Allegiant by Veronica Roth (Divergent series)

Notes from the reader: replace the concept of "factions" from the book with any label you may have put on yourself to help find like-minded people to fully understand what the author is saying. We all have our factions, even if they're chosen rather than forced upon us. (E.g.: nerd, jock... stoner?)

--13--

"From one tyrant to another. That is the world we know now."

--13--

'"I brought you the truth about our city and the reason we are in it. If you aren't thanking me for it, you should at least do something about it instead of sitting here on this mess you made, pretending it's a throne!"'

--67--

"I have never had parents who set good examples, parents whose expectations were worth living up to, but she did. I can see them within her, the courage and the beauty they pressed into her like a handprint."

--71--

"What do I need, to overcome my fears? 

I know the answer, of course I do: I need to deny them the power to control me. I need to know that I am stronger than they are."

--91--

"I wonder if that fear still creeps up on her now, though she worked so hard to face it--I wonder if fears ever really go away or if they just lose their power over us."

--95--

"Tobias can take care of himself, but in an attack, surviving is an accident. It doesn't take skill to stand in a place where no bullets find you, or to fire into the dark and hit a man you didn't see. It is all luck, or providence, depending on what you believe."

--125--

"They created us, they shaped our world, they told us what to believe.

If they told us what to believe and we didn't come to it on our own, is it still true?"

--134--

"I needed that word to tell me who I was when everything else was coming apart around me. But now I'm wondering if I need it anymore, if we ever really need these words, "Dauntless," "Erudite," "Divergent," "Allegiant," or if we can just be friends or lovers or siblings, defined instead by the choices we make and the love and loyalty that binds us."

--192--

"Or maybe we'll make a home somewhere inside ourselves, to carry with us wherever we go--which is the way I carry my mother now."

--219--

'"It's a little rudimentary, but this book helped to teach me what it is to be human. . . To be such a complicated, mysterious piece of biological machinery, and more amazing still, to have the capacity to analyze that machinery! That is a special thing, unprecedented in all of evolutionary history. Our ability to know about ourselves and the world is what makes us human."'

--262--

"I was so used to lying instead of telling difficult truths that I welcomed the chance to deceive her."

--271--

'"I never said this was all I was ever going to do. It's not always wise to strike as hard as you can at the first opportunity. This is a long race, not a sprint."'

--276--

'"I was beginning to feel that I had finally found a place to stay, a place that was not so unstable or corrupt or controlling that I could actually belong there. You would think that I would have learned by now--such a place does not exist."'

--278--

"I sit on top of the sweater and examine my knuckles. A few of them are split from punching Caleb, and dotted with faint bruises. It seems fitting that the blow would leave a mark on both of us. That's how the world works."

--315--

"My father has a way of persuading people without charm that has always confused me. He states his opinions as if they're facts, and somehow his complete lack of doubt makes you believe him."

--316--

"It seems like the rebellions never stop, in the city, in the compound, anywhere. There are just breaths between them, and foolishly, we call those breaths "peace."'

--345-6--

"Evelyn tried to control  people by controlling weapons, but Jeanine was more ambitious--she knew that when you control information, or manipulate it, you don't need force to keep people under your thumb. They stay there willingly."

--371--

'"If we stay together, I'll have to forgive you over and over again, and if you're still in this, you'll have to forgive me over and over again too. . . So forgiveness isn't the point. What I really should have been trying to figure out is whether we were still good for each other or not."'

--371-2--

"Then I thought of how strong I have become, how secure I feel with the person I now am, and how all along the way he has told me that I am brave, I am respected, I am loved and worth loving."

--372--

"I used to think that when people fell in love, they just landed where they landed, and they had no choice in the matter afterward. And maybe that's true of beginnings, but it's not true of this, now.

I fell in love with him. But I don't stay with him by default as if there's no one else available to me. I stay with him because I choose to, every day that I wake up, every day that we fight or lie to each other or disappoint each other. I choose him over and over again, and he chooses me."

Unwind By Neal Shusterman (Unwind Series)

Note about the author: Neal Shusterman is a critically acclaimed author whose book "Unwind" is now commonly taught in schools. Although it is categorized as Young Adult fiction due to the writing style, I would suggest people of all ages read it. It is a blatant satire that does not even try to hide its alignments with our society (no worrying about the meaning behind the blue curtains, if you catch my drift). The best part of it is that it gets you thinking about issues in ways you may not have before. Take no detail for granted when reading this book. Even the seemingly insignificant details will come back as part of the big picture.

