139 Quotes & Sayings By Neal Shusterman

Conner Lassiter. Scheduled to be unwound the 21st of November-until you went AWOL. You caused an accident that killed a bus driver, left dozens of others injured, and shut down an interstate highway for hours. Then, on top of it, you took a hostage AND shot a Juvey-cop with his own tranq gun."..." He's the Akron AWOL?! Neal Shusterman

So the gods must mean something else, ” said Jix.“God, not gods! ” insisted Johnnie.Nick threw up his hands. “God, gods, or whatever, ” said Nick. “Right now, it doesn’t matter whether it’s Jesus, or Kukulcan, or a dancing bear at the end of the tunnel. What matters is that we have a clue, and we have to figure it out.”“ Why?” Johnnie asked again. “Why does God — excuse me, I mean ‘the Light of Universal Whatever’- why does it just give us a freakin’ impossible clue? Why can’t it just tell us what we’re supposed to do?”“ Because, ” said Mikey. “the Dancing Bear wants us to suffer. Neal Shusterman

Then, in spite of everything, he began to smile. So much of his existence in Everlost had been full of despair. Despair, and a fear of losing what he had. But Allie was not lost, she was just there across the river, waiting for him to find her. Nick was not lost either--not entirely. It was then that Mikey McGill realized something. It must have been his sister who first called this place Everlost, because by naming it so, it stripped away all hope except for a faith in her, and the "safety" she could provide. Well, Mary was wrong on all counts, because nothing in Everlost was lost forever, if one had the courage to search for it. Mikey held tightly on to this shining truth as he and the golem sunk into the earth. Then with all the force of his heart, his mind, and his soul, Mikey McGill began to dig. . Neal Shusterman

When I touched that boy, I felt something. Something awful. Something I can’t describe.”“ We all felt it, ” Nick said.“ You may have felt it, but I caused it.” Then both his eyes seemed to go far away. “Something changed out there. I don’t know what it was, but something in the world changed because that kid didn’t deserve what I did to him–and the powers that be know that I did it.” Nick watched as a tear fell from his Everlost eye and disappeared through the living world table.“ What if, ” said Nick, not even sure what he was going to say yet, “what if you were that kid and you were told you could change the world, but you would have to sacrifice yourself to do it?” Clarence chuckled at the thought. “I believe that question was already asked a long time ago, and that creepy kid did not look anything like Jesus to me.”“ But you do think that something changed.”“I don’t know whether it’s good or bad.”“ What if it’s neither?” suggested Nick. “What if we get to make it one or the other? . Neal Shusterman

How easy is murder when one calls it by a different name? How much easier is it for the conscience to condone “reaping” than “killing”–and when one knows that death isn’t the end, does it stop the killing hand for fear of retribution, or does it simply make it easier to kill, because, if life continues, how can murder be murder at all? Neal Shusterman

Cities are never random. No matter how chaotic they might seem, everything about them grows out of a need to solve a problem. In fact, a city is nothing more than a solution to a problem, that in turn creates more problems that need more solutions, until towers rise, roads widen, bridges are built, and millions of people are caught up in a mad race to feed the problem-solving, problem-creating frenzy. Neal Shusterman

...the Statue of Liberty's got this invitation: 'Give me your tired, your poor, your reeking homeless--'' Huddled masses, ' said Ira. 'Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.'... Okay, fine. So like everybody in the old countries says, 'Hey, I'm a huddled mass, ' and they all wanna come over. Neal Shusterman

And, " added Mikey. "she's my sister." The others looked at him for a moment, and broke out laughing." Yeah, yeah, " Squirrel scoffed, "and the McGill is my cousin." Now Allie burst out laughing, which made Mikey more annoyed." If the McGill was your cousin, " Mikey said, "I can guarantee he'd disown you. Neal Shusterman

Mooooon! ” said the Ogre. “Tranquility …” Then he pointed at the full moon. “Neil Armstrong walked in a sea of Tranquility.” Then he added, “It’s made of cheese. But you have to take off the plastic before you put it on a burger.” Mickey sighed.“ What’s his story?” the wraith asked.“ He’s chocolate, ” Mikey said. Neal Shusterman

