Neal Shusterman Quotes

This is not going to be easy. I'm good at being bad, but I'm bad at being good. I don't know the first thing about good deeds.

It's that quirky kind of weekend feeling they write ridiculous sunny-day songs about. You know the ones--I'm sure they're on your iPod even though you'd never admit it.

Tranq'd by your own gun,"Lev says."How pathetic.

All this time, Lev ever realized what he needed. He did not need to be adored or pitied. He needed to be forgiven. Not by God, who is all forgiving. Not by people like Marcus and Pastor Dan, who would always stand by his side. He needed to be forgiven by an unforgiving world.

The nation was tearing itself apart over pro-life and pro-choice but completely ignored the problems of the kids who were already here. I mean, no schools, no work, no clue if they'd even have a future. They just went nuts!

Because if their own parents didn't care enough about them to keep them, who would want them in Heaven?

It does, Tennyson, because there’s a fine line between confidence and arrogance. There’s a fine line between being assertive and being a bully. And you’re on the wrong side of both lines.

One cannot let the events of one's past murder one's future.

Sure, when you're in the midst of your own suffering, it's easy to convince yourself that you're no good—but we are all tested in this life...The measure of a man is not how much he suffers in the test, but how he comes out at the end.

Leadership is about keeping toilets flushing," the Admiral once said. "Unless you're on the battlefront. Then it's about staying alive. Neither are pleasant.

And he thinks that if his soul had a form, this is what it would be. A baby sleeping in his arms.

Perhaps, thought Talon, there was a path in between. A way to shed their ignorance without losing their souls.

The scariest thing of all is never knowing what you're suddenly going to believe.

Fight, flight, and screw up royaly.

Don’t I have a choice in this?” But when she looks behind her, the answer is clear. There are two guards waiting to make sure that she has no choice at all. And as they lead her away, she thinks of Mr. Durkin. With a bitter laugh, Risa realizes that he may get his wish after all. Someday he may see her hands playing in Carnegie Hall. Unfortunately, the rest of Risa won’t be there.

Getting to know someone in blind darkness changes your impression of them.

You're going to pee in someone's suitcase?" "Do you have any other ideas?" And suddenly Miracolina begins to snicker, then giggle, then giggle, then cackle uncontrollably. "He's going to pee in someone's suitcase!" "Quiet! Do you want people on the bus to hear you?" But Miracolina is beyond help. She's entered into a fullfledged laughter fit-the kind that leaves your stomach hurting. "They're gonna open their suitcase," she blurts between bursts of glee, "And their clothes’ll be full of pee!

What's the point of living if you're going to hate the world? Guard your heart if you have to, but don't shut it away.

Looks are deceiving," Risa says. "After all, when I first saw you I thought you looked reasonably intelligent.

This book is so interesting. I always wonder what's going to happen next.

Hayden shouts, "To the new Teen Uprising!

Lev smiles. "Leave it to you to turn someone else's screwup into gold

The sad truth about humanity...is that people believe what they're told. Maybe not the first time, but by the hundredth time, the craziest of ideas just becomes a given.

Connor smiles with mocking warmth at him, and glances at the tattoo on his wrist. "I like your dolphin.

Would you rather die, or be unwound? Now he finally knows the answer. Maybe this is what he wanted. Maybe it's why he stood there and taunted Roland. Because he'd rather be killed with a furious hand than dismembered with cool indifference.

It was at that moment he realized that his spirit was truly human once more. For he no longer remembered how to be alone without being lonely.

[...] every time he forces himself to think before acting, it's her voice in his head telling him to slow down. He wants to tell her, but she's always so busy in the medical jet—and you don't just go to somebody and say, "I'm a better person because you're in my head.

That's wisdom you can take to the grave, and dig up when you need it!

Walls don't fall without effort.

Who says I'm insane?" "Oh you're sane alright. You're so sane, you scare me. You're so sane, it's insane.

There are mysteries in Everlost. Some of them are wonderful, and others scary. They should all be explored, though- perhaps that's why we're here: to experience the good and the bad that Everlost has to offer.

How easy is murder when one calls it by a different name? How much easier is it for the conscience to condone "reaping" than "killing"-and when one knows that death isn't the end, does it stop the killing hand for fear of retribution, or does it simply make it easier to kill, because, if life continues, how can murder be murder at all?

What do you do with a textbook case when no one's written the textbook?

Monster only had the power that you gave them

Can I believe in that God too?

...New Beginning to the same old story

I have no idea,' he tells her, and there is such a spark in his eye when he says it, she can tell having no idea is exactly the way he wants it.

So much of my life had been under tight control. So much of Quinn's life had been wild insanity. What we needed now was both: a directed burst of controlled insanity.

Cities are never random. No matter how chaotic they might seem, everything about them grows out of a need to solve a problem. In fact, a city is nothing more than a solution to a problem, that in turn creates more problems that need more solutions, until towers rise, roads widen, bridges are built, and millions of people are caught up in a mad race to feed the problem-solving, problem-creating frenzy.

He's become like that briefcase in the ground-full of gems yet void of light, so nothing sparkles, nothing shines.

Cowards hide [...] but warriors lie and wait [...] the only difference is whether you're motivated by fear or purpose.

It's amazing that something as simple as a kiss can overpower the worst of worries.

Who am I? The sum of your dreams, the thrill you refuse to grasp, the unknown you fear.

But this isn't a perfect world. The problem is people who think it is. -Connor

Unwinds didn't go out with a bang-they didn't even go out with a whimper. they went out with the silence of a candle flame pinched between two fingers.

I mean, it's like we all get our raw materials from our families―but it's up to us whether we build bridges or bombs.

When you truly start to care about someone you become vulnerable to all sorts of things.

I smell fear, he said with a quiet intensity. But not nearly enough.