Markus Zusak

“For most of the journey, he made his way through the book,trying never to look up.The words lolled in his mouth as he read them.Strangely, as he turned the pages and progressed through the chapters, it was only two words he ever tasted."Mein Kampf." My struggle-The title, over and over again, as the train prattled on, from one German town to the next."Mein Kampf."Of all the things to save him.”

“Papa would say a word and the girl would have to spell it aloud and then paint it on the wall, as long as she got it right. After a month, the wall was recoated. A fresh cement page.”

“You should know it yourself- a young man is still a boy, and a boy sometimes has the right to be stubborn.”

“An eleven-year-old girl is many things, but she is not stupid.”

“You might well ask just what the hell he was thinking. The answer is, probably nothing at all.He'd probably say he was exercising his God-given right to stupidity.”

“‎"Und seid versichert, diese Frau hatte tatsächlich ein Herz, und zwar ein größeres, als die meisten Leute vermutet hätten. Da war eine Menge drin, aufgestapelt, meterhoch auf verborgenen Regalen.”

“They were all placed on a conveyor belt and run through a rampant machine that gave them a lifetime in ten minutes. Words were fed into them. Time disappeared and they now knew everything they needed to know. They were hypnotized.”

“In a way, it was destiny.”

“So ein Typ war er. Ruben Wolf. Wenn er am Leben war, war er okay.”

“God, there were so many of them. So many sets of dying eyes and scuffing feet.”

“Have me," they said, and there was no stopping them. They were frightened, no question, but they were not afraid of me. It was a fear of messing up and having to face themselves again, and facing the world, and the likes of you. There was nothing I could do.They had too many ways, they were too resourceful - and when they did it too well, whatever their chosen method, I was in no position to refuse.”

“She let herself love me for three minutes.Can three minutes last forever? I ask myself, but already know the answer.Probably not, I reply. But maybe they last long enough.”

“She places her hands around my neck and rests her head on my shoulder. I can smell the sex on her, and my hope is that she can smell the love on me.”

“Why me?' I ask God. God says nothing.I laugh and the stars watch.It's good to be alive.”

“Have faith, Ed, all right?'I search the coffee mug, but there's none in there.”

“I see myself beneath her.Being taken and made love to.I feel her.I know her.Taste her champagne mouth.Ignore the ugly teeth.Just shut my eyes and taste her.”

“I only know it would have been nice to be making love instead of attempting murder.”

“He's waking her in every moment.Disturbing her.Reaching through her and abandoning her at the same time.He throws her down and takes her and cuts her open. The bedspring leaks - a howling, desperate noise of falling down and springing up, even though they don't want to. Refusal is pointless. Complaint has no use. Some crying crawls to the doorway where I stand. It hobbles out from the gap in the door and lands at my feet”

“Want me, I beg, but nothing comes.”

“I look at her wish we could go inside and make love on the couch.Dive inside each other.Take each other.Make each other. Nothing happens, though.”

“Može li netko ukrasti sreću? Ili je i to još jedan unutarnji, paklenski ljudski trik?”

“Pričala si mu o meni?" Isprva Liesel nije mogla govoriti. Možda zbog iznenadne rogobatnosti ljubavi koju je osjetila prema njemu. Ili ga je oduvijek voljela? Vjerojatno. Iako nije bila u stanju govoriti, željela je da je poljubi. Željela je da povuče njezinu ruku i privuče je k sebi. Nije važno gdje. U usta, u vrat, u obraz. Koža joj je bila prazna, u iščekivanju.”

“***A LATE-NIGHT EXCERPT***I realized much later that I actually visited 33 Himmel Street in that period of time. It must have been one of the few moments when the girl was not there with him, for all I saw was a man in bed. I Knelt. I readied myself to insert my hands through the blankets. Then there was a resurgence - an immense struggle against my weight. I withdrew, and with so much work ahead of me, it was nice to be fought off in that dark little room. I even managed a short, close-eyed pause of serenity before I made my way out.”