If someone had told Allie that she would commit a premeditated act of murder, she would not have believed it. She would have spouted off all the reasons how she could never be capable of such a thing–that no matter how dire the circumstances, she would find a better way. She was so naive, so arrogant to think that the laws of necessity and unthinkable circumstance could not apply to her. She could tell herself that this was an act of mercy, but that would be a lie. This was an act of war. An act of terrorism. It was nothing less than an assassination. If I do this, Allie told herself, I am no better than Mary. I will have sunk to the worst possible place a person can go. After this moment, I will be a cold-blooded killer and it can never be taken back. So the question was, did Allie Johnson have the strength to sacrifice all that was left of her innocence if it meant she might save the world? . Neal Shusterman

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

My artwork isn't evolving, it's deconstructing, and I don't know why. Neal Shusterman

Perhaps that is the greatest crime of conquest--that a civilization is denied the right to evolve beyond its own embarrassment. Neal Shusterman

Your friend Mikey knew what my touch could do, but he didn’t tell me. He turned me into a murderer. Worse than a murderer.”“ I think, ” said Nick, “they call that manslaughter or wrongful death, don’t they? I mean, when it’s an accident or out of ignorance, or something.” Clarence turned to Nick, studying him with his Everlost eye. “You’re a lot smarter than you were back in the cage, ” Clarence said. “You look better too. Back then you were a thing, now you’re almost a person.”“ Thanks . but ‘almost’ is still ‘almost.’”“Yeah, well, we’re all almost something. Neal Shusterman

I always hear people talk about 'dysfunctional families.' It annoys me, because it makes you think that somewhere there's this magical family where everyone gets along, and no one ever screams things they don't mean, and there's never a time when sharp objects should be hidden. Well, I'm sorry, but that family doesn't exist. And if you find some neighbors that seem to be the grinning model of 'function, ' trust me - that's the family that will get arrested for smuggling arms in their SUV between soccer games. The best you can really hope for is a family where everyone's problems, big and small, work together. Kind of like an orchestra where every instrument is out of tune, in exactly the same way, so you don't really notice. Neal Shusterman

...Our conversation with the supermarket manager had been about as helpful as a New Jersey road sign, and if you've ever been there, you know the signs don't tell you the exit you're coming up to, they only point out the exits you've just missed. It puts parents in very foul moods--and since you're probably there to visit relatives, their mood was pretty touch and go to begin with. Neal Shusterman

And so, as the mob backs away to give them space... as the riot police holster their weapons, standing down, and as Risa takes the podium, calming the crowd with a voice as soothing as a sonata, Connor Lassiter holds his family like he'll never let them go. Neal Shusterman

The accountant lingers at his children's doorway a moment more, listening to the easy rhythm of their breathing, and something cold moves through him, like the passage of a ghost - but he know that's not it. It's more like the portent of a future. A future that must never come to pass...and for the first time, he gives rise to a thought that is silently echoed in millions of homes that night. My God.. what have we done? . Neal Shusterman

This book is so interesting. I always wonder what's going to happen next. Neal Shusterman

Does a sick society get so used to its illness that it can't remember being well? what if the memory is too dangerous for the people who like things the way they are? Neal Shusterman

Which side was I on? There was no time to search for answers. All I could do now was ride on a werewolf's back, toward a destiny as hidden as the dark side of the moon. Neal Shusterman

Sometimes the darkness beyond is not glorious at all, it truly is an absolute absence of light. A clawing, needy tar that pulls you down. You drown but you don't. It turns you to lead so you sink faster in its viscous embrace. It robs you of hope and even the memory of hope. It makes you think you've always felt like this, and there's no place to go but down, where it slowly, ravenously digests your will, distilling it into the ebony crude of nightmares. And you know the darkness beyond despair, just as intimately as you know the soaring heights. Because in this and all universes, there is balance. You can't have the one without facing the other. And sometimes you think you can take it because the joy is worth the despair, and sometimes you know you can't take it and how did you ever think you could? And there is the dance; strength and weakness, confidence and desolation. . Neal Shusterman

We move in and out of darkness and light all our lives. Right now I'm pleased to be in the light. Neal Shusterman

When he touches a wall the ooze grows thicker, drawn to his and as if he's become a gravity well for the darkness - and it occurs to me that the dark must be in love with the light. Yet one must always kill the other. Neal Shusterman

You can't imagine what it's like to be torn between darkness and light- to be a traitor no matter what move you make. If my grandmother and Marissa died tonight, it would be because I had stayed in the darkness too long, flirting with the idea of being Cedric's consigliere. If that happened, I could never live with myself- but if Cedric gave me the bite as he planned, I would be forced to live with it forever. That was the worst hell I could imagine. . Neal Shusterman

