“Grief is not as heavy as guilt, but it takes more away from you.”

I wonder if fears ever really go away, or if they just lose their power over us.

Resisting is worth doing.

I also don’t believe that whatever comes after life depends on my correctly reciting a list of my transgressions…I don’t believe that what comes after depends on anything I do at all.

It’s strange how time can make a place shrink, make its strangeness ordinary.

To live factionless Is not just to live in poverty and discomfort; it is to live divorced from society, separated from the most important thing in life: community.

You won,” Four mutters. “Stop.” I wipe the sweat from my forehead. He stares at me. His eyes are too wide; they look alarmed.

I can’t answer either question. But the look she gives me reminds me of the look in the attack dog’s eyes in the aptitude test – a vicious, predatory stare. She wants to rip me to pieces. I can’t lie down in submission now. I have become an attack dog too.

Do remember, though, that sometimes the people you oppress become mightier than you would like.

Without a faction we have no purpose and no reason to live.

It isn’t right to wish pain on other people just because they hurt me first.

It doesn’t prove anything except that you’re bullying us. Which, as I recall, is a sign of cowardice.

It reminds me why I chose Dauntless in the first place: not because they are perfect, but because they are alive. Because they are free.

But now, I am also learning this: we can be mended. We mend each other.

He stares at me, and I don’t look away. He isn’t a dog, but the same rules apply. Looking away is submissive.

Sometimes, the best way to help someone is just to be near them.

Since I was young, I have always known this: Life damages us, every one. We can’t escape that damage. But now, I am also learning this: We can be mended. We mend each other.

I esteem death a trifle, if not caused by guilt.

You probably will one day know what this kind of guilt and shame feels like. And when that time comes, I hope you have the strength…to take advantage of the fire and reshape your own sword.

Screw guilt — I could have sex with 10 men and it wouldn’t bother me. I’m an atheist!

See how ye Pharisee in the Temple stands, And justifies himself with lifted hands. Whilst ye poor publican with downcast eyes, Conscious of guilt to God for mercy cries.

And when you allow nothing that lies hidden in the storehouse of your Christian religion to remain unused against the cancer that is destroying the vitality of our society in such alarming ways.

…guilt leads to righteous action, but rarely is it the right action.

The fool who repeats again and again: “I am bound, I am bound,” remains in bondage. He who repeats day and night: “I am a sinner, I am a sinner,” becomes a sinner indeed.

Until I went to rehab, I didn’t understand what it did.