“Stupid dreams. Even the good ones are bad, because they remind you how poorly reality measures up.”
― Neal Shusterman, quote from Unwind
“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.”
― Neal Shusterman, quote from Unwind
“I'd rather be partly great than entirely useless.”
― Neal Shusterman, quote from Unwind
“...One thing you learn 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.”
― Neal Shusterman, quote from Unwind
“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 each side hates the other.”
― Neal Shusterman, quote from Unwind
“You can't change laws without first changing human nature.'
-Nurse Greta
You can't change human nature without first changing the law.'
-Nurse Yvonne”
― Neal Shusterman, quote from Unwind
“Sure, I can talk like you, but I choose not to, It's like an art, you know? Picasso had to prove to the world he could paint the right way, before he goes putting both eyes on the side of a face... See if you paint wrong because that's the best you can do, you just a chump. But you do it because you want to? Then you're an artist...You can take that to the grave and dig it up when you need it.”
― Neal Shusterman, quote from Unwind
“It's funny how a flame can only burn your hand if you move too slow, you can tease it all you want and it never gets you, if your quick enough.”
― Neal Shusterman, quote from Unwind
“I'm scared," he says.
"I know," says the nurse.
"I want you all to go to Hell."
"That's natural.”
― Neal Shusterman, quote from Unwind
“Roland glares at Connor and Connor glares back. Then he says what he always says at moments like this.
"Nice socks."
Although Roland doesn't look down right away, it derails him just enough for him to back off. He doesn't check to see if his socks match until he thinks Connor isn't looking. And the moment he does, Connor snickers. Small victories are better than none.”
― Neal Shusterman, quote from Unwind
“Unwinds didn't go out with a bang-they didn't even go out with a whimper. they went out with the silence of a candle flame pinched between two fingers.”
― Neal Shusterman, quote from Unwind
“Looks are deceiving," Risa says. "After all, when I first saw you I thought you looked reasonably intelligent.”
― Neal Shusterman, quote from Unwind
“Getting to know someone in blind darkness changes your impression of them.”
― Neal Shusterman, quote from Unwind
“That's what law is: educated guesses at right and wrong.”
― Neal Shusterman, quote from Unwind
“Fight, flight, and screw up royaly.”
― Neal Shusterman, quote from Unwind
“[...] every time he forces himself to think before acting, it's her voice in his head telling him to slow down. He wants to tell her, but she's always so busy in the medical jet—and you don't just go to somebody and say, "I'm a better person because you're in my head.”
― Neal Shusterman, quote from Unwind
“What he's really saying is: Please be a human being. With a life so full of rules and regiments, it's so easy to forget that's what they are. She knows—she sees—how often compassion takes a back seat to expediency.”
― Neal Shusterman, quote from Unwind
“Would you rather die, or be unwound? Now he finally knows the answer. Maybe this is what he wanted. Maybe it's why he stood there and taunted Roland. Because he'd rather be killed with a furious hand than dismembered with cool indifference.”
― Neal Shusterman, quote from Unwind
“They meet in the girls' bathroom. The last time they were forced to meet in a place like this, they took separate, isolated stalls. Now they share one. They hold each other in the tight space, making no excuses for it. There's no time left in their lives for games, or for awkwardness, or for pretending they don't care about each others, and so they kiss as if they've done it forever. As if it is as crucial as the need for oxygen.”
― Neal Shusterman, quote from Unwind
“You...you lost your faith?"
"No...just my convictions. I still very much believe in God- just not a god who condones human tithing."
Lev begins to feel himself choking up with an unexpected flood of feeling, all the emotions that had been building up throughout their talk- throughout the weeks- arriving all at once like a sonic boom.
"I never knew there was a choice.”
― Neal Shusterman, quote from Unwind
“...the first sign of civilization is always trash.”
― Neal Shusterman, quote from Unwind
“I'm alone. And I'm crying. And no one is coming to the crib. And the nightlight has burned out. And I'm mad. I'm so mad. Left frontal lobe. I...I...I don't feel so good. Left occipital lobe. I... don't remember where...Left parietal lobe. I...I...I can't remember my name,but...but...Right temporal...but I'm still here. Right frontal. I'm still here... Right occipital.I'm still...Right parietal. I'm...Cerebellum. I'm...Thalamus. I...Hypothalamus. I...Hippocampus...Medulla........................”
― Neal Shusterman, quote from Unwind
“I gotta go to the bathroom," Emby mumbles.
"You should have thought of that before you left," says Hayden, putting on his best mother voice. "How many times do we have to tell you? Always use the potty before climbing into a shipping crate.”
― Neal Shusterman, quote from Unwind
“Most people have two emergency modes. Fight and Flight. But Conner always knew he had three. Fight, Flight, and Screw Up Royally.”
― Neal Shusterman, quote from Unwind
“Hey," says Hayden, "I'm Switzerland; neutral as can be, and also with great chocolate."
"Get lost," Roland tells him.
"Already am." And Hayden strolls away.”
― Neal Shusterman, quote from Unwind
“The good thing about being explosive is that no one can beat you.”
― Neal Shusterman, quote from Unwind
“I was asking if unwinding kills you, or if it leaves you alive somehow. C'mon—it's not like we haven't thought about it." (...)
What do you think, Connor?" asks Hayden. "What happens to your soul when you get unwound?"
Who says I even got one?"
For the sake of argument, let's say you do."
Who says I want an argument?”
― Neal Shusterman, quote from Unwind
“The way I see it, it's got nothing to do with all of that. It has to do with love...A person don't got a soul until that person is loved. If a mother loves her baby--wants her baby--it's got a soul from the moment she knows it's there. The moment you're loved, that's when you got your soul.
--Diego”
― Neal Shusterman, quote from Unwind
“The woman wears a floral print blouse with lots of leaves and pink flowers. Risa would like to attack her with a weed whacker.”
― Neal Shusterman, quote from Unwind
Neal Shusterman
Born place: in Brooklyn, New York, The United States
See more on GoodReads
“Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal.”
― Matthew Quick, quote from Love May Fail
“Start with this: not all pain matters. There are people whose attention is consistently drawn away from their purpose and toward their pain, like a moth to a light. Such people, who pay attention to every annoyance and obstacle in their way, are usually unsuccessful in their endeavors. In extreme cases they are mentally ill. A healthy person, a flourishing person, learns to move past a lot of annoyance and a good deal of pain.”
― quote from Resilience: Hard-Won Wisdom for Living a Better Life
“There is only one reality, but there are many ways that reality can be interpreted.”
― Drunvalo Melchizedek, quote from The Ancient Secret of the Flower of Life: Volume 1
“Jealous feelings come from a sense of loss, or a fear of it.”
― Franklin Veaux, quote from More Than Two: A Practical Guide to Ethical Polyamory
“The heart can see things invisible to the eye.”
― T.A. Barron, quote from The Seven Songs of Merlin
The Pursuit of Holin...
Tenderness
After You'd Gone
Brooklyn
The Descendants
The Ghost WriterBookQuoters 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.
We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.
Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.