Dreams can twist your emotions like no reality can. Neal Shusterman

But remember that good intentions pave many roads. Not all of them lead to hell. Neal Shusterman

And I think, if thoughts are worth a penny, how much less promises must be worth. Especially the ones you're likely to break. Neal Shusterman

I came running down the stairs that morning, like it was Christmas. My parents were already up. In my family, presents never waited; they were there upon waking. Our family has a problem with what they called delayed gratification. We want what we want when we want it, and we always want it now. Neal Shusterman

Suddenly, Tara's accomplishment was clear. She had lined up allies among the school's various groups and got them all to work together for probably the first time in the school's history. She was like a master builder who could bend materials like stone and steel and clay to her will... except her materials were flesh and spirit. Neal Shusterman

Sometimes, though, you make a pact with yourself. I'll pretend there's nothing wrong if you pretend there's nothing wrong. It's called denial, and it's one of the strongest pacts in the world. Just ask all those people who were still drinking champagne while the Titanic went down. Neal Shusterman

On my fifteenth birthday, I came to realize that the expression spoiled rotten meant exactly that. We kids were the apples of our parents' eyes, and I, for one, was rotting from inside out. Neal Shusterman

The measure of a man is not how much he suffers in the test, but how he comes out at the end. Neal Shusterman

It does, Tennyson, because there’s a fine line between confidence and arrogance. There’s a fine line between being assertive and being a bully. And you’re on the wrong side of both lines. Neal Shusterman

I'd rather be partly great than entirely useless. Neal Shusterman

Today he failed to change the world. As for tomorrow, who can tell? Neal Shusterman

There are worse things than being robbed..." I could smell the sick old-meat stench on his breath, like he really had eaten my grandmother. "...worse things than dyin' even. You be a good boy, Little Red, and maybe you'll get to live awhile. Maybe you'll get to die in your own natural time. Neal Shusterman

You should never apologize for existing, Lev. Not even to all those people out there who wish you didn't. Neal Shusterman

Luck, however, is too dumb to remain consistent Neal Shusterman

Do we exist because others perceive our existence, or is, indeed, our own affirmation enough? Neal Shusterman

I can't help what I have any more than you can help what you don't Neal Shusterman

Please give me a single reason why I shouldn't hurl myself beneath the wheels of that bus. Neal Shusterman

How many kids are in the Graveyard?""A bunch."" Who sends your supplies?"" George Washington. Or is it Abraham Lincoln? I forget."" How often do you receive new arrivals?"" About as often as you beat your wife. Neal Shusterman

Wars have a way reinventing people. And making too many things disappear.- Sonia Neal Shusterman

Sometimes, Lev, I just want to smack you."" You already hit him with a car. Neal Shusterman

Their fate rested entirely on me. I could save them by telling the truth. I could destroy them by lying. No one should have that much power. Neal Shusterman

You see, Risa, survival is a dance between our needs and our consciences. When the need is great enough, and the music loud enough, we can stomp conscience into the ground.' Risa closes her eyes. She knows the dance..' It's the way of the world, ' Divan continues. 'Look at unwinding, society's grand gavotte of denial. There will, no doubt, come a time when people look to one another and say, 'My God, what have we done?' But I don't believe it will happen any time soon. Until then, the dance must have music; the chorus must have its voice. Give it that voice, Risa. Play for me.' But Risa's fingers offer him nothing, and the Orgao Organico holds the obdurate, unyielding silence of the grave. Neal Shusterman

It's always the lesser of two evils.'' I don't see why there have to be any evils at all.'- Connor Neal Shusterman

I almost told her everything right then. I wanted to tell her about the Wolves, and how I was supposed to hate them, but when you spend your days with evil, some of it is bound to soak into your clothes, like cigar smoke in a closed room. Neal Shusterman

Whether consciousness is implanted in us by something divine, or whether it is created by the efforts of our brains, the end result is the same. We are. Neal Shusterman

They will find whatever button will make you dance, and dance you will, no matter how hideous the tune. Neal Shusterman

Griping is for those without a plan of action... Neal Shusterman

Hole..." He grips Risa's hand tighter. "Hole, Risa, hole..." And she smiles "Yes, Connor, " she says. "You're whole. You're finally whole. Neal Shusterman

