“He hated to think of his own life stretching ahead of him that way, a long succession of days and nights that were fine - not good, not bad, not great, not lousy, not exciting, not anything.”
― Robert Cormier, quote from The Chocolate War
“Cities fell. Earth opened. Planets tilted. Stars plummeted. And the awful silence.”
― Robert Cormier, quote from The Chocolate War
“Do I dare disturb the universe?
Yes, I do, I do. I think.
Jerry suddenly understood the poster--the solitary man on the beach standing upright and alone and unafraid, poised at the moment of making himself heard and known in the world, the universe.”
― Robert Cormier, quote from The Chocolate War
“They don't actually want you to do your own thing, not unless it's their thing too.”
― Robert Cormier, quote from The Chocolate War
“A new sickness invaded Jerry, the sickness of knowing what he had become, another animal, another beast, another violent person in a violent world, inflicting damage, not disturbing the universe but damaging it.”
― Robert Cormier, quote from The Chocolate War
“Don't miss the bus, boy. You're missing a lot of things in the world, better not miss that bus.”
― Robert Cormier, quote from The Chocolate War
“They tell you to do your own thing but they don't mean it. They don't want you to do your thing, not unless it happens to be their thing, too.”
― Robert Cormier, quote from The Chocolate War
“And he did see--that life was rotten, that there were no heroes, really, and that you couldn't trust anybody, not even yourself.”
― Robert Cormier, quote from The Chocolate War
“He was swept with a sadness, a sadness deep and penetrating, leaving him desolate like someone washed up on a beach, a lone survivor in a world full of strangers.”
― Robert Cormier, quote from The Chocolate War
“There was nothing more beautiful in the world than the sight of a teacher getting upset.”
― Robert Cormier, quote from The Chocolate War
“It doesn't matter how big the body, it's what you do with it.”
― Robert Cormier, quote from The Chocolate War
“Often he rose early in the morning, before anyone else, and poured himself liquid through the sunrise streets, and everything seemed beautiful, everything in its proper orbit, nothing impossible, the entire world attainable.”
― Robert Cormier, quote from The Chocolate War
“Why did the wise guys always accuse other people of being wise guys?”
― Robert Cormier, quote from The Chocolate War
“You see Carter, people are two things: greedy and cruel. So we have a perfect set-up here. The greed part - a kid pays a buck for a chance to win a hundred. Plus fifty boxes of chocolates. The cruel part - watching two guys hitting each other, maybe hurting each other, while they're safe in the bleachers. That's why it works, Carter, because we're all bastards.”
― Robert Cormier, quote from The Chocolate War
“Archie became absolutely still, afraid that the rapid beating of his heart might betray his sudden knowledge, the proof of what he'd always suspected, not only of Brother Leon but most grownups, most adults: they were vulnerable, running scared, open to invasion.”
― Robert Cormier, quote from The Chocolate War
“A terrific sadness swept over Jerry. As if somebody had died. The way he felt standing in the cemetry that day they buried his mother. And nothing you could do about it.”
― Robert Cormier, quote from The Chocolate War
“What could he say? After the phone calls and the beating. After the desecration of his locker. The silent treatment. Pushed downstairs. What they did to Goober, to Brother Eugene. What guys like Archie and Janza did to the school. What they would do to the world when they left Trinity.”
― Robert Cormier, quote from The Chocolate War
“That's what Archie did - built a house nobody could anticipate a need for, except himself, a house that was invisible to everyone else.”
― Robert Cormier, quote from The Chocolate War
“Do I dare disturb the universe? Yes I do, I do. I think.”
― Robert Cormier, quote from The Chocolate War
“When he ran, he even loved the pain, the hurt of the running, the burning in his lungs and the spasms that sometimes gripped his calves. He loved it because he knew he could endure the pain, and even go beyond it. He had never pushed himself to the limit but he felt all this reserve strength inside of him: more than strength actually—determination. And it sang in him as he ran, his heart pumping blood joyfully through his body.”
― Robert Cormier, quote from The Chocolate War
“He closed the locker quickly so no one would see the damage. For some reason, he felt ashamed.”
