Gabrielle Zevin

“She sleeps; she sleeps.And when she sleeps, she dreams.And when she dreams, she dreams of a girl who was lost at sea but one day found the shore.”

“Have a suitcase heart, be ready to travel.”

“No, I've been doing this myself forever. I could have gone in here myself, but my daddy doesn't want me to get raped. That happens all the time in bathrooms.”

“I know he's a good person. And he said he was sorry. And I love him. And when you love a person, you have to forgive him sometimes.”

“If your last words are somehow meant to encapsulate your entire existence, Liz finds um strangely appropriate. Um means nothing. Um is what you say while you're thinking of what you'll really say. Um suggests someone interrupted before they'd begun. Um is a fifteen-year-old girl who gets hit by a taxicab in front of a mall on the way to help pick out a prom dress for a prom she isn't even going to, for God's sake.”

“Each period had required me to be a slightly different person, and that was exhausting. I wondered if school had always felt this way and whether it was like this for everone.”

“I knew near everything about him, and he knew near everything about me, and all that made our quiet a kind of song. The kind that you hum without even knowing what it is or why you're humming it. The kind that you've always known.”

“It's when you don't need something that you tend to lose it.”

“Diving is a leap of faith plus gravity.”

“It is a lie that you should only speak from your heart- you ought to let your brain play a part too.”

“You can either be a bystander who lives his life in reaction to the decisions that others make, or you can be the leader who is making those decisions.”

“Every generation spins the wheel,Anya, and where it lands defines 'the good'. Funny thing is they never know that they're spining it, and it hits something different every time.”

“Tragedy is when someone ends up dead.Everything else is just a bump in the road.”

“Daddy used to say that calling a person a romantic was just another way of saying he or she acted without regard for conseqences.”

“The heart is so peculiar. How light and how heavy it can feel at the same time. How light.”

“Win interrupted me. "Stop," he said. "I love you, too." He paused. "You underestimate me, Annie. I'm not blind to your faults. You keep too many secrets, for one. You lie sometimes. You have trouble saying the things in your heart. You have an awful temper. You hold a grudge. And I'm not saying this one is your fault, but people who know you have a disturbing tendency to end up with bullets in them. You don't have faith in anyone, including me. You think I'm an idiot sometimes. Don't deny it--I can tell. And maybe I was an idiot a year ago, but a lot has happened since then. I'm different, Anya. You used to say I didn't know what love was. But I think I learned what it is. I learned it when I thought I had lost you over the summer. And I learned it when my leg ached something awful. And I learned it when you were gone and I didn't know if I'd ever see you again. And I learned it every night when I'd pray that you were safe even if I never got to see you again. I don't want to marry you. I'm just happy to be near you for a while, and for as long as you'll let me be. Because there's never been anyone else for me but you. There will never be anyone else for me but you. I know this. I do. Annie, my Annie, don't cry..." (Was I crying? Yes, I suppose I was. But I was still so awfully tired. You can't possibly hold this against me.)"I know that loving you is going to be hard, Annie. But I love you, come what may.”

“Theo nodded slowly. "You love Balanchine chocolate like I love cacao." "I wouldn't say love, Theo." "No, you speak the truth. Love isn't right. It isn't right for me either. Sometimes I hate cacao." Theo looked at me. "You don't love Balanchine chocolate. You are Balanchine chocolate.”

“Though I hadn't had a stroke like Uncle Yuri, it was still difficult for me to express what was in my heart. I wanted to tell her that I loved her, that she was the most important person in the world to me, that I was truly sorry for having lied to her about Liberty. Instead, I asked her what she wanted for dinner.”

“Isn't that about an orphan?" I asked. I hated those kinds of books. "You can't avoid orphan stories, child. Every story is an orphaned story. Life is an orphan story. We are all orphaned sooner or later.""In my case, sooner.""Yes, in your case, sooner. But you are strong, and God never gives us more than we can bear.”

“You know what they say. Cold hands. Warm heart," Yuji said. "Or is it the reverse?”

“You'd probably marry me just to annoy your father."He grinned. "Well, that would certainly be a bonus.""Why don't you like him?" I asked. "He seems all right.""In five-minute doses," Win muttered.”

“You made quite an impression on the old man, by the way.""You mean Uncle Yuri?""He said he'd marry you. If you weren't related. And if he were fifty years younger. Et cetera. Et cetera.""That a lot of very important 'ifs', Jacks.”

“Your extracurricular activities are definitely somewhat lackluster, Annie.""What? Being the daughter of a celebrated criminal doesn't count as an extracurricular activity?""No," Scarlet said. "A case could be made for poisoning your ex-boyfriend however.”

“Incidentally, you're not a baby because you have nightmares, Natty. Something terrible happened to you when you were little, and that's why you have them. It isn't your fault.""You never have them," she pointed out."No, I go around pouring spaghetti sauce over boys' heads," I said.Natty laughed. "Good night, brave Anya.”

“Did you have a good time with Win?" Natty asked."I'll tell you about it tomorrow." I lowered my voice. "He's still here.""Annie!" Her eyes grew wide and delighted.'It's a long story and probably a lot less exciting than the one I suspect you're concocting, Natty. He's only using our couch.”

“It gets more exciting," Imogen assured her. "You must be patient, Galina.""If it takes too long, I'll be dead," Nana replied.”

“Give Win back his hat," I told Natty."It looks good on me," she said, batting her eyelashes.I took it off her head and handed it to Win. "Thanks for babysitting," I said."Stop infantilizing me," Natty protested."That's a very good word," Win commented."Thank you," Natty replied. "I happen to know lots of them.”