It made my blood boil so hot, my brain stopped working right. Neal Shusterman

I wrote Unwind for lots of reasons, and it poses questions about alot of subjects. To state it briefly, I wanted to point out how when peopletake intractable positions on an issue, and stick to extreme sides, sometimes the result is a compromise that is worse than either extreme. Imeant it as a wake up call to society -- and to point out that sometimes theproblem IS that we take sides on an issue, when a different sort of approachis needed. It's also to pose questions about what it means to be alive. Where does life begin, where does it end -- and point out that there is nosingle answer to these questions. The problem is people who think there aresimple answers. People who see things as simple black-and-whiteright-and-wrong are the type of people who will end up with a world like theworld in Unwind. . Neal Shusterman

The good Lord wouldn't have put it in your heart if it wasn't right. Neal Shusterman

Don't you recognize me, Mary? It's your good friend Allie the Outcast - although it looks like you're the one who's the out-cast now." Then Allie realized something with far too much glee. "Now that you're here - alive and all - there's something I've wanted to do for a very long time." Then Allie reached back, curled her fleshie's right hand into a fist, and swung it toward Mary with all her might. This was one strong fleshie! The punch connected with Mary's eye so hard, that Mary's entire body spun around, and she collapsed into a leopard chair. Allie's knuckles hurt, but it was a good kind of pain." My eye! " wailed Mary. "Oh! My eye. Neal Shusterman

She was deemed an unfit mother, in spite of the fact that she goes to the gym every day, ' Hal once told me.. ..Beautiful people are often forgiven for many things--and maybe she's gotten through life that way, but I don't forgive her for anything--and I don't even know what awful things she's done other than showing a lack of parental fitness. Neal Shusterman

So is darkness better than a heartfelt lie? Neal Shusterman

I'm going out to find her, to make things right, or atleast properly wrong. Neal Shusterman

...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

We are, however, creatures of containment. We want all things in life packed into boxes that we can label. But just because we have the ability to label it, doesn't mean we really know what's in the box. It's kind of religion. It gives us comfort to believe we have defined something that is, by its very nature, indefinable. As to whether or not we've gotten it right, well, it's all a matter of faith. Neal Shusterman

You can't change laws without first changing human nature... You can't change human nature without first changing the law. Neal Shusterman

The way I see it, the impossible happens all the time; but we're so good at taking it for granted, we forget it was once impossible. Neal Shusterman

This is not going to be easy. I'm good at being bad, but I'm bad at being good. I don't know the first thing about good deeds. Neal Shusterman

Hope can be bruised and battered. It can be forced underground and even rendered unconscious, but hope cannot be killed. Neal Shusterman

Elasticity is a fundamental principle of perception, Neal Shusterman

While it’s five in the morning here, it’s also five in the evening somewhere in China–proving that incompatible truths make perfect sense when seen with global perspective. Neal Shusterman

Heaven might shine bright, but so do flames. Neal Shusterman

...You know something, don't you?"" I know lots of things--your inquiry needs to be more specific."" Just answer the question."" True/false or multiple choice? Neal Shusterman

Respect doesn't come without a little resentment. Neal Shusterman

Live by your impulses, and you'll be just like them. You're better than that, aren't you, Red? Neal Shusterman

Makes sense, the earth is quick to consume the flesh of things that ain't natural. Neal Shusterman

We're this big melting pot, but someone turned up the heat too high, and the stew started to burn. Gangs, crime, fights, and fear are now a regular part of our local stew. Neal Shusterman

I’m evolving, is the thing; I’m a god becoming a constellation.’‘ The constellations are mostly demigods, ’ I point out. ‘And they didn’t get to be constellations until after they died.’ He laughs at that, and says, ‘Death is a small sacrifice to become immortal. Neal Shusterman

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

I love you, Risa, " he says. "Every last part of me. Neal Shusterman

How can you pass laws about things that nobody knows?"" They do it all the time, " says Hayden. "That's what law is: educated guesses at right and wrong. Neal Shusterman

His existence had always been comfortable, he had always held a clear picture of himself, his duties, and his place in a world. He saw that world as a place so full of turning gears he had no hope of comprehending how things fit together, so why even try? Now things were different, however. Now he wasn’t just looking out from inside of the clockwork. Instead, he was actually seeing the final motion of the escapement–the ticking hands of the clock itself. And it was a doomsday clock. Both his feline and human instincts told him to let it be. It was not his problem, or his place to interfere. If the living world was destined to fall, let it happen, let it pass into history once and for all. Who was he to try to save it? But on the other hand, if the living world were lost, then there would never again be great cats to furjack . and couldn’t it be that hearing the actual ticking of the clock gave one the responsibility to stop it? . Neal Shusterman

