“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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“How do you retain a spirit of affection and humor in a crazed, homicidal, unpredictable society?”
― Diane Ackerman, quote from The Zookeeper's Wife
“...It is the one time Dante calls such explicit attention to the idea of contrapasso-a word for which we have no exact translation, no precise definition in English, because the word in itself is its definition... Well, my dear Longfellow, I would say countersuffering ... the notion that each sinner must be punished by continuing the damage of his own sin against him... just as these Schismatics are cut apart...”
― Matthew Pearl, quote from The Dante Club
“as if the words came not from her but from the breeze.”
― Sally Gardner, quote from I, Coriander
“after we ate we was silent on our blankets looking out across the mighty Great Divide I never seen this country before it were like a fairy story landscape the clear and windy skies was filled with diamonds the jagged black outlines of the ranges were a panorama.
You're going to ride a horse across all that.
I know.
He laughed and he were right I knew nothing of what lay ahead.
See that there he pointed. That is called the Crosscut Saw and that one is Mount Speculation and yonder is Mount Buggery and that other is Mount Despair did you know that?
No Harry.
You will and you'll be sorry.”
― Peter Carey, quote from True History of the Kelly Gang
“Those of us who are in tune with nature and animals know it is our way of life, Bram. There is a connection to all living things, a vibration of Life. Animals were not given a power of choice. A lion does not try and eat legumes, nor an elephant meat. We believe the best way to communicate with nature, God, is through a liaison: the animals..... Nature hears one voice and obeys it. That is why ten or ten thousand birds may rise from the surface of a lake at the same time and yet never touch one another. Man only hears his own voice. He constantly bumps into another. Even his voice mirrors his erratic walk, jealousy, hate, ego, pride, lying, cheating. He makes his own judgements and falls prey to his greed. Remember, the moon is reflected on one drop of water as is the entire ocean-- so it is with God. He is reflected ins each living thing-- in a grain of sand as the entire shore, one star as the whole universe. Each animal as in all creatures. -Jagrat”
― quote from Modoc: The True Story of the Greatest Elephant That Ever Lived
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