Michael Grant

“Oh, and by the way, I brought a gun." - Dekka "OMG, are we going to be in danger?" - Taylor " No, Taylor. The gun is in case you get on my nerves." - Dekka”

“Sometimes you catch the wave. Sometimes the wave catches you.”

“It's a good thing to read a lot. It's a good thing to write a lot. The best thing to do is to live a lot. Fall in love. Fall out of love. Make a fool of yourself. Watch other people make fools of themselves. Believe something stupid and then realize you've been tricked. Feel embarrassed. Be brave and bold. Then be cowardly and pathetic. Give a damn about the world outside yourself. Have some very dark nights. It's all good. You'll use all of it.”

“Because that, more than any monster, was what Sam had feared: that he was weak and cowardly. He had a terrible fear of being afraid.”

“Caine met Diana's disbelieving gaze and laughed aloud."Why so gloomy? Doesn't every little girl want to grow up to be a queen?""Princess," Diana said."So, you got a promotion," Caine said.”

“You're staring," Lana said."Yes. I am. I'm a teenage boy. Beautiful girls in wet underwear have a tendency to cause staring in teenage boys.”

“I like your boyfriend," Dahra said. "Not many guys volunteer to carry ten gallons of diarrhea and vomit."Lana laughed. "He's not my boyfriend.""Yeah, well, he can be mine if he wants to be. He's cute. And he carries crap.”

“No," Lana said, "I'm not going to heal your scratch.""Good," Sanjit said."Good? Why good?""Because when you hold my hand, I don't want it to be work for you.”

“It's Sanjit. It's a Hindu name. It means 'invincible.'""That's great," Lana said."Invincible. I can't be vinced.""That's not even a word," Lana said."Go ahead: try to vince me," Sanjit said.”

“So asking you to take a moonlit walk with me, that would totally not work?""What?" Again that glare. "Go away. Stop being an idiot. I don't even know you.""You're healing my little brother Bowie.""Yeah, that doesn't make us friends, kid.""So no moonlight.""Are you retarded?""Sunrise? I could get up early.""Go away.""Sunset tomorrow?" -Sanjit & Lana”

“He didn't mind if she hated him. They were never going to be a cute romantic couple like Sam and Astrid. Clean-cut, righteous, all that. The perfect couple. He and Diana were the imperfect couple.”

“No, no, no, so not getting the point of fear. Because fear wasn't about what made sense. Fear was about possibilities. Not things that happened. Things that might.”

“But there was one bully to rule them all, one bully to find them, one bully to bring them all and in the darkness pound them.”

“And then the turbines generate electricity that goes into the whole town.""You mean they aren't powered by giant hamsters on wheels? I was misinformed.”

“And yes, we do have some food. Maybe you'd like to join us? Unless you want to stick with your sheep sushi.”

“Too bad we don't have marshmallows. This is an amazing fire." Howard emerged through the smoke behind Edilio.”

“Beautiful songs could sometimes take a person out of themselves and carry them away to a place of magic. But when Jill sang, it was not about the song, really. She could sing the phone book. She could sing a shopping list. Whatever she sang, whatever the words or the tune, it was so beautiful, so achingly lovely, that no one could listen and be untouched.”

“It takes me a while to figure things out, doesn't it?" Edilio grinned. "Do me a favor. When you find Astrid, repeat that to her, word for word, the part about how it takes you a while. Then remember her exact reaction and tell me.”

“There's a lot youdon't know, Sam. There's a lot I don't tell you. I know who I am. I know what I do, and what I am to this place.I know what I am to you, and how much you depend on me.You may be the symbol, and you may be the one everyone turns to when something goes bad, and you're the big badass, but I'm the guy doing the day-in, day-out work of running things. So I don't make this about me.”

“No, I love watching autopsies of disgusting mutant monsters”

“No one vinces me, baby”

“What’s happened so far? Coyotes evolved limited powers of speech. Worms developed teeth and became aggressive and territorial. Snakes grew wings and developed a new form of metamorphosis. Some of us developed powers. So far there’s been a lot of strange, but not a lot of stupid. This, though, this”—she aimed her finger at the carcass of the monstrosity—“is just stupid.”

“The light of day showed you the limits of possibility. But walk through the dark, the absolute, total darkness, and the possibilities were limitless.”

“Fear was about possibilities. Not things that happened. Things that might.”

