Suzanne Collins

“Closing my eyes doesn't help. Fire burns brighter in the darkness.”

“I clench his hands to the point of pain. "Stay with me."His pupils contract to pinpoints, dialate again rapidly, and then return to something resembling normalcy. "Always," he murmurs.”

“Don't let him take you from me.”

“Peeta and I had adjoining cells in the capitol. We're very familiar with each other's screams.”

“Fine. I'll train. But I'm going to the stinking capitol if I have to kill a crew and fly there myself." Says Johanna."Probably best not to bring that up in training," I say. "But it's nice to know I'll have a ride.”

“I'm not their slave," the man mutters."I am," I say. "That's why I killed Cato... and he killed Thresh... and he killed Clove... and she tried to kill me. It just goes around and around, and who wins? Not us. Not the districts. Always the capitol. But I'm tired of being a piece in their games.”

“There's a chance that the old Peeta, the one who loves you, is still inside. Trying to get back to you. Don't give up on him.”

“Poison. The perfect weapon for a snake.”

“They more than do their work, they take pride in it. Like Cinna.”

“It takes ten times as long to put yourself back together as it does to fall apart.”

“Some walks you have to take alone.”

“Delly lost her temper at Peeta over how he treated you. She got very squeaky. It was like someone stabbing a mouse with a fork repeatedly.”

“there's plenty of blame to go around.”

“Katniss. I remember about the bread.”

“But collective thinking is usually short-lived. We're fickle, stupid beings with poor memories and a great gift for self-destruction.”

“We fight, we dare, we end our hunger for justice.”

“They'll either want to kill you, kiss you, or be you.”

“I drag myself out of nightmares each morning and find there's no relief in waking.”

“Finnick!" Something between a shriek and a cry of joy. A lovely if somewhat bedraggled young woman--dark tangled hair, sea green eyes--runs toward us in nothing but a sheet. "Finnick!" And suddenly, it's as if there's no one in the world but these two, crashing through space to reach each other. They collide, enfold, lose their balance, and slam against a wall, where they stay. Clinging into one being. Indivisible. A pang of jealousy hits me. Not for either Finnick or Annie but for their certainty. No one seeing them could doubt their love.”

“Well, don't expect us to be too impressed. We just saw Finnick Odair in his underwear.”

“Katniss....he's still trying to keep you alive.”

“Oh, my dear Miss Everdeen. I thought we had an agreement not to lie to each other.”

“No one knows what to do with you, girlie.”

“I think....you still have no idea. The effect you can have.”

“If I could grow wings, I could fly. Only people can't grow wings," he say's. "Real or not real?""Real," I say. "But people don't need wings to survive.""Mockingjays do.”

“Real or not real?”

“Ally." Peeta says the words slowly, tasting it. "Friend. Lover. Victor. Enemy. Fiancee. Target. Mutt. Neighbor. Hunter. Tribute. Ally. I'll add it to the list of words I use to try to figure you out. The problem is, I can't tell what's real anymore, and what's made up.”

“I vote yes....for Prim.”

“Is that why you hate me?" I ask. "Partly," She admits. "Jealousy is certainly involved. I also think you're a little hard to swallow. With your tacky romantic drama and your defender-of-the-helpless act. Only it isn't an act, which makes you more unbearable. Please feel free to take this personally.”

“I must have loved you a lot.”

“What about Gale?""He's not a bad kisser either," I say shortly. "And it was okay with both of us? You kissing the other?" He asks. "No. It wasn't okay with either of you. But I wasn't asking your permission," I tell him. Peeta laughs again, coldly, dismissively. "Well, you're a piece of work, aren't you?”

“Ladies and gentlemen....."His voice is quiet, but mine rings through the room. "Let the Seventy-sixth Hunger Games begin!”

“You're not afraid I'll kill you tonight?""Like I couldn't take you.”

“Oh, Peeta, Don't make me sorry I restarted your heart.”

“I knew you'd kiss me.""How?" I say. Because I didn't know myself. "Because I am in pain," He say's. "That's the only way I get your attention.”

“Fire is catching! And if we burn, you burn with us!”

“I raise my left arm and twist my neck down to rip off the pill on my sleeve. Instead my teeth sink into flesh. I yank my head back in confusion to find myself looking into Peeta’s eyes, only now they hold my gaze. Blood runs from the teeth marks on the hand he clamped over my nightlock.“Let me go!” I snarl at him, trying to wrest my arm from his grasp.“I can’t,” he says.”

“What I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life can go on, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good again.”

“I wish I could freeze this moment, right here, right now and live in it forever.”

“Finnick?" I say, "Maybe some pants?"He looks down at his legs as if noticing his outfit for the first time. Then he whips off his hospital gown leaving him in just his underwear. "Why? Do you find this" -- he strikes a ridiculously provocative pose -- "distracting?"I laugh. Boggs looks embarrassed and Finnick looks more like the guy I met at the Quarter Quell”

“You love me. Real or not real?"I tell him, "Real.”

“I roll my eyes. "So when did I become so special? When they carted me off to the Capitol?""No, about six months before that. Right after New Year's. We were in the Hob, eating some slop of Greasy Sae's. And Darius was teasing you about trading a rabbit for one of his kisses. And I realized...I minded.”

“Even though I don't ask, Plutarch gives me cheerful updates on the phone like "Good news, Katniss! I think we've almost got him convinced you're not a mutt!" Or "Today he was allowed to feed himself pudding!”

“Oh, he's on top of it. It was volunteer only, but he pretended not to notice me waving my hand in the air," says Haymitch. "See? He's already demonstrated good judgment.”

“You're still trying to protect me. Real or not real," he whispers."Real," I answer. "Because that's what you and I do, protect each other.”

“There are much worse games to play.”

“Yes,” I whisper. The red blinking light on one of the cameras catches my eye. I know I’m being recorded. “Yes,” I say more forcefully. Everyone is drawing away from me—Gale, Cressida, the insects—giving me the stage. But I stay focused on the red light. “I want to tell the rebels that I am alive. That I’m right here in District Eight, where the Capitol has just bombed a hospital full of unarmed men, women, and children. There will be no survivors.” The shock I’ve been feeling begins to give way to fury. “I want to tell people that if you think for one second the Capitol will treat us fairly if there’s a cease-fire, you’re deluding yourself. Because you know who they are and what they do.” My hands go out automatically, as if to indicate the whole horror around me. “This is what they do! And we must fight back!”I’m moving in toward the camera now, carried forward by my rage. “President Snow says he’s sending us a message? Well, I have one for him. You can torture us and bomb us and burn our districts to the ground, but do you see that?” One of the cameras follows as I point to the planes burning on the roof of the warehouse across from us. The Capitol seal on a wing glows clearly through the flames. “Fire is catching!” I am shouting now, determined that he will not miss a word. “And if we burn, you burn with us!”

“I always channel my emotions into my work. That way, I don't hurt anyone but myself.”

“The idea of being strong for someone else having never entered their heads, I find myself in the position of having to console them. Since I'm the person going in to be slaughtered, this is somewhat annoying.”

“Katniss: I guess all those hours decorating cakes paid off.Peeta: Yes, frosting. The final defence of the dying. (252)”