“Inside, Lexi saw only people on gurneys. Coughing, screaming, prostrate patients, but no doctors. She yelled for help, flapping open each curtain as she ducked through the maze of rooms. But there was no one.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“Something terrible was going on in this mall. Shay just had to keep Preeti and Nani safe. Hide them until this—whatever it was—was over. If she could do that, everything would be fine.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“With the rising emotional barometer, Marco began to consider whether there was any possible scenario for survival within the mall. Each new malevolent customer made escape seem the best option. But was it even possible?”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“I’m Shaila Dixit,” she said, holding out her free hand. Mike shook it. “A little formal,” he said. He looked at Ryan, smiled, and let go of her hand. “But any friend of Ryan’s is a pal of mine.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“Maddie began regaling Lexi with another tale from the History of Irvington Country Day. Apparently, it was not all tea parties and polo games. The last story ended with, “And then we had to call the fire department because the bonfire lit up the grass clippings in the lawn.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“Take, for instance, Maddie Flynn. Not the brightest chip on the circuit board, but totally entertaining.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“So a guy likes your tits and says so. Why let it get to you?” Maddie asked, giving Lexi the raised-eyebrow once-over. “I’m not like you,” Lexi said. Maddie’s eyebrows sunk into a scowl. Lexi scrambled for a better explanation. “I mean, I’m not good with boys.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“Ryan felt tingly all over, like maybe he’d been tossed from his own body. But he was all right. By some small miracle, they were all okay.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“If she could have deleted herself from the universe, she would have.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“So how did you two meet?” the sister asked in a sing-songy, playground-taunt voice. Marco responded viscerally to the tone.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“Years of abuse had trained Marco in the tactics of survival, which boiled down to this: If every time someone spoke to you, you fired back some sarcastic, fuck-you response, people tended to leave you alone. This method had served him well; now in his junior year, Marco was practically invisible to his peers. But not completely, as he was now aware.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“How can you seem so normal?” she said. “Knowing what we know.” Her voice was muffled by her folded arms. “What, that we’re caught in a death trap?” Shay glanced up at Marco like he’d bitten her. He decided to holster his usual mode of response. He wanted to talk to this girl.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“Having the job makes it easier,” he said, sitting opposite her. “Keeps my mind off things.” He would not say anything about his spy operation. “My job isn’t helping me at all.” She waved her hand up, then let it flop back onto her arm. “Job?” Marco asked. “Taking care of my grandmother and sister,” Shay said. “My grandmother’s diabetic. She needs insulin shots. And my sister is just, well.” Shay looked at him, eyebrows raised. “You have a little sister?” “I’m the little brother, so you’ll get no sympathy from me.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“He forged ahead. “Where’d you move from?” “Jersey,” she said, without adding more. “Why hasn’t the bomb blown up already?” “Maybe it did and we’re all dead,” he said. “Heaven’s a bit of a disappointment.” “Yeah, and the food sucks.” She smiled. She got his gallows humor. He felt suddenly grateful for having been trapped in the squad car for all of yesterday.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“Anyway, I thought you and Darren were cybernetically connected.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“The man who’d found Lexi—Dr. Chen, she was told—joined the Senator.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“What would telling people accomplish?” her mother asked. “Run this through with me: We tell people that if they get sick, they’re most likely going to die. Next, people will try to hide their symptoms, lie to themselves about being sick. This means they won’t seek treatment, they’ll stay out in the populace and infect more people.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“Nani could always be counted on to act as a coconspirator.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“At least she had a handle on her family. Arthur was convalescing on the couch in the Apple Store stockroom and Lexi was sitting next to him helping to type in the population database she’d asked them to create. It was nice having all of the Rosses on the same page.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“She just had to keep them hopeful. If they had hope, they could be controlled.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“Dotty laughed because that was what you did when someone thought they were funny. There should be Oscars for politicians. She took the key and stalked out to the hall.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“Lexi shuffled into a sit. Her brain began scratching together an appropriate response. Talking was so different from texting—one had to string words together so quickly in real life.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“I had a good teacher.” Shay felt an incredible urge to touch him, but feared she might burst into flame.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“Her ears were blue. Somehow, all Shay could focus on were the ears. They looked like something off a Halloween mask.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“You’re just going to let this happen?” Marco asked, incredulous.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“Suddenly the divide between them and everyone outside seemed insurmountable.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“A man—the boy’s father, it seemed—stepped forward and put one hand on his son’s shoulder, the other around his wife. When the hazmat man stood, the father picked his kid up and tried to leave.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“The news channels were all blocked—not that they’d shown more than vapid speculation over the last few days.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“A few more years of the same, though, and I got used to it: I would load entire libraries from country castles and city mansions, fine, rare, leather- and Morroco-bound books, load whole trains full, and as soon as a train had thirty cars, off it would go to Switzerland or Austria, one kilogram of rare books for the equivalent of one crown of convertible currency, and nobody blinked an eye, nobody shed a tear, not even I myself, no, all I did was stand there smiling as I watched the train hauling those priceless libraries off to Switzerland and Austria for one crown in convertible currency a kilo. By then I had mustered the strength to look upon misfortune with composure, to still my emotions, by then I had begun to understand the beauty of destruction and I loaded more and more freight cars, and more and more trains left the station heading west at one crown per kilogram, and as I stood there staring after the red lantern hanging from the last car, as I stood there leaning on a lamppost like Leonardo da Vinci, who stood leaning on a column and looking on while French soldiers used his statue for target practice, shooting away horse and rider bit by bit, I thought how Leonardo, like me, standing and witnessing such horrors with complete composure, had realized even than that neither the heavens are humane nor is any man with a head on his shoulders.”
― Bohumil Hrabal, quote from Too Loud a Solitude
“Humans, however, can’t live very long without some sense of a continuing story. Such stories go beyond the limited rational system (or the systematic rationality) with which you surround yourself; they are crucial”
― Haruki Murakami, quote from Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche
“As long as it is admitted that the law may be diverted from its true purpose--that it may violate property instead of protecting it--then everyone will want to participate in making the law, either to protect himself against plunder or to use it for plunder.”
― Frédéric Bastiat, quote from The Law
“Every good-to-great company had Level 5 leadership during the pivotal transition years. • “Level 5” refers to a five-level hierarchy of executive capabilities, with Level 5 at the top. Level 5 leaders embody a paradoxical mix of personal humility and professional will. They are ambitious, to be sure, but ambitious first and foremost for the company, not themselves. • Level 5 leaders set up their successors for even greater success in the next generation, whereas egocentric Level 4 leaders often set up their successors for failure. • Level 5 leaders display a compelling modesty, are self-effacing and understated. In contrast, two thirds of the comparison companies had leaders with gargantuan personal egos that contributed to the demise or continued mediocrity of the company. • Level 5 leaders are fanatically driven, infected with an incurable need to produce sustained results. They are resolved to do whatever it takes to make the company great, no matter how big or hard the decisions. • Level 5 leaders display a workmanlike diligence—more plow horse than show horse. • Level 5 leaders look out the window to attribute success to factors other than themselves. When things go poorly, however, they look in the mirror and blame themselves, taking full responsibility. The comparison CEOs often did just the opposite—they looked in the mirror to take credit for success, but out the window to assign blame for disappointing results.”
― James C. Collins, quote from Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't
“If you want to transform your karma to a more desirable experience, look for the seed of opportunity within every adversity, and tie that seed of opportunity to your dharma, or purpose in life. This will enable you to convert the adversity into a benefit, and transform the karma into a new expression.”
― Deepak Chopra, quote from The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success: A Practical Guide to the Fulfillment of Your Dreams
BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.
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