“welcome to the FAYZ. Wherever, whenever or whyever that is”

“the devil does not have a fork Brianna, he has a whip”

“Does he have a nickname?' Diana went on remorselessly. 'I mean, 'gaiphage' is so long. Can we call him phage? Or maybe just 'G'?”

“Sam was starting to feel anxious. Nutella and noodles were fine. Great in fact. Miraculous. But he'd been hoping for more food more water more medicine something. It was absurdly like Christmas morning when he was little: hoping for something he couldn't even put a name to. A game changer. Something...amazing.”

“Yeah. A feeling. Like the whole point of my life from the alleys in Bangkok to the yachts and private island to coming here like a crazy person trying to fly a helicopter like all of it from birth to here point A to point Z was all some big cosmic trick to get me to meet you. - Sanjit to Lana”

“Anyway GONE. My goal in writing GONE To creep you out. To make you stay up all night reading then roll into school tired the next day so that you totally blow the big test and end up dropping out of school. GONE. Imagine a world where every adult vanishes in an instant.”

“We're sitting in the dark willing to sell our souls for another peppermint with enough uranium to give a terrorist a wet dream. - Diana”

“A man without pleasure is a man without any idea what life is about”

“Nemo Me Impugn Lacessit—No One Assails Me with Impunity. Or the alternative version—Do Not Fuck with Us or We Will Hurt You”

“Ninth graders with machine guns: its hard to make that a happy story.”

“Sam- I didn't know you had a last name I thought you were like Iman or Madonna or Beyonce. You just needed the one name.Dekka- Yeah sure, me and Beyonce”

“Hand me my pants,”

“I had a hard childhood. Hard for my parents. Not that bad for me.”

“Okay, look. I get it. You're one of those people who thinks they have to help screwed-up people. Or maybe you're attracted to dangerous, unbalanced people. But listen up: I'm not Edward and you're not Bella" - Lana”

“If God gives you a Quiznos, can I have a bite? No way. You have to pray for your own food.”

“Sam could not help but be pleased. "So. Astrid needs me."Brianna rolled her eyes. "Yeah, Sam, you're still necessary. You're like a god to us mere mortals. We can't live without you. Later we're going to build you a temple. Satisfied?”

“An old love of my uncle's. Her name was Nott.""Not what?""Nott. Just Nott."Mack waited as long as he could before asking, "Not what?""Nott. That was he name. Nott.""Is that a joke?" Mack asked. "Like one of those 'not' jokes? Like if I said, 'I like your dress...not.'""What's the matter with my dress?" Xiao asked, a little irritated.Leaning forward, Jarrah asked, "Not what?""Not a what, a who," Mack explained to Jarrah. "Nothing!" he answered Xiao's question."Okay, then," Jarrah said. "Not who?""Are we there yet?" Stefan asked."I think Nott was Shen Long's girlfriend," Mack yelled back to Jarrah. The wind was fierce and cold now that Shen Long was picking up speed."Then what's this about nothing?" Jarrah asked."It's not about nothing," Mack said. "It's about Nott."There was a moment or two of silence. Then Jarrah said, "You know, I could push you right off this dragon's back."Mack thought that over for a second or two then said, "I'd prefer you not. Heh.”

“Eriskigal, or as some say it, Erishkigal, is Morgan le Fay, Kali, Persephone, and Hel.''She's Hel all right,' Jarrah muttered.”

“Sometimes I think He looks down and says, "Wow, look what those idiots are up to now. I guess I better help them along a little.”

“It's not about who's got powers, morons. It's about who's not afraid. And who's going to do what has to be done.”

“It's vital to keep a sense of humour when the world seems to have suddenly become a very strange place.”

“We didn't Make this World we're just the Poor Fools who are living in it.”

“You don't look so much like a great hero,' Jarrah said. 'I'm pretty sure I'm not,' Mack said wearily. 'My throat is hoarse from screaming in terror. I don't think heroes have that problem.”

“You can't be trapped by other people, you can only be trapped by your own fear. Defy and win.”

“And sometimes when you lie to me Sometimes I’ll lie to you And there isn’t a thing you could possibly do All these half-destroyed lives Aren’t as bad as they seem But now I see blood and I hear people scream Then I wake up And it’s just another bad dream . . .”

“The gaiaphage. That's the other word they use. 'Gaia,' as in world. 'Phage,' as in a worm or something that eats something up. I'm going to go way out on a limb here and say I don't think something that calls itself a 'world eater' is a good thing.”