Killing you is not the worst thing they can do to you,” I say. “Controlling you is.
VERONICA ROTHKilling you is not the worst thing they can do to you,” I say. “Controlling you is.
VERONICA ROTHA smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. Even closer, so we would be breathng the same air- if I could remember to breathe. ‘No, Tris,’ he says. A more serious look replaces his smile as he adds, ‘You look tough as nails.
VERONICA ROTHI feel like what I have become is halfway between my mother and my father, violent and impulsive and desperate and afraid. I feel like I have lost control of what I have become.
VERONICA ROTHBut now, I am also learning this: we can be mended. We mend each other.
VERONICA ROTHEvery faction conditions its members to think and act a certain way. And most people do it. For most people, it’s not hard to learn, to find a pattern of thought that works and stay that way. But our minds move in a dozen different directions.
VERONICA ROTHSometimes all I want is to be a few inches taller so the world does not look like a dense collection of torsos.
VERONICA ROTHSometimes it involves giving up everything you have ever known, or everyone you have ever loved for the sake of something greater.
VERONICA ROTHWe both have war inside us. Sometimes it keeps us alive. Sometimes it threatens to destroy us.
VERONICA ROTHMom used to say that politeness is deception in pretty packaging
VERONICA ROTHNo matter how long you train someone to be brave, you never know if they are or not until something real happens.
VERONICA ROTHCruelty does not make a person dishonest, the same way bravery does not make a person kind.
VERONICA ROTHI think you’re still the only person sharp enough to sharpen someone like me.
VERONICA ROTHWe can’t be confined to one way of thinking, and that terrifies our leaders. It means we can’t be controlled. And it means that no matter what they do, we will always cause trouble for them.
VERONICA ROTHSometimes, all it takes to save people from a terrible fate is one person willing to do something about it. Even if that “something” is a fake bathroom break.
VERONICA ROTHHe is stronger than anyone I know, and warmer than anyone else realizes; he is a secret that I have kept, and will keep for the rest of my life.
VERONICA ROTHThen I realize what it is. It’s him. Something about him makes me feel like I am about to fall. Or turn to liquid. Or burst into flames.
VERONICA ROTH