“Why are you here?" I asked him."That's an awfully big question, Anya.""No, I meant here outside this office. What did you do wrong?""Multiple choice," he said. "(a) A few pointed comments I made in Theology. (b) Headmaster wants to have a chat with the new kid about wearing hats in school. (c) My schedule. I'm just too darn smart for my classes. (d) My eyewitness account of the girl who poured lasagna over her boyfriend's head. (e.) Headmaster's leaving her husband and wants to run away with me. (f) None of the above. (g) All of the above.""Ex-boyfriend," I mumbled."Good to know," he said.”

“I accept your condemnation," I said.”

“Maybe I'll even become a nun and swear off boys forever."Scarlet turned to study me. "No. Your face wouldn't be good in a habit.”

“Does it count for anything that I just told you I love you?" Gable asked.I considered this briefly before deciding that it didn't. "Not really. Not when I know you don't mean it.”

“You can't avoid orphan stories, child. Every story is an orphan story. We are all orphaned sooner or later.”

“Jesus, I thought Zuckerman was cheating in you, Chief.”

“How long will I be in here?” I asked.“Varies,” said the guard as he closed the door and locked me in. “Usually until Mrs. Cobrawick thinks you learned your lesson. I hate this job. Try not to lose your mind, girl.” Those were the last words spoken to me for a very long time. The guard had given me good advice, which turned out to be nearly impossible to follow.”

“Why are the cute ones always such sociopaths?""Win doesn't seem like so much of a sociopath," I replied without thinking."Oh, really? So, you think he's cute, do you? At least you're admitting it now."I shook my head. Scarlet was incorrigible."Admitting it is the first step, Annie.”

“I don't think I would have minded you being the keeper of my secrets.”

“Chocolate doesn't solve everything, Nana.""It solves a whole heck of a lot, though.”

“Why'd you give him all that stuff after he tried to rob me?""Because he was less fortunate than us, Natty. And Daddy always said that we have to be mindful of those who are less fortunate.""But Daddy killed people, didn't he?""Yes," I admitted. "Daddy was complex.”

“When I was in my twenties and broke, I'd buy books before food. A meal will sustain you for a few hours, a good book will sustain you for life.”

“Stop saying that! You sound absurd, and I don't even think you mean it. Besides, I'd never marry you," I told him. "I'm sixteen, and you're a slut, and you can't stop saying preposterous things!""True," he admitted. He kissed me on the lips and then I closed the door.”

“...lies can sound awfully pretty when a girl is in love with the person telling them.”

“She hasn't cried once. SHe doesn't understand that Margaret is dead. At that age, they can't fully understand the concept of death. It's a good thing really.Jane fully understood the concept of death and she felt truly injured that Aunt Bess considered her unmoved. Jane thought it should be perfectly clear to everyone that rearranging the furniture in her dollhouse was her expression of grief. She had been moving the Mother Doll (it was a nuclear family of dolls that consisted of a mother, a father, a boy, and a girl) and all the Mother Doll's possessions into the dollhouse's attic. Jane wondered why tears were considered a superior form of grief to the rearrangement of one's dollhouse.Feeling terribly misunderstood, Jane began to cry. Oh listen, said Aunt Bess, she begins to understand.”

“An echo makes good company, Old Margaret said. Whenever I'm lonely, I always try to find one to talk to. They're much better than mirrors. Mirrors say nasty things about you. Echoes are far more supportive. They think whatever you say is completely brilliant.”

“Well, for one, you have to remember not to scream. Once you have their attention, whispering is much more effective. Screaming ghosts scare people, you know”

“Owen begins to cry in an undignified manner, although he isn't entirely sure why he is crying. Curtis takes Owen's hand, leading Owen away from the puddle."You know," says Curtis, "you may see her again someday.""Cool," says Owen, and with that, he stops crying.”

“Owen doesn't watch when they place Liz in the River, next to all the other babies who would be born that day. Nor does he watch when the launch nurse pushes Liz away from the shore into the current that leads back to Earth. To the untrained observer, it seems as if Liz's departure has no effect on Owen whatsoever. Curtis Jest watches Owen before deciding to go over to him. "Owen," Curtis asks, "do you remember who that was?" Owen looks up from playing with the boat. He appears to find Curtis's question difficult. "Lizzie?" "Yes," says Curtis, "that was Lizzie. She was my friend. She was your...your friend, too." Owen continues playing with the boat. He begins singing Liz's name in the unaffected way children will sometimes sing a name. "Lizzie, Lizzie, Lizzie," he sings. Owen stops singing abruptly and looks up at Curtis. A horrified expression crosses Owen's face. "Is she...gone?" "Yes," says Curtis. Owen nods. "Gonegonegonegonegone." Owen begins to cry in an undignified manner, although he isn't entirely sure why he is crying. Curtis takes Owen's hand, leading Owen away from the puddle. "You know," says Curtis, "you may see her again someday." "Cool," says Owen, and with that, he stops crying.”

“All of these teeth had once been in real, live people. They had talked and smiled and eaten and sang and cursed and prayed. They had brushed and flossed and died. In English class, we read poems about death, but here, right in front of me was a poem about death too.”

“..banning anything leads to organized crime. People will always find a way to get what they want, and there will always be criminals willing to provide it.”

“But then again maybe "I will" is nicer. It has a future in it.”

“Life is messy,” Dr. Lau was fond of saying. “Deal with it. If you’re judging it, you’re not really seeing it.”