It was at that moment he realized that his spirit was truly human once more. For he no longer remembered how to be alone without being lonely. Neal Shusterman

Once in a while our school has half days, and the teachers spend the afternoon 'in service, ' which I think must be a group therapy for having to deal with us. Neal Shusterman

What's going on? I'm in the back car of a roller coaster at the top of the climb, with the front rows already giving themselves over to gravity. I can hear those front riders screaming and know my own scream is only seconds away. I'm at the moment you hear the landing gear of a plane grind loudly into place, in that instant before your rational mind tells you it's just the landing gear. I'm leaping off a cliff only to discover I can fly.. and then realizing there's nowhere to land. Ever. That's what's going on. . Neal Shusterman

And you know the darkness beyond despair, just as intimately as you know the soaring heights. Because in this and all universes, there is balance. You can't have the one without facing the other. And sometimes you think you can take it because the joy is worth the despair, and sometimes you know you can't take it and how did you ever think you could? And there is the dance; strength and weakness, confidence and desolation. . Neal Shusterman

You see demons in the eyes of the world, and the world sees bottomless pit in yours. Neal Shusterman

I suppose even a simple slogan can be twisted into whatever shape we want, like a balloon animal–we can even make it loop back around on itself, becoming a noose. In the end, the measure of who we are can be seen in the shapes of our balloon animals. Neal Shusterman

If you think about it, the public perception of funky brain chemistry has been as varied and weird as the symptoms, historically speaking. If I had been born a Native American in another time, I might have been lauded as a medicine man. My voices would have been seen as the voices of ancestors imparting wisdom. I would have been treated with great mystical regard. If I had lived in biblical times, I might have been seen as a prophet, because, let’s face it, there are really only two possibilities: either prophets were actually hearing God speaking to them, or they were mentally ill. I’m sure if an actual prophet surfaced today, he or she would receive plenty of Haldol injections, until the sky opened up and the doctors were slapped silly by the Hand of God. In the Dark Ages my parents would have sent for an exorcist, because I was clearly possessed by evil spirits, or maybe even the Devil himself. And if I lived in Dickensian England, I would have been thrown into Bedlam, which is more than just a description of madness. It was an actual place–a “madhouse” where the insane were imprisoned in unthinkable conditions. Living in the twenty-first century gives a person a much better prognosis for treatment, but sometimes I wish I’d lived in an age before technology. I would much rather everyone think I was a prophet than some poor sick kid. Neal Shusterman

Centering, however, is easier said than done. This I learned from a ceramics class I once took. The teacher made throwing a pot look easy, but the thing is, it takes lots of precision and skill. You slam the ball of clay down in the absolute center of the pottery wheel, and with steady hands you push your thumb into the middle of it, spreading it wider a fraction of an inch at a time. But every single time I tried to do it, I only got so far before my pot warped out of balance, and every attempt to fix it just made it worse, until the lip shredded, the sides collapsed, and I was left with what the teacher called “a mystery ashtray, ” which got hurled back into the clay bucket. So what happens when your universe begins to get off balance, and you don’t have any experience with bringing it back to center? All you can do is fight a losing battle, waiting for those walls to collapse, and your life to become one huge mystery ashtray. Neal Shusterman

It's kind of like religion. It gives us comfort to believe we have defined something that is, by its very nature, indefinable. As to whether or not we've gotten it right, well, it's all a matter of faith. Neal Shusterman

The fear of not living is a deep, abiding dread of watching your own potential decompose into irredeemable disappointment when 'should be' gets crushed by what is. Sometimes I think it would be easier to die than to face that, because 'what could have been' is much more highly regarded than 'what should have been.' Dead kids are put on pedestals, but mentally ill kids get hidden under the rug. Neal Shusterman

You see demons in the eyes of the world, and the world sees a bottomless pit in yours. Neal Shusterman

They all think medicine should be magic, and they become mad at me when it's not. Neal Shusterman

Everything feels right with the world......and the sad thing is that I know it's a dream. I know it must soon end, and when it does I will be thrust awake into a place where either I'm broken, or the world is broken. Neal Shusterman

I begin to wonder if David was like me. Seeing monsters everywhere and realizing there aren't enough slingshots in the world to get rid of them. Neal Shusterman

The scariest thing of all is never knowing what you're suddenly going to believe. Neal Shusterman

With hardly any effort at all, she made me feel special. Just like all the other people she toyed with. Neal Shusterman