-274 (Cassette 1: Side A)
“There’s just something about having everyone agree on something—something about you—that opens a cage of butterflies in your stomach.”
— Th1rteen R3asons Why – Loc 576-577 (Cassette 1: Side B)
“[…] when you hold people up for ridicule, you have to take responsibility when other people act on it.”
— Th1rteen R3asons Why – Loc 736 (Cassette 1: Side B)
“Unlike old age or cancer, no one anticipates a suicide.”
— Th1rteen R3asons Why – Loc 962 (Cassette 2: Side B)
“[…] with the realization that no one knew the truth about my life, my thoughts about the world were shaken. Like driving along a bumpy road and losing control of the steering wheel, tossing you—just a tad—off the road. The wheels kick up some dirt, but you’re able to pull it back. Yet no matter how tightly you grip the wheel, no matter how hard you try to drive straight, something keeps jerking you to the side. You have so little control over anything anymore. And at some point, the struggle becomes too much—too tiring—and you consider letting go. Allowing tragedy . . . or whatever . . . to happen.”
— Th1rteen R3asons Why – Loc 1565 -1569 (Cassette 3: Side B)
“I wanted people to trust me, despite anything they’d heard. And more than that, I wanted them to know me. Not the stuff they thought they knew about me. No, the real me. I wanted them to get past the rumors. To see beyond the relationships I once had, or maybe still had but that they didn’t agree with. And if I wanted people to treat me that way, then I had to do the same for them, right?”
— Th1rteen R3asons Why – Loc 1699-1703 (Cassette 3: Side B)
[…] as I stood there […]—alone—trying to understand what had just happened and why, I realized the truth: I wasn’t worth an explanation—not even a reaction.
— Th1rteen R3asons Why – Loc 2082-2083 (Cassette 4: Side A)
“Everything I could have hoped for was happening. The questions were personal, as if catching up for the time we let pass. Yet the questions never felt intrusive. […] And they weren’t intrusive. Because I wanted you to know me.”
— Th1rteen R3asons Why – Loc 2566-2627 (Cassette 5: Side A)
“The kisses felt like first kisses. Kisses that said I could start over if I wanted to.”
— Th1rteen R3asons Why – Loc 2627 (Cassette 5: Side A)
“Maybe if I forgot things once in a while, we’d all be a little bit happier.”
— Th1rteen R3asons Why – Loc 2723-2724 (Cassette 5: Side B)
Images used for editorial and commentary purposes. All rights remain with their respective copyright holders.
