It’s strange how time can make a place shrink, make its strangeness ordinary.
VERONICA ROTHIt’s strange how time can make a place shrink, make its strangeness ordinary.
VERONICA ROTHHow have I never realized before that for all the strong, kind parts of him, there are also hurting, broken parts?
VERONICA ROTHA brave man acknowledges the strength of others.
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 ROTH“Oh, you know,” I say. “Sun shining. Birds chirping.” She raises an eyebrow at me, as if reminding me that we are in an underground tunnel.
VERONICA ROTHI keep finding myself stifled by the company of others and then crippled by loneliness when I leave them.
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 ROTHI think they’re going to force us to eat lots of cake and then take an unreasonably long nap.
VERONICA ROTHWe are not people who touch each other carelessly; every point of contact between us feels important, a rush of energy and relief.
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 ROTHYou don’t believe things because they make your life better, you believe them because they’re true.
VERONICA ROTHTo 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.
VERONICA ROTHI traded cowardice for cruelty; I traded weakness for ferocity.
VERONICA ROTHGrief is not as heavy as guilt, but it takes more away from you.
VERONICA ROTHMy mother told me once that we can’t survive alone, but even if we could, we wouldn’t want to.
VERONICA ROTHI have never been carried around by a large boy, or laughed until my stomach hurt at the dinner table, or listened to the clamor of a hundred people all talking at once. Peace is restrained; this is free.
VERONICA ROTH