***Unwind***

"Stupid dreams. Even the good ones are bad, because they remind you how poorly reality measures up."

"I remember thinking, if a baby was going to be so unloved, why would God want it brought into the world?"
 
'"Hold this." She puts the baby in Connor's arms. It's the first time she's given it to him. It feels much lighter than he expected. Something so loud and demanding ought to be heavier.'

“In a perfect world mothers would all want their babies, and strangers would open up their homes to the unloved. In a perfect world everything would be either black or white, right or wrong, and everyone would know the difference. But this isn’t a perfect world. The problem is people who think it is.”
 
“One thing you’ve learned when you’ve lived as long as I have—people aren’t all good, and people aren’t all bad. We move in and out of darkness and light all of our lives. Right now, I’m pleased to be in the light."
 
"Wherever his journey now takes him, it doesn't matter, because he has already arrived there in his heart. He's become like that briefcase in the ground - full of gems yet void of light, so nothing sparkles, nothing shines."
 
"You see, a conflict always begins with an issue - a difference of opinion, an argument. But by the time it turns into a war, the issue doesn't matter anymore, because now it's about one thing and one thing only: how much one side hates the other." Fav
 
“Which would be worse—to have tens of thousands of babies that no one wanted or to silently make them go away before they were even born?”
(There are just under half a million children in the US foster care system alone. Half of those [a quarter million] are waiting to be adopted. That's more than tens of thousands...)
 
“Amazing that the bullies and victims can now work together to bring misery to others.”
(referring to the government) 
 
“Who can say what goes through the mind of a clapper in the moments before carrying out that evil deed? No doubt whatever those thoughts are, they are lies. However, like all the dangerous deceptions, the lies that clappers tell themselves wear seductive disguises…”
(clapper is the term for suicide bomber in the book)

Beautiful Creatures Series by Garcia & Stohl

Sorry this is all I have for this book. Sometimes that's the way the cookie crumbles.

***Beautiful Creatures***

"I suppose I am a snob. I loathe towns. I loathe townspeople. They have small minds and giant backsides. Which is to say, what they lack in interiors they make up in posteriors. They're junk food. Fatty, but ultimately, terribly unsatisfying." Fav

Wicked Series by Gregory Maguire

***Wicked***

“Tis very strange men should be so fond of being thought wickeder than they are.” –Daniel Defoe, A System of Magick
  
“How deeply bound by the cords of family anger we all are. None of us breaks free.” 

***Son of a Witch***

"Under every roof, a story, just as behind every brow, a history."
   
"We are loping sequences of chemical conversions, acting ourselves converted. We are twists of genes acting ourselves twisted; we are wicks of burning neuroses acting ourselves wicked. And nothing to be done about it. And nothing to be done about it." Fav

   
"We are a fountain of shimmering contradictions, most of us. Beautiful in the concept, if we're lucky, but frequently tedious or regrettable as we flesh ourselves out."

   

"She was nuts as a nut tree in a nut forest, of course: that was what he had thought without realizing he was thinking anything at all."
   
"She had had lots of power, in her own way, but she had no more motherly instinct than a berserk rhino."
   
"A hundred ways to duck the question: how will I live with myself now that I know what I know?"
   
"Make way, make way; hail hail, the prince of ale."
   
"'Few hungry farmers are willing to extend Birds that courtesy, so those of us who talk tend to congregate in areas less frequented by human scum. My apologies, that was crude of me.'

'Don't apologize too fast, you don't know me very well.'"

   

Favorite Quotes Image 2

Just another image I made of some favorite quotes. I don't mind if people use these as long as they don't remove the blog URL from it.

Favorite Quotes Image

Just a little snippet of some of my favorite quotes. It is okay to use image as long as the blog URL is left on.

The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray (Gemma Doyle Trilogy- pt 2)

“Deep inside each one, a thin blue soul burns pure and hot, devouring every bit of tinder to keep the fire going.”

“They’ve planned our entire lives, from what we shall wear to whom we shall marry and where we shall live. It’s one lump of sugar in your tea whether you like it or not and you’d best smile even if you’re dying deep inside. We’re like pretty horses, and just as on horses, they mean to put blinders on us so we can’t look left or right but only straight ahead where they would lead.”

“They believe and belief changes everything.”

“Hours feel like seconds; seconds are hours, for time is a dream.”

