“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
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“Every relationship for a Christian is an opportunity to love another person like God has loved us.”
― Joshua Harris, quote from I Kissed Dating Goodbye: A New Attitude Toward Relationships and Romance
“I walked him to the door. “Is there anything else you want me to do? Check your mail? Water your plants?”
“My mail is being forwarded to my lawyer. And I’m watering my own plants.”
“So, you feel safe in the Batcave?” The corners of his mouth curved into the hint of a smile. He leaned forward and kissed me at the base of my neck, just above my T-shirt collar.
“Sweet dreams.” Before he left, he said good-night to Grandma, who was still in the kitchen.
“What a nice, polite young man,” Grandma said. “And he’s got an excellent package.”
I went straight to her closet, found the bottle of booze, and dumped some into my cocoa.”
― Janet Evanovich, quote from Hot Six
“The plan is insane,” Ehren said. “You are insane.” He looked around the inside of the tent. “I’ll need some pants.”
― Jim Butcher, quote from Captain's Fury
“Judith, do you take Ian for your husband?” She looked up at him before giving her answer. “We’ll see”
― Julie Garwood, quote from The Secret
“Life, authentic life, is supposed to be all struggle, unflagging action and affirmation, but when I look back I see that the greater part of my energies was always given over to the simple search for shelter, for comfort, for, yes, I admit it, for cosiness. This is a surprising, not to say a shocking, realization. Before, I saw myself as something of a buccaneer, facing all-comers with a cutlass in my teeth, but now I am compelled to acknowledge that this was a delusion. To be concealed, protected, guarded, that is all I have truly wanted, to burrow down into a place of womby warmth and cower there, hidden from the sky’s indifferent gaze and the harsh air’s damagings. That is why the past is just such a retreat for me, I go there eagerly, rubbing my hands and shaking off the cold present and the colder future. And yet, what existence, really, does it have, the past? After all, it is only what the present was, once, the present that is gone, no more than that. And yet.”
― John Banville, quote from The Sea
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