Quotes From "The Hunger Games" By Suzanne Collins

He’s dozed off again, but I kiss him awake, which seems to startle him. Then he smiles as if he’d be happy to lie there gazing at me forever. Suzanne Collins

Katniss: I’m coming back into focus when Caesar asks him if he has a girlfriend back home. Peeta: (Gives an unconvincing shake of head.) Caesar: Handsome lad like you. There must be some special girl. Come on, what’s her name? Peeta: Well, there is this one girl. I’ve had a crush on her ever since I can remember. But I’m pretty sure she didn’t know I was alive until the reaping. Caesar: She have another fellow? Peeta: I don’t know, but a lot of boys like her. Caesar: So, here’s what you do. You win, you go home. She can’t turn you down, eh? Peeta: I don’t think it’s going to work out. Winning… won’t help in my case. Caesar: Why ever not? Peeta: Because… because… she came here with me. Caesar: Oh, that is a piece of bad luck. Peeta: It’s not good. Caesar: Well, I don’t think any of us can blame you. It’d be hard not to fall for that young lady. She didn’t know? Peeta: Not until now. Suzanne Collins

Katniss: 'What about you? Ive seen you in the market. You can lift hundred pound bags of flour'. I snap at him Tell him that. Thats not nothing. Peeta: Yes and Im sure the arena will be full of bags of flour for me to chuck at people. Suzanne Collins

Peeta, ” I say lightly. “You said at the interview you’d had a crush on me forever. When did forever start?”“ Oh, let’s see. I guess the first day of school. We were five. You had on a red plaid dress and your hair.. it was in two braids instead of one. My father pointed you out when we were waiting to line up, ” Peeta says.“ Your father? Why?” I ask.“ He said, ‘See that little girl? I wanted to marry her mother, but she ran off with a coal miner, ’” Peeta says.“ What? You’re making that up! ” I exclaim.“ No, true story, ” Peeta says. “And I said, ‘A coal miner? Why did she want a coal miner if she could’ve had you?’ And he said, ‘Because when he sings.. even the birds stop to listen.’”“ That’s true. They do. I mean, they did, ” I say. I’m stunned and surprisingly moved, thinking of the baker telling this to Peeta. It strikes me that my own reluctance to sing, my own dismissal of music might not really be that I think it’s a waste of time. It might be because it reminds me too much of my father.“ So that day, in music assembly, the teacher asked who knew the valley song. Your hand shot right up in the air. She stood you up on a stool and had you sing it for us. And I swear, every bird outside the windows fell silent, ” Peeta says.“ Oh, please, ” I say, laughing.“ No, it happened. And right when your song ended, I knew–just like your mother– I was a goner, ” Peeta says. “Then for the next eleven years, I tried to work up the nerve to talk to you.”“ Without success, ” I add.“ Without success. So, in a way, my name being drawn in the reaping was a real piece of luck, ” says Peeta. For a moment, I’m almost foolishly happy and then confusion sweeps over me. Because we’re supposed to be making up this stuff, playing at being in love not actually being in love. But Peeta’s story has a ring of truth to it. That part about my father and the birds. And I did sing the first day of school, although I don’t remember the song. And that red plaid dress.. there was one, a hand-me-down to Prim that got washed to rags after my father’s death. It would explain another thing, too. Why Peeta took a beating to give me the bread on that awful hollow day. So, if those details are true.. could it all be true?“ You have a.. remarkable memory, ” I say haltingly. “I remember everything about you, ” says Peeta, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “You’re the one who wasn’t paying attention.”“ I am now, ” I say.“ Well, I don’t have much competition here, ” he says. I want to draw away, to close those shutters again, but I know I can’t. It’s as if I can hear Haymitch whispering in my ear, “Say it! Say it! ” I swallow hard and get the words out. “You don’t have much competition anywhere.” And this time, it’s me who leans in. Suzanne Collins

Agreed, " I say. "It's going to be a long hour."" Maybe not that long, " says Peeta." what was that you were saying just before the food arrived? Something about me. . no competition. . best thing that ever happened to you. . "" I don't remember that last part, " I say, hoping it's too dim in here for the cameras to pick up my blush." Oh, that's right. That's what I was thinking, " he says " Scoot over, I'm freezing. Suzanne Collins

It's old, very old I think. Made up long ago in our hills. What my music teacher calls a mountain air. But the words are easy and soothing, promising tomorrow will be more hopeful than this awful piece of time we call today. Suzanne Collins

Para que haya traición debe haber primero confianza. Suzanne Collins

Because when he sings...even the birds stop to listen. Suzanne Collins

In our world, I rank music somewhere between hair ribbons and rainbows in terms of usefulness. Suzanne Collins