“We create illusions we need to go on. And one day, when they no longer dazzle or comfort, we tear them down, brick by glittering brick, until we are left with nothing but the bright light of honesty. The light is liberating. Necessary. Terrifying. We stand naked and emptied before it. And when it is too much for our eyes to take, we build a new illusion to shield us from its relentless truth.” Fav

“Why should we girls not have the same privileges as men? Why do we police ourselves so stringently—whittling each other down with cutting remarks or holding ourselves back from greatness with a harness woven of fear and shame and longing? If we do not deem ourselves worthy first, how shall we ever ask for more? 

Night World (pt 3) by L.J. Smith

***Huntress***

“Their legend says the first world was destroyed by fire. The second world was destroyed by ice. The third world ended in water—a universal flood. And the fourth world—well, that’s ours. It’s supposed to end in blood and darkness—and end soon.” Fav

***Black Dawn***

“Maggie took in the whole scene in a glance. It was one of those moments when everything changes forever.”

“Love is for weak people. It’s a delusion. And it can be deadly.”

Maximum Ride Series (pt 1) by James Patterson

***The Angel Experiment***

“Life is a test. It’s all a test. Sometimes you have to get through it, and then later everything makes more sense.”

“Because what’s worse than knowing you want something, besides knowing you can never have it?”

“Every journey begins with one step.”

“You never know until you know.”

“Never fight fair—that’s not how you win. Use every dirty trick you can. Expect pain. Expect to get hurt. If you’re surprised by the pain, you just lost.” Fav

“Knowledge is a terrible burden. It’s a two-edged sword. It might help you, but it might put you in danger greater than anything you’ve faced so far.” Fav

  “A web of answers is out there. If you can find the portal.” Fav

***School's Out Forever***

“You are a fridge with wings. We’re freaking ballet dancers.”

“You have to respect your enemy. Never, ever underestimate them. The second you do, they’ll squash you. Be smart about them. Respect their abilities, even if they don’t respect yours.”

“You’re kidding, right? Please tell me you have a stronger motive for me than ‘fair is fair’. Life isn’t fair. Nothing is fair, ever. That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare

***City of Glass***

“Because what was the point in crying when there was no one there to comfort you? And what was worse, when you couldn’t even comfort yourself?”

“She wondered why she’d ever thought trusting someone who wore that much eye liner was a good idea.”

“You couldn’t erase everything that caused you pain with its recollection. Every memory was valuable; even the bad ones” Fav

“He had wanted to think only of what made Shadowhunters different than Downworlders. But what had been his undoing had been the way in which they were all the same.” Fav

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

“But humans are much more individualized than we are. There’s quite a range, and some of them are much stronger than others…Maybe it’s an accident, maybe it’s fate, but it appears to me that the strongest of our kind is being hosted by the strongest of theirs.”

“It’s just like pain, this pleasure.”

 “Humans were impossible to please.”

“Inspiration in desperation.”

“Just got to weather it. Storms pass.”

“I am who I am. I can’t change that, though everything else may change. You hold onto yourself; allow me to do the same.” Fav

“You don’t belong until you decide you do.” Fav

“Humans were good liars.”

“Humans lives were so impossibly tangled. What a mess.”

“This love was tricky; it had no hard-and-fast rules—it might be given for free, or earned through time and hard work, or completely and heart breakingly unattainable.”

“It was funny now to think how I’d gone out of my way to annoy her.”

Bones (TV)

***Bones***

"I've noticed that very few people are scary, after they've been poked in the eye." –Dr. Brennan 1.19

“We make our lives out of chaos and hope….and love.” –Angela 2.2

 “Don’t use your brain so much, Sweetie. You have organs that can give you far more pleasure.” –Angela 2.15

"I can see how much pain you're in.... Is it worth it? To have your own happiness so contingent on another human being?" –Dr. Brennan
"If I was willing to give my life for Saschi.. why would I not be willing to risk my happiness for her?" –Ken Nakamura 4.22

"...We're all just interpreting signals from the universe and trying to make sense of them... Dim, shaky, weak, static-y little signals that only hint at the complexity of a universe that we cannot begin to comprehend." –Micah Leggat 6.9  Fav

“Who the hell ever got anything worth getting by being safe?” –Brittany Stephenson (DNR) 6.19

“There is an infinite, thrumming, unseen web that joins everything. Everything is connected to everything else. And this fact is nearly impossible for us to grasp because we are just mollusks shot up tight at the bottom of a dark, cold ocean, trying to make sense of stars that we cannot even see.” –Walter the Finder 6.19  Fav

"But what if we can bring it back to life?" -Daisy
"You're a scientist, Ms. Wick, a very good scientist. . . and as a scientist have you ever seen anything come back to life and be as good as it was?" - Cam
"No" -Daisy  8.13 (referring to relationships)