― Robert Cormier, quote from The Chocolate War
“The Goober was beautiful when he ran. His long arms and legs moved flowingly and flawlessly, his body floating as if his feet weren’t touching the ground. When he ran, he forgot about his acne and his awkwardness and the shyness that paralyzed him when a girl looked his way. Even his thoughts became sharper, and things were simple and uncomplicated—he could solve math problems when he ran or memorize football play patterns. Often he rose early in the morning, before anyone else, and poured himself liquid through the sunrise streets, and everything seemed beautiful, everything in its proper orbit, nothing impossible, the entire world attainable.
When he ran, he even loved the pain, the hurt of the running, the burning in his lungs and the spasms that sometimes gripped his calves. He loved it because he knew he could endure the pain, and even go beyond it. He had never pushed himself to the limit but he felt all this reserve strength inside of him: more than strength actually—determination. And it sang in him as he ran, his heart pumping blood joyfully through his body.”
― Robert Cormier, quote from The Chocolate War
“Go get your bus, square boy.”
― Robert Cormier, quote from The Chocolate War
“Was this all there was to life, after all? You finished school, found an occupation, got married, became a father, watched your wife die, and then lived through days and nights that seemed to have no sunrises, no dawns and no dusks, nothing but a gray drabness.”
― Robert Cormier, quote from The Chocolate War
“Archie believed in always doing the smart thing. Not the thing you ached to do, not the impulsive act, but the thing that would pay off later.”
― Robert Cormier, quote from The Chocolate War
“Внизу плакатика стояла надпись: Осмелюсь ли я потревожить вселенную? Слова Элиота — автора «Бесплодной земли», которую они проходили по литературе. [...]
— Все будет хорошо, Джерри.
Нет, не будет. Он узнал голос Стручка, и ему важно было поделиться со Стручком своим открытием. Он должен был сказать Стручку: бери мяч, играй в футбол, бегай, вступай в команду, продавай конфеты, продавай все, что тебе велят, делай все, чего от тебя хотят. Он пытался произнести эти слова, но что-то было не так с его ртом, зубами, лицом. Но он все равно старался, очень старался сказать Стручку то, что ему надо было знать. Тебе говорят: поступай как считаешь нужным, делай свое дело, но они врут. Никто не хочет, чтобы ты делал свое дело, если, конечно, твои желания случайно не совпадают с их интересами. Все это шутка, Стручок, обман. Не тревожь вселенную. Стручок, не верь никаким плакатам.”
― Robert Cormier, quote from The Chocolate War
“He was afraid that his body would come loose, all his bones spilling out like a building collapsing, like a picket fence clattering apart.”
― Robert Cormier, quote from The Chocolate War
“We just might make a quarterback out of you yet, you skinny little son of a bitch.”
― Robert Cormier, quote from The Chocolate War
Robert Cormier
Born place: in Leominster, Massachusetts, The United States
Born date January 17, 1925
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“just maybe, he'd found a place, a woman, he could belong to for all time”
― Laura Kaye, quote from Hearts in Darkness
“If you really want me to be safe, maybe it's time."
"I'd just feel safer if you'd start sleeping in a coffin."
Just then my door creaked open.
Billy's expression turned to surprise.
"Get out!" I said, hopping off the bed. "Uh...we are making up lyrics to a song."
But that didn't keep Billy out. Instead he was totally interested.
"You're writing a song? That's so cool. I want to hear it."
"It goes, 'Safer in a coffin, and if your brother doesn't leave, he'll be in one too.”
― Ellen Schreiber, quote from Cryptic Cravings
“And we're more valuable to you alive," said Marcus.
Delarosa cocked her head to the side. "How?"
"Because, um..." Marcus grimaced. "I don't actually know, I just assumed because that's what people typically say at this point.”
― Dan Wells, quote from Ruins
“Perhaps a germ of love was springing in their hearts so pure that it might blossom in Paradise, since it could not be matured on earth;”
― Nathaniel Hawthorne, quote from Twice-Told Tales
“That was a good straightforward point of view, no pretence that games were anything but an outlet for power and aggression; no stuff about their being enjoyable as such. You played a game to demonstrate that you did it better than someone else. If it came to that, I thought how few people do anything for its own sake, from making love to practising the arts.”
― Anthony Powell, quote from A Dance to the Music of Time: 3rd Movement
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