Quotes from Margaret Peterson Haddix

It's not whether you win or lose. It's how you play the game.

Cleopatra breathed my air,' Katherine muttered. 'She's delirious!' Chip said. 'No, she's right,' Alex said. 'Haven't you heard that thing about how, at any given moment, at least one atom of the air in your lungs was probably once in Cleopatra's lungs? Or George Washington's or Albert Einstein's or Martin Luther King's, or whoever you want to pick from history?

It kind of seemed like, as long as he was alive, there was still hope that he could fix things.

But really, he told himself. There are just some people who don't seem like they ever could have been young. It's like trying to imagine my grandparents as little kids. Or—like the guy who played Dumbledore in the Harry Potter movies. No way he was ever young.

Ah, but is any history really all that ancient?' Second asked. 'Doesn't every moment from the past affect the present?' This man was more annoying than any history teacher Jordan had ever had.

And this is why people believe in God, isn't it? Jonah wondered. Because we can tell there's something bigger out there that we're part of. Because we can tell that there's something more to all of us, and more to all of our lives.

I like playing around with the words; I love it when I feel like I've picked the exact right word to describe whatever it is I'm trying to describe.

I like the fact that kids are willing to be imaginative and go along with me when I'm telling strange tales.

Why did everyone like that story so much when it wasn't true? Why was everyone so eager to believe it? Was it because, in real life, ever after's generally stink?

It does not take a long time to fall to the ground, even from nine stories up. But it took a lifetime for Yetta. It took every single one of the last moments of her life.

Was it still paranoia if all his fears were justified?

Thanks a lot! She went and hid somewhere else, somewhere safe- and left me to deal with Mr. Pyromaniac 1483!

Sometimes you have to fight for what you want,' Chip said, his expression set. 'Sometimes the fight is all you get.

Hope doesn't mean anything... Action's the only thing that counts.

I can't go back to being who I used to be!' Hadley looked down at him sympathetically. 'None of us can, kid.' he said. 'That's the point. You get what you get. Life changes you. Time travel or no, you always have to build on what you live through.

Somehow this change was even scarier than all the people downstairs, because Jordan could have an identical twin; there could be kids who looked like his parents' childhood pictures. The bunk beds were impossible.

The rewards are worth far more than the risks.

Listen, I'll share some of the wisdom I learned over the years. When you near the end of your life... when you're a lonely old man... you start realizing what your accomplishments are really worth. The most brilliant clue I ever deciphered, the millions I earned -- even the microwavable burrito itself -- sometimes I think I'd be willing to trade all of it for a single hug of someone who truly loves me.

And sometimes it takes a kid to show adults the truth.

It's a game we used to play, after we got rid of all our livestock and didn't need our hay no more. You throw a match into the haystack, give the fire a three-second head start, and begin looking. You can find the needle every time if you work quick.

I start to think, 'It's awful being too poor to even buy my own dress for homecoming.' But that's instantly swept away by another thought: 'I'm so lucky that someone cates enough to loan me a dress.

Being poor isn't the only way to be in need.

Something surprising occurred to Finn. Are you all scared? he asked. Just because you don't know where the spinning room took us? Does it scare you that much when you don't know stuff? He jumped up to the next higher step. You should all remember what it's like to be a second grader. There's lots of stuff I don't know or understand, and I'm fine.

Then, why did I do this, you ask?' He stroked his chin, like an actor trying to look deep and thoughtful. 'The short answer is: hope.