It was books that made me feel that perhaps I wasn't completely alone.

They say time heals all wounds, but that presumes the source of the grief is finite

She had loved him for such a long time, she thought. How was it that she did now know him at all?

wanting what you could not have led to misery and madness

Astriola. That IS demon pox. You had evidence that demon pox existed and you didnt mention it to me! Et tu, Brute!' He rolled up the paper and hit Jem over the head with it.

She had never imagined she had the power to make someone else so happy. And not a magical power, either--a purely human one.

I thought... that we could at least talk about books.

Lies and secrets, Tessa, they are like a cancer in the soul. They eat away what is good and leave only destruction behind.

Jem put the full force of himself into each smile, so that he seemed to be smiling with his eyes, his heart, his whole being.

Being Jem, Tessa reflected, must be a great deal like being the owner of a thouroughbred dog that liked to bite your guests. You had to have a hand on his collar constantly.

You had to know a person well to make them laugh like that.

Great fortune and peace of mind seldom live together.

I’m sorry that I don’t like your tattoos.”I walked away. I walked back to him. “I mean that I don’t like tattoos, not just your tattoos. I like your skin, though.”I walked away.

Why did the regime put me in prison in the first place? I was put in prison for six years and it has been all illegal.

Life contains but two tragedies. One is not to get your heart's desire; the other is to get it.

Teachers teach because they care. Teaching young people is what they do best. It requires long hours, patience, and care.

The most dangerous poison is the feeling of achievement. The antidote is to every evening think what can be done better tomorrow.

Success begins at that magical moment when you declare to yourself, your friends, and the universe that you believe you can do something different.

Beach is a place where a man can feel he's the only soul in the world that's real.

Yesterday's dangerous idea is today's orthodoxy and tomorrow's cliché.