Scott Westerfeld

“Good books make you ask questions. Bad readers want everything answered.”

“Looking for a thousand years is worth it, if in the end you find what you need.”

“Maybe human beings are programmed … to help one another, even to fall in love. But just because it's human nature doesn't make it bad, Tally. Besides, we had a whole city of pretties to choose from, and we chose each other.”

“When she awoke, the world was on fire.”

“And I kind of love it that you want to know everything.”

“I'd watched too many schoolmates graduate into mental institutions, into group homes and jails, and I knew that locking people up was paranormal - against normal, not beside it. Locks didn't cure; they strangled.”

“...I want those perfect eyes and lips, and for everyone to look at me and gasp. And for everyone who sees me to think Who's that? and want to get to know me, and listen to what I say.""I'd rather have something to say.”

“Do you love him?"Deryn swallowed, then pointed at the screen. "He makes me feel like that. Like flying.”

“And the worst thing was, there were no mirrors out there in the wild, so the princess was left wondering whether she in fact was still beautiful... or if the fall had changed the story completely.”

“Warning stickers on books would be a nightmare.”

“When the term 'machine gun' enters common parlance, the word 'machine' becomes much more sinister.”

“At least one thing was consistent about her life: It just kept on getting more complicated.”

“Surely no one would ever use such a weapon against a city.""There are no limits in war," Volger said, still staring out the window.”

“The very idea of making shoes by hand boggled her mind.”

“No matter how far from the war we run, it always catches up with us.”

“We're not freaks, Tally. We're normal. We may not be gorgeous, but at least we're not hyped-up Barbie dolls.”

“You look beautiful - David”

“Maybe this was how you stayed sane in wartime: a handful of noble deeds amid the chaos.”

“That Shay was in possesion of hand grenades was a comforting thought showed what kind of night this had become.”

“The human heart is a strange vessel. Love and hatred can exist side by side.”