Life Advice From John Green Characters

John Green has an exceptional talent at pinpointing every young adult's emotions through his powerful books. Watching Pudge suffer through grief in Looking for Alaska, and Hazel Grace Lancaster fall in love for the first time in The Fault In Our Stars, was totally relatable. This just might be why John Green is such an international sensation... or, at least, one of the many, many reasons.

I love every John Green character. Yes, that even includes Margo Roth Speiglmen and Peter Van Houten. They're all complex and have yet to fully figure out their roles in life, which make them the perfect people to learn from. Their actions, and more importantly, inspiring words, are as unique as they are important. Some might say they are perfect doses of advice.

It doesn't matter if you're no longer a teenager; the young adult genre, and Green's books specifically, are inspirational at any stage in life. The characters within each story always give me a new perspective on my own troubles. I think Green's advice, whether it comes from him personally or his characters, is something to keep in mind when life gets you down. In case you're like me and you need some friendly tips and life advice from a trusted writer, here are a couple to take in and share with friends:

"Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book." —Hazel Grace Lancaster, The Fault In Our Stars

"It is so hard to leave — until you leave. And then it is the easiest godamned thing in the world."

—Quinten Jacobson, Paper Towns

Quinten is absolutely right about this. The hardest part about leaving a place or a person behind is the act of leaving itself — but once you've done it, it's easy.

"Nothing's wrong. Everything's right. Things couldn't be righter. Things could be less tired. They could be less busy. They could be less caffeinated. But they could't be righter."

—Will Grayson, Will Grayson, Will Grayson

Sometimes life can throw one too many problems at you and it seems like everything is wrong. But in fact, everything is just as it should be. There are things that could be better, and by keeping a positive attitude, you'll find that things aren't so bad after all.

"Those awful things are survivable because we are as indestructible as we believe ourselves to be."

—Miles "Pudge" Halter, Looking for Alaska

Grief, heartache, loss, failure — you name it. Awful things are survivable, and Pudge from Looking for Alaska will always remind us of that.

"You matter as much as the things that matter to you do."

—Lindsey Lee Wells, An Abundance of Katherines

It's important to always keep this in mind. You matter, and you always will.

"You're going to live a good and long life filled with great and terrible moments that you cannot even imagine yet!"

—Augustus Waters, The Fault In Our Stars

Life is full of wonderful and terrible things, remember to cherish them all!

“Imagining the future is a kind of nostalgia. (...) You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth, thinking about how you'll escape it one day, and how awesome it will be, and imagining that future keeps you going, but you never do it. You just use the future to escape the present.”

—Miles "Pudge" Halter, Looking for Alaska

It's good advice to remember not to be stuck in the part, but it's even better advice not to get stuck on the future.

"What is the point of being alive if you don't at least try to do something remarkable?"

—Colin Singleton, An Abundance of Katherines

What's John Green trying to say? Life your life to the fullest and don't look back.

"The world is not a wish granting factory."

—Hazel Grace Lancaster, The Fault in Our Stars

While this quote is more on a more harsh and realistic perspective, it's still a good piece of advice to keep in mind.

"If you don't imagine, nothing ever happens at all."

—Quinten Jacobson, Paper Towns

John Green made sure to include after this quote that "imagining isn't perfect" when it comes to understanding other people, but it's a good place to start. And on a bigger scale, without imagination, we'd never have amazing stories like Paper Towns.

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