“But you'll come and get me if he wakes up, won't you? Just make something up. Scream out like I've done something wrong. Start swearing at me. Everyone will believe it, don't worry.”

“Did you learn?"The face in the corner watched the flames. "I did." There was a considerable pause. "Until I was nine. At that age, my mother sold the music studio and stopped teaching. SHe kept only the one instrument but gave up on me not long after I resisted the learning. I was foolish.""No," Papa said. "You were a boy.”

“He walked from one end of the basement to the other, the lamplight magnifying his shadow. It turned him into a giant on the wall, walking back and forth. When he stopped pacing, his shadow loomed behind him, watching. Someone was always watching.”

“Thank you. For Max Vandenburg, those were the two most pitiful words he could possibly say, rivaled only by I'm sorry. There was a constant urge to speak both expressions, spurred on by the affliction of guilt.”

“Some of you are most likely thinking that white is not really a colour and all of that tired sort of nonsense. Well, I'm here to tell you that it is. White is without question a colour, and personally, I don't think you want to argue with me.”

“A Jew had once saved his life and he couldn't forget that. He couldn't join a party that antagonized people in such a way... Like many of the Jews believed, he didn't think the hatred could last...”

“It was as though he'd opened her palm, given her the words, and closed it up again.”

“Mystery bores me. It chores me. I know what happens and so do you. It's the machinations that wheel us there that aggravate, perplex, interest, and astound me.”

“You can do all manner of underhanded nice things when you have a caustic reputation.”

“The Keys To Happiness1.Finishing the Grave Digger's Handbook.2.Escaping the ire of Santa Maria.3.Recieving two books for Christmas.”

“Ignoraba que las palabras pudieran pesar tanto.”

“And please," Ilsa Hermann advised her, "don't punish yourself, like you said you would. Don't be like me, Liesel.”

“a young man was hung by a rope made of Stalingrad snow”

“It's not the place, I think. It's the people. We'd have all been the same anywhere else.”

“One eye open, one still in a dream.”

“Tears were frozen to the book theif's face.”

“The only sign of war was a cloud of dust migrating from east to west. It looked through the windows, trying to find a way inside, and as it simultaneously thickened and spread, it turned the trail of humans into apparitions. There were no people on the street anymore. They were rumors carrying bags.”

“From a Himmel Street window, he wrote, the stars set fire to my eyes.”

“Of course I told him about you," Liesel said. She was saying goodbye and she didn't even know it”

“She remembered her books in the moments of worst sorrow, especially the ones that were made for her and the one that saved her life.”

“Those souls are always light because more of them have been put out. More of them have already found their way to other places. This one was sent out by the breath of an accordion, the odd taste of champagne in summer, and the art of promise-keeping.”

“Jego długa postać w łóżku i srebro oczu, przeświecające spod powiek. Jego dusza usiadła, potem wyszła mi naprzeciw. Takie dusze zawsze to czynią – to te najlepsze. Podnoszą się i mówią: „Znam cię, jestem gotowa. Nie, żebym się prosiła, oczywiście, ale pójdę z tobą dobrowolnie”. Te dusze są bardzo lekkie, bo idą bez bagażu, rozdały już siebie. Ta częściowo odpłynęła z oddechem akordeonu, ze wspomnieniem bąbelków wypitego latem szampana, z dotrzymanymi obietnicami.”

“That's the sort of thing I'll never know, or comprehend--what humans are capable of.”

“I'm twenty years old and look at me-- there isn't a thing I want to do”

“El corazón de los humanos no es como el mío. El de los humanos es una línea, mientras que el mío es un círculo y poseo la infinita habilidad de estar en el lugar apropiado en el momento oportuno. La consecuencia es que siempre encuentro humanos en su mejor y en su peor momento. Veo su fealdad y su belleza y me pregunto cómo ambas pueden ser lo mismo. Sin embargo, tienen algo que les envidio: al menos los humanos tienen el buen juicio de morir." - La Muerte”

“Se estaba despidiendo y ni siquiera lo sabía.”

“A veces me mata ver cómo muere la gente.”