Quotes from Neal Shusterman

On a hairpin turn, above the dead forest, on no day in particular, a white Toyota crashed into a black Mercedes, for a moment blending into a blur of gray.

I imagine the center of the Earth must be a crowded place by now, but perhaps it is the spirits of those of us residing there that keep the Earth alive and green.

We are not the enemy," he says. "That's what the enemy always says.

The illusion of purpose is critical to a well-adjusted population.

I know this is your hand now,' she tells him. Roland would have never touched me like that. Connor smiles, and Risa takes a moment to look down at the shark on his wrist. It holds no fear for her now, because the shark has been tamed by the soul of a boy. No- the soul of a man.

The rides are different for everyone. I'm convinced of that now. I mean, sure, there are some we ride together. Either we find ourselves drawn to some common experience, or maybe we're pulled in by the people we care about. Our friends, our families can drag us onto coasters and Tilt-A-Whirls that are really meant for them. But in the end, no matter whose rides we find ourselves on, the experience is all our own.

can't see why I should concern myself with humankind at all.

Even though the whole world had slid of its axis. Breakfast was breakfast. How dare it be?

That's wisdom you can take to the grave, and dig up when you need it!

I'm tired of eating your family's lousy, tasteless recipes, Dad said. Tasteless recipes? My grandmother's rolling in her grave! It's from indigestion.

There's a quickening of her heart when she sees him. She tells herself it's anger.

They will find whatever button will make you dance, and dance you will, no matter how hideous the tune.

She smiles at them as they go by and continues to play, making it clear that this furnace of a place, full of planes that cannot fly, is more than it seems. It is a womb of redemption for every Unwind, and fora ll those who fought the Heartland War and lost - which was everybody.

I think it's outrageously cruel to keep a puzzle that they know is missing a single piece.

How much do you know about the Heartland War?' Connor shrugs. 'It was the last chapter in our history textbook, but we had state testing, so we never got to it.

One could say, Ayn, that he has cast himself as Atlas. Which means the slightest shrug can shake the world.

Sometimes we make our alliances not by the shape and color of our flesh but by the convictions of our heart.

You come to know the pattern of your particular chemical bombardment. The numbness, the lack of focus, the artificial sense of peace when the meds first hit your system. The growing paranoia and anxiety as they wane. The worse you feel, the more you can get into the treacherous waters of your own thoughts. The greater the threat from the inside, the more you long for those waters, as if you've grown accustomed to the terrible tentacles that seek to draw you into their crushing embrace.

Because if their own parents didn't care enough about them to keep them, who would want them in Heaven?

One apology is enough," the scythe told the boy. "Especially when it's genuine.

It is the nature of life to fear its own end. This is how I know that we are truly alive.

definition. How can she not see that when you are defined, you lose the ability to define yourself?

but how can you live in the moment when all you want is for the moment to end?

When it comes to such open-heart reflection, I'm a firm believer in the observer effect, which states that anything you try to observe is automatically changed by the mere fact that you're looking at it. The way I see it, if you try to study your emotions on a microscopic level, the best you can do is understand how it feels to hold the magnifying glass.