Quotes from These Shallow Graves

Jennifer Donnelly ·  488 pages

Rating: (8.7K votes)


“That was what people did when they wanted to stop a girl from doing something—they shamed her.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, quote from These Shallow Graves


“You, on the other hand, wish to know things. And no one can forgive a girl for that.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, quote from These Shallow Graves


“Why is it, she wondered now, that boys get to do things and be things and girls only get to watch?”
― Jennifer Donnelly, quote from These Shallow Graves


“We who have means and a voice must use them to help those who have neither. Yet how can we help them if we don't even know about them? And how can we know about them if no one writes about them? Is it so wrong to want to know things?”
― Jennifer Donnelly, quote from These Shallow Graves


“Sir, no amount of money, no matter how vast, could induce me to stroll, perambulate, promenade, or engage in any form of locomotion with you whatsoever. Good evening.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, quote from These Shallow Graves



“As a child, she’d thought all the noise and commotion was the most wild, wonderful game, but as she’d grown older, she understood why everyone rushed around so: they were chasing a story.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, quote from These Shallow Graves


“Headstrong is just a word, Katie - a word others call you when you don't do what they want.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, quote from These Shallow Graves


“No. I meant stay with me today. And tomorrow. And every day after.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, quote from These Shallow Graves


“I’d wish you good luck, but you won’t need it. You get to write your own story now. Nothing’s luckier than that.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, quote from These Shallow Graves


“Fac quod faciendum est,' " Jo read aloud. "Do what must be done.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, quote from These Shallow Graves



“And besides, I couldn't stay at the party. It was too dangerous. I nearly died."
"From what?"
"Boredom.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, quote from These Shallow Graves


“The thing is, you can't ever really know how rotten someone will turn out to be.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, quote from These Shallow Graves


“We who have means and a voice must use them to help those who have neither.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, quote from These Shallow Graves


“You, on the other hand, wish to know things. And no one can forgive a girl for that.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, quote from These Shallow Graves


“Sometimes you have to do wrong to do right.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, quote from These Shallow Graves



“He was a flame and she’d gotten burned, and the pain was terrible, yet it didn’t make the fire any less alluring.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, quote from These Shallow Graves


“Murder is not a suitable topic of conversation for a young lady.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, quote from These Shallow Graves


“Her fear was strong, but her need for the truth was stronger.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, quote from These Shallow Graves


“But you are a different sort of girl. Not at all what I expected you to be. And this is a different sort of time. And so I am hopeful for all the things you may yet find.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, quote from These Shallow Graves


“If you're going to bury the past, bury it deep, girl. Shallow Graves always give up their dead.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, quote from These Shallow Graves



“«Ένα ποτό, ένα τσιγάρο, καμία υποχρέωση να ευχαριστήσεις οποιονδήποτε άλλον εκτός από τον εαυτό σου. Ελευθερία. Αυτή είναι η απάντησή μου. Η ελευθερία να είσαι εσύ το καλύτερο πράγμα που σου συνέβη».”
― Jennifer Donnelly, quote from These Shallow Graves


“To have a purpose in life--what does that feel like?”
― Jennifer Donnelly, quote from These Shallow Graves


“Headstrong is just a word--a word others call you when you don't do what they want.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, quote from These Shallow Graves


“If only she could be bold enough, and brave enough, to claim the things she wanted: love, a purpose, a life. But could she be?”
― Jennifer Donnelly, quote from These Shallow Graves


“Asking questions, demanding explanations—these things always led to trouble”
― Jennifer Donnelly, quote from These Shallow Graves



“The truth can be a hard thing, Jo. It's often best left hidden.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, quote from These Shallow Graves


“Don't let the darkness that's been visited upon this family pull you in so deeply, you cannot get out. Turn back from it, darling Jo... he'd warned her. He didn't seem to understand that turning your back on the darkness didn't mean the darkness would turn its back on you.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, quote from These Shallow Graves


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About the author

Jennifer Donnelly
Born place: The United States
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