Peeta opens his mouth for the first bite without hesitation. He swallows, then frowns slightly. "They're very sweet."" Yes they're sugar berries. My mother makes jam from them. Haven't you've ever had them before?" I say, poking the next spoonful in his mouth." No, " he says, almost puzzled. "But they taste familiar. Sugar berries?"" Well, you can't get them in the market much, they only grow wild, " I say. Another mouthful goes down. Just one more to go." They're sweet as syrup, " he says, taking the last spoonful. "Syrup." His eyes widen as he realizes the truth. I clamp my hand over his mouth and nose hard, forcing him to swallow instead of spit. He tries to make himself vomit the stuff up, but it's too late, he's already losing consciousness. Even as he fades away, I can see in his eyes what I've done is unforgiveable. I sit back on my heels and look at him with a mixture of sadness and satisfaction. A stray berry stains his chin and I wipe it away. "Who can't lie, Peeta?" I say, even though he can't hear me. . Suzanne Collins

I've been down by the stream collecting berries. Would you care for some?" I would, actually, but I don't want to relent too soon. I do walk over and look at them. I've never seen this type before. No, I have. But not in the arena. These aren't Rue's berries, although they resemble them. Nor do they match any I learned about in training. I lean down and scoop up a few, rolling them between my fingers. My father's voice comes back to me. "Not these, Katniss. Never these. They're nightlock. You'll be dead before they reach your stomach." Just then the cannon fires. I whip around, expecting Peeta to collapseto the ground, but he only raises his eyebrows. The hoovercraft appears a hundred metres or so away. What's left of Foxface's emaciated body is lifted into the air. Suzanne Collins

When I break into the clearing, she's on the ground, hopelessly entangled in a net. She just has the time to reach her hand through the mesh and say my name before the spear enters her body. Suzanne Collins

I know I'll never marry, never risk bringing a child into the world. Because if there's one thing being a victor doesn't guarantee, it's our children's safety. My kids' names would go right into the reaping balls with everyone else's. And I swear I'll never let that happen. Suzanne Collins

Glimmer, I hear someone call her - ugh, the names the people in District 1 give their children are so ridiculous ... Suzanne Collins

I just don't want them to change me, if I'm going to die I still want to be me. Suzanne Collins

The numbness of his loss had passed, and the pain would hit me out of nowhere, doubling me over, racking my body with sobs. Where are you? I would cry out in my mind. Where have you gone? Of course, there was never any answer. Suzanne Collins

The last thing I remember ia an exquisitely beautiful green and silver moth landing on the curve of my wrist. The sound of rain on the roof of our house gently pulls me toward consciousness. I fight to return to sleep though, wrapped in a warm cocoon of blankets, safe at home. I'm vaguely aware that my head aches. Possibly I have the flu and this is why I'm allowed to stay in bed, even though I can tell I've been asleep a long time. My mother's hand strokes my cheek and I don't push is away as I would in wakefulness, never wanting her to know how much I crave that gentle touch. How much I miss her even though I still don't trust her. Then there's a voice, the wrong voice, not my mother's and i'm scared. Suzanne Collins

I realize, for the first time, how very lonely I've been in the arena. How comforting the presence of another human being can be. Suzanne Collins

My spirit. This is a new thought. I'm not sure exactly what it means, but it suggests I'm a fighter. In a sort of brave way. It's not as if I'm never friendly. Okay, maybe I don't go around loving everybody I meet, maybe my smiles are hard to come by, but i do care for some people. Suzanne Collins

As long as you can find yourself, you’ll never starve. Suzanne Collins

Peeta actually is charming and then utterly winning as the boy in love. And there I am, blushing and confused, made beautiful by Cinna’s hands, desirable by Peeta’s confession, tragic by circumstance, and by all accounts, unforgettable. Suzanne Collins

Here's some advice. Stay alive. Suzanne Collins

Why not? It's true. My best hope is to not disgrace myself and.." He hesitates. And what?" I say. I don't know how to say it exactly. Only.. I want to die as myself. Does that make any sense?" he asks. I shake my head. How could he die as anyone but himself? "I don't want them to change me in there. Turn me into some kind of monster that I'm not." I bite my lip feeling inferior. While I've been ruminating on the availability of trees, Peeta has been struggling with how to maintain his identity. His purity of self. "Do you mean you won't kill anyone?" I ask. No, when the time comes, I'm sure I'll kill just like everybody else. I can't go down without a fight. Only I keep wishing I could think of a way to.. to show the Capitol they don't own me. That I'm more than just a piece in their Games, " says Peeta.But you're not, " I say. "None of us are. That's how the Games work." Okay, but within that frame work, there's still you, there's still me, " he insists. "Don't you see?" A little, Only.. no offense, but who cares, Peeta?" I say. I do. I mean what else am I allowed to care about at this point?" he asks angrily. He's locked those blue eyes on mine now, demanding an answer. . Suzanne Collins

No, when the time comes, I’m sure I’ll kill just like everybody else. I can’t go down without a fight. Only I keep wishing I could think of a way to…to show the Capitol they don’t own me. Suzanne Collins

That should have been my strategy! By the time I’ve worked through the emotions of surprise, admiration, anger, jealousy, and frustration, I’m watching that reddish mane of hair disappear into the trees well out of shooting range. Suzanne Collins