Quotes + Excerpts
You must write every single day of your life. You must read dreadful dumb books and glorious books, and let them wrestle in beautiful fights inside your head, vulgar one moment, brilliant the next. You must lurk in libraries and climb the stacks like ladders to sniff books like perfumes and wear books like hats upon your crazy heads. I wish you a wrestling match with your creative muse that will last a lifetime. I wish craziness and foolishness and madness upon you. May you live with hysteria, and out of it make fine stories - science fiction or otherwise. Which finally means, may you be in love every day for the next 20,000 days. And out of that love, remake a world.
Ray Bradbury
If you let me, I’ll tell you a story. Of a girl who steals words like jewels. She steals them for a fist fighter, with feathers for hair. For a charcoal faced boy who sprints for a kiss. For a silver accordian player who rolls cigarettes like prayers. She keeps them in the library for memory. With her brother’s cough and her mother’s hair. With tall silhouettes, a stand over man with the Fuhrer. If you let me, I’ll tell you of stolen fruit and nightmares. This is The Grave Digger’s Handbook, The Shoulder Shrug, chalked words on a basement wall. This is a song in the dark. If you let me, I shall begin.
Death in The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
"How about a kiss, Saumensch?"
He stood waist-deep in the water for a few moments longer before climbing out and handing her the book. His pants clung to him, and he did not stop walking. In truth, I think he was afraid. Rudy Steiner was scared of the book thief’s kiss. He must have longed for it so much. He must have loved her so incredibly hard. So hard that he would never ask for her lips again and would go to his grave without them.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
I had such shame about being the way I was. Because I was sent to therapy, I thought ‘Wow I’m so sensitive and so crazy and so weird’ and all this stuff. There’s something wrong with that. And I felt so ashamed of that for so long it turned into anger. Why am I spending all my time trying to hide the fact I have deep emotions? What’s wrong with that? Why am I letting people tell me there’s something wrong with that? Fuck that. If everyone’s gonna tell me that’s wrong, then I’m gonna do the opposite of what they’re telling me to do. I’m not gonna hide anymore. In fact, I’m going to stick it in your face. You think it’s bad to be sensitive? Fuck you, I’m sensitive. Here it is, and I’m gonna smash it in your face as much as I can.
Fiona Apple
Good-bye, my moonsong and my breath, my white night and golden days, my fresh water and my fire. Good-bye, and may you find a better life, find comfort again and your breathless smile, and when your beloved face lights up once more at the Western sunrise, be sure what I felt for you was not in vain. Good-bye and have faith, my Tatiana.
Alexander in The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simmons