Veronica Roth

“Escucho mis latidos. He estado mirándolo por mucho tiempo, pero entonces, él ha estado mirándome de regreso, y siento que los dos estamos tratando de decir algo que el otro no puede oír, aunque podría estar imaginando eso. Demasiado tiempo; y ahora, incluso más, con mi corazón más estridente, sus tranquilos ojos me devoran entera.”

“...cambiar los simulacros no es lo que les importa; es sólo un síntoma de lo que verdaderamente les importa— Tori toma mi mano y la presiona entre sus palmas. —Piénsalo —dice— estas personas te enseñaron a usar un arma. Te enseñaron cómo luchar. ¿Crees que están por encima de lastimarte? ¿Por encima de matarte?”

“La paz está restringida, eso es libertad”

“Looks like someone had a mood swing.” She rolls her eyes. “Like you don’t want toknow what his fears are. He acts so tough that he’s probably afraid of marshmallowsand really bright sunrises or something.”

“What is it with you today?” says Christina on the way to breakfast. Her eyes are stillswollen from sleep and her tangled hair forms a fuzzy halo around her face.“Oh, you know,” I say. “Sun shining. Birds chirping.”She raises an eyebrow at me, as if reminding me that we are in an undergroundtunnel.”

“What did you do, memorize a map of the city for fun?” says Christina.“Yes,” says Will, looking puzzled. “Didn’t you?”

“He told me once to be brave, and though I have stood still while knives spun toward my face and jumped off a roof, I never thought I would need bravery in the small moments of my life. I do.”

“Somewhere inside me is a merciful, forgiving person. Somewhere there is a girl who tries to understand what people are going through, who accepts that people do evil things and that desperation leads them to darker places than they ever imagined. I swear she exists, and she hurts for the repentant boy I see in front of me. But if I saw her, I wouldn't recognize her.”

“It's when you're acting selflessly that you are at your bravest.”

“Maybe there's more we all could have done, but we just have to let the guilt remind us to do better next time.”

“Learning how to think in the midst of fear is a lesson that everyone needs to learn.”

“Sometimes, the best way to help someone is just to be near them.”

“Valuing knowledge above all else results in a lust for power, and that leads men into dark and empty places.”

“La cortesía es el engaño en un envase bonito.”

“Aquellos que quieren poder viven con miedo de perderlo. Es por eso que nosotros tenemos que darle el poder a aquellos que no lo desean.”

“I ignore my fear,” he says. “When I make decisions, I pretend it doesn’t exist.”I stare at him for a second. I can’t help it. To me there’s a difference between notbeing afraid and acting in spite of fear, as he does.”

“For a few minutes we kiss, deep in the chasm, with the roar of water all around us. And we rise, hand in hand, I realize that if we had both chosen differently, we might have ended up doing the same thing, in a safer place, in gray clothes instead of black ones.”

“And I'm the kind of person who does not let inconsequential things like boys and near death experiences stop her.”

“Sometimes I see him as just another person, and sometimes I feel the sight of him in my gut, like a deep ache.”

“He slides his hand over my cheek, one finger anchored behind my ear. Then he tilts his head down and kisses me, sending a warm ache through my body. I wrap my hands around his arm, holding him there as long as I can. When he touches me, the hollowed-out feeling in my chest and stomach is not as noticeable.”

“We could visit him," suggests Will. "But what would we say? 'I didn't know you that well, but I'm sorry you got stabbed in the eye'?”

“Four flips the gun in this hand, presses the barrel to Peter's forehead, and clicks a bullet into place. Peter freezes with his lips parted, the yawn dead in his mouth. "Wake. Up," Four snaps. "You are holding a loaded gun, you idiot. Act like it.”

“Moths," repeats Will. "You're afraid of moths?" "Not just a cloud of moths," she says, "like...a swarm of them. Everywhere. All those wings and legs and..." She shudders and shakes her head."Terrifying," Will says with mock seriousness. "That's my girl. Tough as cotton balls.""Oh, Shut up.”

“Fear doesn't shut you down; it wakes you up. I've seen it. It's fascinating." He releases me but doesn't pull away, his hand grazing my jaw, my neck. "Sometimes I just...want to see it again. Want to see you awake.”

“Then I realize what it is. It's him. Something about him makes me feel like I am about to fall. Or turn to liquid. Or burst into flames.”

“What?" I ask."I'm developing a theory.""And it is?"She picks up her hamburger, grins, and says, "That you have a death wish.”

“My father says that those who want power and get it live in terror of losing it. That's why we have to give power to those who do not want it.”

“I pause a second. He doesn't look at me the way Will, Christina, and Al sometimes do - like I am too small and too weak to be of any use, and they pity me for it.”

“I might be in love with you." He smiles a little. "I'm waiting until I'm sure to tell you, though.”

“Hearing him talk about his mother, about his intact family, makes my chest hurt for a second, like someone pierced it with a needle.”

“Part of me wonders if this is a suicide mission disguised as a game.”

“Scrubbing the floor when no one else wanted to was something that my mother would have done. If I can't be with her, the least I can do is act like her sometimes.”

“We believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another.”

“We've all started to put down the virtues of the other factions in the process of bolstering our own. I don't want to do that. I want to be brave, and selfless, and smart, and kind, and honest." He clears his throat. "I continually struggle with kindness.”

“Do the elevators work?" I ask Uriah, as quietly as I can. "Sure they do." says Zeke, rolling his eyes, "You think I'm stupid enough not to come here early and turn on the emergency generator?""Yeah," says Uriah. "I kinda do.”

“Who is he when he isn't Dauntless, isn't an instructor, isn't Four, isn't anything in particular?Whoever he is, I like him. It's easier to admit that to myself now, in the dark, after all that just happened. He is not sweet or gentle or particularly kind. But he is smart and brave, and even though he saved me, he treated me like I was strong. That is all I need to know.”

“I have your back. I didn't mean only when it's easy. All the time.”

“Sometimes crying or laughing are the only options left, and laughing feels better right now.”

“If Eric thinks I did something right, I must have done it wrong.”

“You think my first instinct is to protect you. Because you're small, or a girl, or a Stiff. But you're wrong."He leans his face close to mine and wraps his fingers around my chin. His hand smells like metal. When was the last time he held a gun, or a knife? My skin tingles at the point of contact, like he's transmitting electricity through his skin. "My first instinct is to push you until you break, just to see how hard I have to press." he says, his fingers squeezing at the word break. My body tenses at the edge in his voice, so I am coiled as tight as a spring, and I forget to breathe.His dark eyes lifting to mine, he adds, "But I resist it." "Why..." I swallow hard. "Why is that your first instinct?""Fear doesn't shut you down; it wakes you up. I've seen it. It's fascinating." He releases me but doesn't pull away, his hand grazing my jaw, my neck. "Sometimes I just want to see it again. Want to see you awake.”

“Why do people want to pretend that death is sleep? It isn't. It isn't.”

“What's worse: to be idle while someone dies, or to be exiled and empty-handed?”

“And is it selfish of me to crave victory, or is it brave?”

“A brave man acknowledges the strength of others.”

“I am selfish. I am brave.”

“Our eyes meet. I hear a train horn, so faint it could be wind whistling through an alleyway. But I know it when I hear it. It sounds like the Dauntless, calling me to to them.”

“Did you just call me BEATRICE?”

“Peter would probably throw a party if I stopped breathing.''Well,' he says, 'I would only go if there was cake.”

“...there is power in self-sacrifice.”