Beth Revis

“Like walking through water.Like drowning.”

“Iquitthinking.”

“This is... mating, it's not love.”

“Holding Amy against me, I realize the simple truth is that power isn't control at all - power is strength, and giving that strength to others.”

“Así de frágil es la vida de una generación en una nave espacial: el peso de nuestra existencia se basa en un motor roto.”

“Before, if I thought Christmas, I would have remembered my past on Earth and would have succumbed to the aching sadness for a life I can never have again.Now, I can think the word and not feel anything but a dull ache, a phantom pain for a part of my life that’s been amputated. [p.244]”

“I click on the deaths and read the names carefully, memorising them. Because here’s the simple truth—if I hadn’t taken the ship off Phydus, people like ***** and ******* would still be alive. And while I could say that a shorter life with feelings is better than a longer life without, the dead can’t tell me their side. [p.88]”

“I look up, and he’s searching my eyes, just like he did after kissing me for the first time in the rain. “What are you looking for?”He doesn’t answer.He doesn’t need to.I know what he wants.And it’s not fair.“Just because we’re the only two teenagers on this whole ship doesn’t mean I have to love you. Why can’t I have a choice? Options?”Elder steps back, stung.“Look, it’s not that I don’t like you,” I say quickly, reaching for him. He jerks away. “It’s just…”“Just what?” he growls.Just that if I was back on Earth instead of on this damn ship, if I had met Elder at school or at a club or on a blind date, if I had my choice between Elder and every other boy in the world…Would I love him then?Would he love me?Love without choice isn’t love at all.“Just that I don’t want to be with you just because there’s no one else.” [p.57-58]”

“And here we are, in the middle, surrounded by a sea of stars.A million suns.Any of them could hold a planet. Any of them could hold a home.But all of them are out of reach. [p.218]”

“He's the only stable thing in the swirling chaos.”

“Well, sometimes home is a person.”

“A leader isn't someone who forces others to make him stronger; a leader is someone willing to give him strength to others so that they may have the strength to stand on their own.”

“People will survive anything for their children.”

“Un líder no es alguien que obliga a los demás a hacerlo más fuerte; un líder es alguien dispuesto a dar su fuerza a los demás para que tengan la fuerza para ponerse de pie por sí mismos.”

“The first cause of discord is difference. There is no religion on Godspeed. We all speak the same language. We're all monoethnic. And because we are not different, we don't fight. Remember the Crusades I taught you? The genocides? We will never have to worry about those types of horrific events on Godspeed.”

“Para mí, por siempre, no hay más Nueva York.Pero, mi corazón susurra, hay un Elder.”

“Choice or no, my heart is his.”

“Elder mocked me for praying once, and i spent an hour berating him for that. He ended up throwing up his hands, laughing, and telling me i could believe whatever i wanted if i was going to hold onto my beliefs so hard.”

“But Amy," Elder says. "Space suits!”

“Maybe one day the smears of paint Harley left throughout Godspeed will fade, and maybe the stars never will, but i'd rather have Harley's colors.”

“Me detengo, tragando aire, mi corazón acelerado al máximo en mis oídos. Me estiro para alcanzar con una mano y toco la pared. Mis dedos se curvan en un puño, pero cae débilmente a mi lado. Y ahí es cuando me doy cuenta de la más importante verdad en mi vida en esta nave. No hay lugar a donde correr.”

“Y por un momento, le tengo envidia al Sr. William Robertson, Número 100, quien está flotando en un mar de estrellas.-Elder”

“A splatter of rain on my skin, but its bright and sunny under the blue sky and Jason's there, and we almost kiss but everything changes and were at that party where we met.”

“I have no idea why she needs them. I just know that I'd face another plague to get them for her if I had to. Fortunately, it's a lot easier than that. - Elder”

“The glitter in the sky looks as if I could scoop it all up in my hands and let the stars swirl and touch one another but they are so distant so very far apart that they cannot feel the warmth of each other even though they are made of burning.”

“...that was before I'd started thinking about how life stuck on a ship wouldn't be so bad if Elder walked around pantless more.”

“You could drop me anywhere in the universe, blindfolded, and I'd know this was his room just from the smell.”

“Is almost a good enough reason for fear ?”

“People are, at their heart, constantly moving toward a state of entropy. Much like this ship. We’re all spiraling out of control.”

“It's Elder who's my safe place. Elder's my home.”

“Emotion courses through my veins, choking me. I feel so insignificant, a tiny speck surrounded by a million stars. A million suns.”

“Wannagogardenwime?" I ask all in one breath. My eyes grow wide. What came over me? Why would I blurt that out like that? ~Elder”

“I saw you running," she says, her attention on the rabbit. "What were you running from?""Just running," I say. She watching me silently and intently, like a cat."Why?" she asks.I shrug. "Why not?""It's not Productive." She says it like productivity is holy, the only thing worth having."So?" ~Amy”

“When I get to my room, the first thing I do is punch the button that operates the blind over the window. The room dims. Good. I want darkness. ~Amy”

“Old people die. It's what they do. ~ Amy”

“Will you stay with me?" I whisper."Always.”

“Memories always kill nightmares.”

“Todo lo que tuve que hacer fue morir un rato, ¡y ahora tienes un nuevo planeta!”

“Cuando tenía catorce años, mi padre me llevó a cazar con él, en Colorado, y maté a un alce. Lo hizo para que supiera lo que es quitar una vida, de modo que no dudara en hacerlo cuando lo necesitara. Te estoy diciendo esto ahora, de modo que sepas que no dudaré en matarte.(...) También quiero que sepas que no te voy a matar de inmediato. Pero vas a desear que lo hubiese hecho.-Amy”

“So you’re sticking with me, and I’m sticking with you.”

“Love without choice isn't love at all.”

“A leader doesn't make pawns - he makes people.”

“You want to just dump me in space?" My voice is low, but not for long. "It's not like I've done anything wrong! I didn't wake myself up, you know!"Eldest shrugs. "It would be by far the simplest solution. You are, after all, nonessential.""We can't do that," the doctor says, and I totally forgive him for being creepy and threatening me with drugs.”

“Doc begs me for the wires to fix the pump.We should at least keep putting the hormones in the water," he insists, "so that they don't start mating with relatives.""Most people don't want to commit incest," I say dryly.”

“Eldest taught me about ancient religions that worshiped the sun. I never understood why- it's just a ball of light and heat. But if the sun of Sol-Earth swirls in colors and lights like that girl's hair, well, I can see why the ancients would worship that.”

“I open my mouth. I want o say: I'm breaking, and i need someone to hold me together.But no sound comes out.”

“I feel alone.I don't mean i feel lonely; I mean i feel alone, the same way i feel the blanket resting on my body, or the feathers of my pillow under my head, or the tight string of my sleep pants twisted up around my waist. I feel alone as if it were an actual thing, seeping throughout this whole level like mist blanketing a field, reaching into all the hidden corners of my room and finding nothing living but me. It's a cold sort of feeling, this.”

“Power isn’t control at all — power is strength, and giving that strength to others. A leader isn’t someone who forces others to make him stronger; a leader is someone willing to give his strength to others that they may have the strength to stand on their own.”

“But...If my life on Earth must end, let it end with a promise. Let it end with hope.”

“I think his chutz is up, don't you?”