Jayden laughed grimly. 'Press the attack and hope for the best.' 'Hope is not a strategy,' said Kira 'It's not plan A,' said Jayden, 'and it shouldn't be plan B, but it is every plan C that has ever been made.
Dan WellsIt's not John who wants to cut his mother into tiny pieces, it's Mr. Monster. See? I feel better already.
Dan WellsEmbrace your complexity, stretch your creativity, and live up to your potential, you are what makes the world great.
Dan WellsFreedom is a responsibility to be earned, not a license for recklessness and anarchy. If someday, despite our strongest efforts and our deepest determination, we finally fall, let it be because our enemies finally beat us, not because we beat ourselves.
Dan WellsIt's not enough, is it? Just to follow; just to have faith in someone bigger and smarter and better informed. That's how we're built, that's how every Partial is wired - to follow orders and trust in our leaders - but it's not enough. It never has been. We've followed our leaders, and sometimes they win and sometimes they lose; we do what they say and we play our part. But this is our decision. Our mission. And when we're done, it will be our victory, or our defeat. I don't want to fail, but if I do, I want to be able to look back and say, 'I did that. I failed. That was all me.
Dan WellsThe most important thing you can ever know, is that whatever your purpose is, that's not your only choice.
Dan WellsWhen she fell asleep, she dreamed of death-- not just for her, not just for her species, but for every living thing she had ever known. The earth was flat and brown, a field of dirt as barren as the moon, a single road stretching in the distance. the last to fall were the buildings, distant and solemn, the gravestones for an entire world. Then they disappeared, and there was nothing left but nothing.
Dan WellsI need a sample of your blood,' said Kira. Marcus raised an eyebrow. 'I didn't know we'd reached that stage of our relationship.
Dan WellsLife is too short. It's too precious. We have to live in this world, but we don't have to wallow in it. We don't have to fill our lives with all of this darkness.
Dan WellsThis is life...Not a peace treaty, not an idealistic dream, but a grim dance of death and survival. The strong live on while the weak--the ones too small or too foolish to fight back--die in agony and blood.
Dan WellsIt doesn't matter how many they kill," I told him. "And it's not awesome-it's wrong." "Then why do you talk about them all the time?" asked Max. "Because wrong is interesting.
Dan WellsIf you want to survive in this world, you need to stop asking why people work together, and just start working together.
Dan WellsI'd like to think humans have a stronger sense of justice than the random forces of nature do.
Dan WellsFear is a ... it's a weird thing, when you think about it. People are only afraid of other things, they're never afraid of themselves.
Dan WellsI wanted everything to stay the same, but you wanted things to be better, it's just...going to be a whole lot worse for awhile first. And I think I knew that, and I was scared of it." - Marcus
Dan WellsI've never been this wet in my life, " said Kira. "Even immersed in a bathtub I swear I was dryer than I am now. " "Look on the bright side, " said Marcus. Kira waited. "This is the point at which you would traditionally suggest a bright side. " "I've never been a real traditional guy," said Marcus. "Besides, I'm not saying I know a bright side, I just think this would be a great time to look at one.
Dan WellsDead bodies are calm and silentโperfectly still, perfectly harmless. A corpse will never move, it will never laugh, and it will never judge. A corpse will never shout at you, hit you, or leave you. Far away from the zombies and junk that you see on TV, a corpse is actually the perfect friend. The perfect pet. I feel more comfortable with them than I do with real people.
Dan WellsHappiness is the most natural thing in the world when you have it, and the slowest, strangest, most impossible thing when you don't.
Dan WellsFeelings aren't good or bad. They're just weak or strong. Love, for example, is weak: someone loves you, you love them back, you're happy for a while, and then it fades away. But if one of those lovers betrays the other, then you have a real emotion - then you have something powerful, something that leaves a mark you'll never be rid of. Betrayal is the most delicious of all, but it takes a while to set it up, and fear can be just as intense if you know what you're doing.
Dan WellsAPD is primarily defined as a lack of empathy,' I said. I'd looked it up too, a few months ago. Empathy is what allows people to interpret emotion, the same way ears interpret sounds; without it you become emotionally deaf. 'It means I don't connect emotionally with other people. I wondered if he was going to pick that one.' 'How do you even know that?' she said. 'You're fifteen years old, for goodness' sake. You should be ... I don't know, chasing girls or playing video games.' 'You're telling a sociopath to chase girls?
Dan WellsHere was something that I did all the time, and thought nothing of it, and it turns out the rest of the world thinks it's completely reprehensible. That's when I knew I needed to change, so I started making rules. The first one was; Don't mess with animals.
Dan WellsThe last to fall were the buildings, distant and solemn, the gravestones for an entire world.
Dan WellsIt's a pretty big shock to realise that the only people you can identify with are psychopathic killers.
Dan WellsI'm a good person," I said, "because I know what good people are supposed to act like, and I copy them.
Dan WellsI stared at her closely, studying her face, her eyes, everything. This was the angel that tamed a demon; the soul that trapped him and held him with a power he'd never felt before. Love.
Dan WellsFear is about things that you can't control. The future or the dark, or someone trying to kill you. You don't get scared of yourself because you always know what you're going to do.
Dan WellsEach life has a different purpose, and some people can find their purpose more easily than others. The key, the most important thing you can ever know, is that whatever your purpose is, that's not your only choice" "No matter why you're here, no matter why any of us are here, you're never tied down to fate. You're never locked in. You make your own choices, Kira, and you can't let anyone ever take that away from you.
Dan WellsThe monster behind the wall stirred. I'd come to think of it as a monster, but it was just me. Or the darker part of me, at least. You probably think it would be creepy to have a real monster hiding inside of you, but trust me - it's far, far worse when the monster is really just your own mind. Calling it a monster seemed to distance it a little, which made me feel better about it. Not much better, but I take what I can get.
Dan WellsI'd made a long list of exceptions to cover the area between "ignoring her completely" and "abducting her at knifepoint.
Dan WellsI'm going to cure RM." Marcus laughed. "I wondered when someone would finally get around to that. It's been on my to-do list for ages, but you know how things are: Life gets so busy, and saving the human race is such an inconvenience.
Dan WellsThis book is dedicated to the rule breakers, the troublemakers, and the revolutionaries. Sometimes the hand that feeds you needs a good bite.
Dan WellsWell, thanks for not shooting anyone, I guess", said Marcus. "My contribution was to somehow refrain from peeing myself. You can thank me later.
Dan WellsThere are some things more important than ourselves - more important than the limits of the present, and the whims of the now. There is a future to build and protect. And if we're going to make that future as reality, we have to stop fighting among ourselves. We have to end dissent whenever we find it. We have to trust one another again.
Dan Wells