They say that right before you die your whole life flashes before you – a medley of your own personal greatest hits. Well then, I must be about to live, because events that haven’t happened yet are constantly pushing themselves into my head.

You can't make a fan of everyone. Stay true to your story, characters, music, art or whatever it is you do and fuck everyone else who doesn't like it. Life isn't perfect.

I've come to realize that love is tragic, somewhere down the line it's inevitable. Fight for it.

Tragic tales rarely do make sense.

It feels like someone is gripping my heart and twisting it. It feels like I can't breathe. I shut my eyes tightly against the memory that is threatening to surface. I can't br

I think you've got to get out whatever's hurting you through your art, so it doesn't twist you up inside.

I know you're upset, I know you're scared, but don't walk away.

All I really want to do today is go to the book store, drink coffee and read.

I'm serious, Mar, I don't know how to act around him now. I can't be nice, because he'll hate that. But I can't be mean just to be nice.""You really need medication.""I'm in a quandary. A Catch-22. I'm screwed.

I know I'm not to blame for what he did. And I know, too, that I am strong inside--stronger than I ever realized.

If I want to get out of here, I have to be the one to save myself.

And Mother, I love her dearly, but she flies into a panic whenever I mention women’s rights. As she sees it, it will be so much more difficult to marry me off if I am not only of a weak constitution but of a progressive mind as well.

I can see how your mother would have a point. Having a debate with a politically minded woman can be intriguing and even entertaining but to share a house with her and have her always campaigning and protesting at the dinner table,” he slanted his gaze down toward me. “That could be very tiring indeed.

Because you make me want to live. You make me want to grow old with you. You give me hope, and that scares me more than anything else

...to the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world’. You’re one of the lucky ones. You’re the world to far more people than you think.

To some of those girls, school will be the highlight of their lives. People like you…people who are beautiful inside and out…those are the ones who will shine in whatever they decide to do. [Alec]

Sometimes I wonder about good and evil. If the villain wins, isn't he heralded as the hero? I've tried so hard to be good since that day, but sometimes I wonder whether it's even worth it. After all, to be the hero, I have to win.

But when there's no hope to be found anywhere, even the tiniest chance is worth taking.

Clear skies, cousin". Good luck, he means. There are never clear skies on Avon, no blue, no stars. But we don't give up hope, and we use those words to remind ourselves. Clear skies will come, one day.

A road trip with your ancient mommy is just what you need after falling off a mountain and having your soul ripped out by your best friend.

If you get sick again? Alec, stop hiding behind that. We start dying the day we are born. If everyone thought the way you do, no one would ever go after their dreams. There would be a ton of unhappy people moping around.

I’m starting to think that you have a really bad habit of trying to save me.”She turns shy and looks down. “You are worth saving.

Just when we thought everything was going to be okay, we all fell apart.

I stared at him. Did he really just say that? Did he remember? The way he looked back at me, one eyebrow raised, I knew he did. And this time, I was the one to look away. Because I remembered. I remembered everything.

I should know better than anyone--you can't tell who a person is just from his looks.

She's familiar. My only familiar thing in a world of inconsistency and confusion.

Even if I did feel bad for Darian, I wouldn’t admit it. Siding with anyone who violates The Protectorate would make me Noncompliant. That would make me almost as corrupt as him. To side with those who violate The Protectorate is strictly forbidden and punishable by a week in the Terrorscape.

Nobody wants to be born a One. One’s have the shortest lifespan. They must turn themselves in to The Protectorate for termination at age twenty-five. If I were ever going to feel sympathy for Darian, it would be because of that. Knowing he’d die the youngest of all the citizens is probably what made Darian go mad.

Everyone has to die at some point, so the thought of passing on together while holding hands with my one true love has always sounded like an amazing fairy tale. It reminds me of the old Shakespearean play Romeo and Juliet, and of the powerful love they shared.

Without the Dreamscape, we can’t sleep.My parents remind me all the time about stories their parents told them, of how things were in the Manic Age. The time before our bodies were upgraded to sync with the amazing invention called the Dreamscape. Thirty-eight years ago, people actually had to fall asleep on their own and, sometimes, they would toss and turn for hours. My grandparents said when sleep, in its mercy, did come, it often brought with it horrible images I’ve heard people used to call nightmares.

Darian murdered them in cold blood. That’s a crime punishable with life in the Terrorscape, where you experience the worst nightmares imaginable.

Life has a whimsical way of kicking you in the throat. I find it tobe one huge cosmic joke at our expense, only nobody is laughingbut the forces that be—given that they are even a wee bit human.

There's something to say about inspiration - when it comes into your life...the feeling is insatiable.

The idea that their paths might have easily not crossed leaves her breathless, like a near-miss accident on a highway, and she can't help marveling at the sheer randomness of it all. Like any survivor of chance, she feels a quick rush of thankfulness, part adrenaline and part hope.