Markus Zusak, The Book Thief

"A SMALL PIECE OF TRUTHI do not carry a sickle or scythe.I only wear a hooded black robe when it's cold.And I don't have those skull-like facial features you seem to enjoy pinning on me from a distance. You want to know what I truly look like? I'll help you out. Find yourself a mirror while I continue."

"Usually we walk around constantly believing ourselves. "I'm okay"we say. "I'm alright". But sometimes the truth arrives on you and you can't get it off. That's when you realize that sometimes it isn't even an answer--it's a question. Even now, I wonder how much of my life is convinced."

"I want words at my funeral. But I guess that means you need life in your life."

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

"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."

"Even death has a heart."

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

"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."

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

"I am haunted by humans."

"I could introduce myself properly, but it's not really necessary. You will know me well enough and soon enough, depending on a diverse range of variables. It suffices to say that at some point in time, I will be standing over you, as genially as possible. Your soul will be in my arms. A color will be perched on my shoulder. I will carry you gently away."

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

"Even death has a heart."

"His soul sat up. It met me. Those kinds of souls always do - the best ones. The ones who rise up and say "I know who you are and I am ready. Not that I want to go, of course, but I will come."Those souls are always light because more of them have been put out. More of them have already found their way to other places."

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

"Like most misery, it started with apparent happiness."

"As always, one of her books was next to her."

"So much good, so much evil. Just add water."

"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 wanted to explain that I am constantly overestimating and underestimating the human race - that rarely do I even simply estimate it. I wanted to ask her how the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious, and its words and stories so damning and brilliant...I AM HAUNTED BY HUMANS."