I will remember this, thought Ender, when I am defeated. To keep dignity, and give honor where it's due, so that defeat is not disgrace. And I hope I don't have to do it often.

I'm right here. This is who I really am. I'm not pretending.

Your dream is a good one. [. . .] The desire that is the very root of life itself: To grow until all the space you can see is part of you, under your control. It's the desire for greatness.

If you try and lose then it isn't your fault. But if you don't try and we lose, then it's all your fault.

You can't write a novel all at once, any more than you can swallow a whale in one gulp. You do have to break it up into smaller chunks. But those smaller chunks aren't good old familiar short stories. Novels aren't built out of short stories. They are built out of scenes.

All is going well, very well, I couldn’t ask for anything better— So why do I hate my life?

The lies we live will always be confessed in the stories that we tell.