Veronica Roth

“My mother told me once that we can't survive alone, but even if we could, we wouldn't want to. Without a faction we have no purpose and no reason to live.”

“I liked some things and hated some things. And there were some things I didn’t know I had until I lost them.”

“Peter: Where are you two going?Tris: Why aren't you with your attack group eating dinner?Peter: I don't have one. I'm injured.Christina: Yeah right, you are!Peter: Well, I don't want to go to battle with a bunch of factionless. So I'm going to stay here.Christina: Like a coward. Let everyone else clean up the mess for you.Peter: Yep! Have fun dying.”

“Tris: Let me get this straight. So you left the Dauntless compound to get ready for war...and took your makeup bag with you?Christina: Yep. Figured it would be harder for anyone to shoot me if they saw how devastatingly attractive I was.”

“Peter: Got that gun?Tobias: No, I figured I would shoot the bullets out of my nostrils, so I left it upstairs.Peter: Oh, shut up!”

“Just because they didn’t shoot you all in the head doesn’t mean their intentions were somehow honorable. Why do you think they came here? Just to run through your hallways, knock you conscious, and leave?”

“I decide to do what I always do when I'm not sure what's going on: I act like everyone else.”

“Four: Be brave Tris. The first time is always the hardest.”

“We should think of our family. But. We must also think of ourselves.”

“Tris: Wait. So you have no idea what my aptitude is?Tori: Yes and No. My conclusion is that you display equal aptitude for Abnegation, Dauntless and Erudite. People who get this kind of result are..are called...Divergent.”

“Drink this," she says."What is it?" my throat feels swollen.I swallow hard. "What's going to happen?""Can't tell you that. Just trust me."I press air from my lungs and tip the contents of the vial into my mouth. My eyes close.”

“Just do what you're supposed to.”

“I should wonder what courage—which is the virtue they most value—has to do with a metal ring through your nostril.”

“Pride is what killed Al, and it is the flaw in every Dauntless heart. It is in mine.”

“I think about pressing myself against him, but I can't, because all our secrets would keep a space between us.”

“Aren’t you going to ask me if I’m all right?” I say.“No, I’m pretty sure you’re not all right.”He shakes his head. “I’m going to ask you not to make any decisions until we’ve talkedabout it.”

“Sometimes I forget that I can hurt you. That you are capable of being hurt”

“So you're her brother? Says Linn. I guess we know who got the good genes.”

“I don't believe it is more important to move forward than to know the truth.”

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

“Stiff. That’s why you’re strong, get it? - Tobias Eaton”

“Oh for god's sake. I'll just carry you.”

“The cruelty of fate is that I must travel with the people I hate when the people I love are dead behind me.”

“And now she hates me and I can’t even leave Dauntless to join the factionless, like I was going to, because Eric’s eye is on her like it was on Amar last year, right before he turned up dead on the pavement near the railroad tracks.All the Divergent end up dead except me, because of my fluke aptitude test result, and if Eric is watching her, she’s probably one, too.My thoughts skip back to the night before, how touching her sent warmth into my hand and through the rest of me, though I was frozen with fear. I press my hands to my head, press the memory away.I can’t leave now. I like her too much. There, I said it. But I won’t say it again.”

“It isn't just brave that she died for me; it is brave that she did it without announcing it, without hesitation, and without appearing to consider another option.”

“—¿Tienes el arma? —le dice Peter a Tobias.—No —responde—. Supuse que dispararía con mi nariz, por lo que la dejé arriba.”

“―Quizá. Quizá hay algo más que todos podríamos haber hecho ―dice―, pero tenemos que dejar que la culpa nos lo recuerde, para hacerlo mejor la próxima vez.”

“Es cuando estás actuando desinteresadamente que estás en tu estado más valiente.”

“Who there, Tobias," says the man to my left. "Werent' you raised a Stiff? I thought the most you peole did was graze hands or something." "Then how do you explain all the Abnegation children?" Tobias raises his eyebrows. "They're brought into being by sheer force of will,”

“―No. Supongo que fue porque... yo creo que es importante proteger a las personas. Defender a las personas. Así como hiciste por mí. ―Me sonríe―. Eso es lo que se supone que el Intrepidez debe hacer, ¿verdad? Eso es lo que es el coraje. No… lastimar a las personas sin motivo.”

“My first instinct is to push you until you break just to see how hard I have to press.”

