Markus Zusak, The Book Thief

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

"He was the crazy one who had painted himself black and defeated the world.She was the book thief without the words.Trust me, though, the words were on their way, and when they arrived, Liesel would hold them in her hands like the clouds, and she would wring them out like rain."

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

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

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

"If only she could be so oblivious again, to feel such love without knowing it, mistaking it for laughter."

"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."

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

"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."

"***HERE IS A SMALL FACT*** You are going to die."

"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."

"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."

"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."

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

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

"He does something to me, that boy. Every time. It’s his only detriment. He steps on my heart. He makes me cry."

"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."

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