Markus Zusak, The Book Thief

"Even death has a heart."

"A snowball in the face is surely the perfect beginning to a lasting friendship."

"A DEFINITION NOT FOUNDIN THE DICTIONARYNot leaving: an act of trust and love,often deciphered by children"

"The point is, it didn’t really matter what the book was about. It was what it meant that was important."

"Still, they have one thing I envy. Humans, if nothing else, have the good sense to die."

"Together, they would watch everything that was so carefully planned collapse, and they would smile at the beauty of destruction."

"Can a person steal happiness? Or is just another internal, infernal human trick?"

"It was a year for the ages, like 79, like 1346, to name just a few. Forget the scythe, Goddamn it, I needed a broom or a mop. And I needed a vacation."

"The only thing worse than a boy who hates you: a boy that loves you."

"I am haunted by humans."

"Even now, I wonder how much of my life is convinced."

"It felt as though the whole globe was dressed in snow. Like it has pulled it on, the way you pull on a sweater. Next to the train line, footprints were sunken to their shins. Trees wore blankets of ice. As you may expect, someone has died."

"A halo surrounded the grim reaper nun, Sister Maria. (By the way-I like this human idea of the grim reaper. I like the scythe. It amuses me.)"

"A small but noteworthy note. I've seen so many young men over the years who think they're running at other young men. They are not. They are running at me."

"I have hated words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right."

"If they killed him tonight, at least he would die alive."

"Grimly, she realized that clocks don't make a sound that even remotely resembles ticking, tocking. It was more the sound of a hammer, upside down, hacking methodically at the earth. It was the sound of a grave."

"They say that war is death's best friend, but I must offer you a different point of view on that one. To me, war is like the new boss who expects the impossible. He stands over your shoulder repeating one thin, incessantly: 'Get it done, get it done.' So you work harder. You get the job done. The boss, however, does not thank you. He asks for more."

"It kills me sometimes, how people die."

"Imagine smiling after a slap in the face. Then think of doing it twenty-four hours a day."