Quotes from Suzanne Collins

It means thanks, it means admiration, it means good-bye to someone you love.

Whatever the opposite of fine is, that's what I am.

But don't worry; as I've been saying - and this has been very clever of me, I'm sure you'll agree - if you put enough pressure on coal, it'll turn to pearls!

She zips back to the podium, and I don't even have time to wish for Gale's safety when she's reading the name. "Peeta Mellark." Peeta Mellark! Oh, no, I think. Not him. Because I recognize this name, although I have never spoken directly to its owner. Peeta Mellark. No, the odds are not in my favor today.

Highly unlikely but not impossible.

if he goes and dies on me now, I know I'll go completely insane.

It's weird, how much he's noticed me... And apparently, I have not been as oblivious to him as I imagined, either.

I pound on the glass, screaming my head off. Everyone ignores me except for some Capitol attendant who appears behind me and offers me a beverage.

Frankly, our ancestors don't seem much to brag about. I mean, look at the state they left us in, with the wars, the broken planet. Clearly, they didn't care about what would happen to the people who came after them.

Impulsively, I lean forward and kiss him, stopping his word. This is probably overdue anyway since he's right, we are supposed to be madly in love.

Sometimes when things are particularly bad, my brain will give me a happy dream. [...] When I fully awaken, I'm momentarily comforted. I try to hold on to the peaceful feeling of the dream, but it quickly slips away, leaving me sadder than ever.

I hear Peeta's voice in my head. She has no idea. The effect she can have. Obviously meant to demean me. Right? But a tiny part of me wonders if this was a compliment. That he meant I was appealing in some way. It's weird, how much he's noticed me. Like the attention he's paid to my hunting. And apparently, I have not been as oblivious to him as I imagined, either. The flour. The wrestling. I have kept track of the boy with the bread.

He never lets go of Annie's hand. Not when they walk, not when they eat. I doubt he ever plans to.

Let them go, I tell myself. Say good-bye and forget them. I do my best, thinking of them one by one, releasing them like birds from the protective cages inside me, locking the doors against their return.

Sorry excuses for hunters and friends. Both of us.

What happens when we get back? I don't know. I guess we try and forget. I don't want to forget.

It'd be better if he were easier to hate.

The damage, the fatigue, the imperfections. That's how they recognize me; Why I belong to them.

Peeta actually is charming and then utterly winning as the boy in love. And there I am, blushing and confused, made beautiful by Cinna's hands, desirable by Peeta's confession, tragic by circumstance, and by all accounts, unforgettable.

The anguish I always feel when she's in pain wells up in my chest and threatens to register on my face.

I squeeze my eyes shut and try to reach for him across the hundreds and hundreds of miles, to send my thoughts into his mind, to let him know he is not alone. But he is. And I can't help him.

Did you love Annie right away, Finnick?" I ask. "No." A long time passes before he adds, "She crept up on me.

His dad said even the cavemen had geniuses among them. Somebody had thought up the wheel.

Having an eye for beauty isn't the same thing as a weakness.