Daniel Stern

23 quotes

Film Director · United States Of America · Male

All Growing Up (6)Summer (3)Love (2)1968 (2)Scholar (1)Fall (1)Overcoming (1)Intelligence (1)Questions (1)Long Distance Love (1)upright (1)Silence (1)first kiss (1)Good (1)Beautiful (1)

From “Pilot”

“It was the first kiss for both of us. We never really talked about it afterward, but I think about the events of that day again and again, and somehow I know that Winnie does too. Whenever some blowhard starts talking about the anonymity of the suburbs, or the mindlessness of the TV generation.…”

Tagged: Dodge, first kiss

“Nineteen-sixty-eight...I was twelve years old. A lot happened that year. Dennis McLain won thirty-one games...'The Mod Squad' hit the air...And I graduated from Hillcrest Elementary, and entered junior high school. But we'll get to that. There's no pretty way to put this...I grew up in the suburbs.…”

Tagged: Mod Squad

From “Swingers”

“Maybe we both realized that growing up doesn’t always have to be a straight line, but a series of advances and retreats. Maybe we just felt like swinging. But whatever it was, Winnie and I made an unspoken pact that day to stay kids for a little while longer.”

Tagged: Growing Up, Swinging

From “Angel”

“Who was right, and who was wrong? Well, I'm supposed to be an adult now, and I still can't completely figure that one out. But at some point, late at night, near sleep, the ideas and the disagreements sort of dissolve, and you're just left with the people. And people were no different then, as…”

Tagged: Right, Wrong, Disagreements, Men, Women

From “Heart of Darkness”

“As seventh grade wore on, I began to have nightmares. I'm walking into a sort of a—a cave. A long dark tunnel. I think Paul and Winnie are with me. But then—then—they're not. I'm all alone. I don't even want to go into the cave—I'm, I'm terrified. But I just know that I have to keep going—deeper,…”

Tagged: seventh grade, cave diving

From “Our Miss White”

“Nineteen sixty-eight was a strange and passionate time. Things that had seemed impossible were happening all around us. The events of those days brought every emotion to the surface. We felt things strongly then. And we felt them together. I guess we all got caught up in it. Even me. And Miss White.…”

Tagged: 1968, Intelligence, boobs

From “Christmas”

“That Christmas of nineteen-sixty eight, my brother, Wayne, and I fell in love. With color-TV. It was more than love. We were witnessing a modern miracle. And we worshipped it like aborigines from the black-and-white stone-age. It was the first thing we ever agreed on. Even Mom and Karen tended to…”

Tagged: Christmas, 1968, Aborigines, Stone Age

From “Pottery Will Get You Nowhere”

“The silence that filled our house that night - was like ice. My dad didn't come home till after midnight. [Next morning, Norma burns her hand on the iron and starts to cry. Jack gently puts his hands on her shoulders. She turns around and they hug] I know it sounds strange - but that was the first…”

Tagged: Silence, family disputes

“In all the years I spent growing up at my parents' house, I don't think I ever heard them use the word 'relationship'. Not once. 'Indigestion'... 'taxes'... 'damn' - these were words you heard a lot. I guess my mom just expected my dad to be a good man - honest, loyal, a good provider... hopefully…”

Tagged: Relationship, Taxes, indigestion

From “Coda”

“When you are a little kid, you are a bit of everything—artist, scientist, athlete, scholar. Sometimes, it seems life is like a process of giving those things up, one by one. I guess we all have one thing we regret giving up. One thing we really miss. And we gave up because we were too lazy. We…”

Tagged: Growing Up, Artist, Scientist, athlete, Scholar

From “Hiroshima, Mon Frere”

“Sometimes...when you're a kid...you lie awake at night and ponder the kinds of questions that grownups have long since stopped asking. Questions like—What did it feel like to be dead? Are time and space really infinite? What was there before the universe began? Why are there people like Wayne?”

Tagged: Growing Up, Curiosity, Questions

From “Loosiers”

“It's hard to imagine being twelve years old...and going without certain things. Like three months off in the summertime. Or a good bicycle to cruise the neighborhood on. More than anything though, it's hard to imagine being twelve years old...and not having a best-friend like Paul Pfeiffer. Paul was…”

Tagged: Summertime, Bicycles

From “Nemesis”

“In junior high school there were days when you felt like nothing was worth getting out of bed for. But then, you remembered...you were going to see her...Your day was gonna have all these moments...moments that were full of...possibility. When you were sure that something—something...was going to…”

Tagged: high school, Getting Dumped, Dumpster

From “Summer Song”

“I knew at that moment, that life was not fair. Sure...I'd write to [Teri], and maybe she'd write me—then what? Could we really wait for each other for the next ten or twelve years? It was hopeless. I'd never felt pain like this before in my entire life. It felt...wonderful.”

Tagged: Love Letters

From “Math Class”

“There are times in life when you think you’re lost. When every turn you take seems wrong. Then just for a moment, you see a light. And so I began that long climb into the light. Only this time I wasn’t alone.”

Tagged: Hard Times, Difficulty, Struggle, Overcoming

“The transition from summer to fall is a tricky one. Like astronauts returning from space. We had to re-enter the atmosphere of school carefully, so the sudden change in pressure wouldn't kill us.”

Tagged: Seasons, Astronauts, Summer, Fall

From “Wayne on Wheels”

“Once upon a time, I lived in a great big house. With a great big yard, and a great big bedroom. And a great big older brother. But by the middle of nineteen-sixty-nine, the house and the yard and the bedroom were are all getting...smaller. Or maybe Wayne and I were getting larger. One thing was…”

Tagged: Growing Up, Terror

From “Mom Wars”

“When you're a little boy, you don't have to go very far to find the center of your universe. Mom. She's always there. It's a pretty good arrangement—when you're five. But around age thirteen, there starts to be...a problem. The problem is...she's always there. And I mean always. Now a mom has to be…”

Tagged: Mom, Growing Up, Oedipus Complex

From “On the Spot”

“It was humiliating. I wanted to just walk away. But then, then I realized I couldn't walk away. She looked beautiful. And terrified. And I knew she needed me. Those next few minutes seemed to last a thousand years. Every moment was potential disaster. We were both struggling. And then, a weird thing…”

Tagged: humiliating, Beautiful, Courage, Love

From “Growing Up”

“Things were confusing, alright. Sometimes even crazy. Still, I wasn't crazy. Just...in love. Winnie and I had survived the summer of long-distance romance. In fact, her move across town had brought a new depth to our relationship. We shared everything, now that she was wearing my ring. Hopes,…”

Tagged: confusing, Love, Summer, Long Distance Love

Daniel Stern

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