“Why do you care, anyway?" I say. "You can be either cruel instructor or concerned boyfriend." I tense up at the word "boyfriend." I didn’t mean to use it so flippantly, but it’s too late now. "You can’t play both parts at the same time.""I am not cruel." He scowls at me "I was protecting you this morning. How do you think Peter and his idiot friends would have reacted if they discovered that you and I were..." He sighs. "You would never win. They would always call you ranking a result of my favoritism rather than your skill."I open my mouth to object, but I can't. A few smart remarks come to mind, but I dismiss them. He's right. My cheeks warm, and I cool them with my hands."You didn't have to insult me to prove something to them," I say finally."And you didn't have to run off to your brother just because I hurt you," he says. He rubs at the back of his neck."Besides- it worked, didn't it?""At my expense.""I didn't think it would affect you this way." Then he looks down and shrugs. "Sometimes I forget that I can hurt you. That you are capable of being hurt."I slide my hands into my pockets and rock back on my heels. A strange feeling goes through me- a sweet, aching weakness. He did what he did because he believed in my strength.At home it was Caleb who was strong, because he could forget himself, because all the characteristics my parents valued came naturally to him. No one has ever been so convinced of my strength.I stand on my tiptoes, lift my head, and kiss him. Only our lips touch."You're brilliant. You know that?" I shake my head. "You always know exactly what to do.""Only because I've been thinking about his for a long time," he says, kissing me briefly. "How I would handle it, if you and I..." He pulls back and smiles. "Did I hear you call me your boyfriend, Tris?""Not exactly." I shrug. "Why? Do you want me to?"He slips his hands over my neck and presses his thumbs under my chin, tilting my head back so his forehead meets mine. For a moment he stands there, his eyes closed, breathing my air. I feel the pulse in his fingertips. I feel the quickness of his breath. He seems nervous."Yes," he finally says.”

“Fear is more powerful than pain.”

“Don't you dare try to apologize." His voice shakes. "This is not something you can bandage with a word or two and some hugging, or something.”

“So this is where you grew up. Did you like it here? I guess you couldn't have, if you wanted to leave.' CHRISTINA'I liked some things and hated some things. And there were some things I didn't know I had until I lost them.' TRIS”

“Relax Beatrice, I've driven a car before.' MARCUS'I've done a lot of things before, but that doesn't mean I'm any good at them!' TRIS”

“No selfishness or insecurity kept him from seeing the full extent of her goodness, as it so often does with the rest of us. That kind of love may only be possible in Abnegation. I do not know.”

“I am proud. It will get me into trouble someday, but today it makes me brave”

“Las personas, he descubierto, son capas y capas de secretos. crees que las conoces, las entiendes, pero sus motivos están siempre ocultos, enterrados en sus corazones. Nunca las conocerás, pero a veces decides confiar en ellas”

“I'll be your family now.”

“You're afraid of heights,'I say. 'How do you survive in the Dauntless compound?''I ignore my fear,' he (Four) says. 'When I make decisions, I pretend it doesn't exist.”

“I started writing because I decided I was too old to play pretend in the backyard. Then I found that I could create those imaginary worlds on the page.”

“I love you," I say.I said that once, before I went to Erudite headquarters, but he was asleep then. I don't know why I didn't say it when he could hear it. Maybe I was afraid to trust him with something so personal as my devotion. Or afraid that I did not know what it was to love someone. But now I think the scary thing was not saying it before it was too late. Not saying it before it was almost too late for me.”

“Courageous? Courageous would have been admitting weakness and leaving Dauntless, no matter what shame accompanied it. Pride is what killed Al, and it is the flaw in every Dauntless heart. It is in mine.”

“Come on,'he says.' I have something else to show you.”

“At first Eric stares at Four in silence. Four stares back.”

“Those who blamed aggression formed Amity.’…‘Those who blamed ignorance became the Erudite.’…‘Those who blamed duplicity created Candor.’…‘Those who blamed selfishness made Abnegation.’…‘And those who blamed cowardice were the Dauntless.”

“I’d ask you to hang out with us, but you’re not supposed to see me this way.’…‘What way?’ I ask. ‘Drunk?’‘Yeah…well, no.’ His voice softens. ‘Real, I guess.’‘I’ll pretend I didn’t.’‘Nice of you.’ He puts his lips next to my ear and says, ‘You look good, Tris.’…I laugh. ‘Do me a favor and stay away from the chasm, okay?’‘Of course.’ He winks at me.”

“I laugh shakily. ‘You’re a little scary, Four.’‘Do me a favor,’ he says, ‘and don’t call me that.’‘What should I call you, then?’‘Nothing.’ He takes his hand from my face. ‘Yet.”

“It would be nice if life worked this way, stripping the dirt from our lives and sending us back out into the world clean. But some dirt is destined to lingered.”