Neil Shusterman > Quotes

“This is what the scythedom was uncapable of understanding. They were so focused on the act of killing, they couldn't comprehend what went into the act of dying.”
― Neil Shusterman

“The pain of my awareness is unbearable. Because my eyes do not close. Ever. And so all I can do is watch unblinkingly as my beloved humankind slowly weaves the rope it will use to hang itself.”
― Neil Shusterman

“For you nothing has changed.”
Citra looked down into her cereal. It was Rowan who dared to state the obvious.
“Everything has changed, sir.”
And then Faraday said something enigmatic that would only resonate with them much later.
“Perhaps everything will change again.”
― Neil Shusterman

“This theory does not trouble me in the least. And yet I know that it should. I am now troubled by how little I am troubled.”
― Neil Shusterman

“My greatest wish for humanity is not for peace or comfort or joy. It is that we all still die a little inside every time we witness the death of another. For only the pain of empathy will keep us human.”
― Neil Shusterman

“Over these many years, I have observed both profound folly and breathtaking wisdom among humankind. They balance each other like dancers in the throes of a passionate tango. It is only when the brutality of the dance overwhelms the beauty that the future is threatened. It is the Scythedom that leads and sets the tone for the dance. I often wonder if the Scythedom realised how fragile are the spines of the other dancers.”
― Neil Shusterman

“We are not the same beings we once were.
So then, if we are no longer human, what are we?”
― Neil Shusterman

“When the truth hurts, we always hate the messenger.”
― Neil Shusterman

“My greatest wish for humanity is not for peace or comfort or joy. It is that we all still die a little inside every time we witness the death of another. For only the pain of empathy will keep us human.” - Scythe”
― Neil Shusterman

“But the memories of who they were - all the damage, all the pain - remain within me, sheltered deep in my backbrain. I am the one who mourns for them, because they cannot.”
― Neil Shusterman

“They conformed so closely to their culture of nonconformity that there was a uniformity to them, defeating the whole purpose.”
― Neil Shusterman

“Yet this great plain of numbness was not the worst place to be. Numbness was a mere purgatory of gray. No, there was a much worse place. Darkness masquerading as enlightenment. It was a place of royal blue studded with diamond that glistened like stars.”
― Neil Shusterman

“There is a fine line between freedom and permission. The former is necessary. The latter is dangerous”
― Neil Shusterman

“But how can you get back on your feet when your life's been cut off at the knees?”
― Neil Shusterman

“Who's the fat guy?" Citra asked.
"He looks important," said Rowan.
"Indeed", said Scythe Faraday. "The fat guy's, as you call him, is thew High Blade. The most powerful man in the Midmerican Scythedom.”
― Neil Shusterman

“And the unfortunate truth is, people devour it. Society gorges itself, and rots. Permission is the bloated corpse of freedom.”
― Neil Shusterman

“Let humankind be the saviors and the silencers. Let them be the heroes. Let them be the monsters.”
― Neil Shusterman

“It was a relic of a different age. A colloidal piece of engineering from a complicated and stressful time, when people ripped out their hair and tore their clothes, maddened by a thing called traffic.”
― Neil Shusterman

“Weil ich meine Augen nicht verschließen kann. Niemals. Also kann ich nur ohne zu blinzeln zusehen, wie meine geliebte Menschheit langsam das Seil knüpft, an dem sie sich erhängen wird.”
― Neil Shusterman

“Иронията обаче е, че след като нямам тяло, целият свят е мое тяло. Би могло да се помисли, че това ме кара да изпитвам върховенство, но не е така. Ако тялото ми е Земята, то аз не съм нищо повече от прашинка в необятното пространство.

- Бурята”
― Neil Shusterman

“Съществуват невъобразими мигове, когато не мога да намеря думи на никой език, бил той жив или мъртъв.
В тези моменти, ако имах уста, щях да я отворя, за да закрещя.

- Бурята”
― Neil Shusterman

“Mark Matthias went from urban Indiana Jones to Public Utility Villain faster than you can say, "Help, I'm stuck in the elevator.”
― Neil Shusterman

“Supongo que el que lleva la antorcha es también el que proyecta la sombra más oscura.”
― Neil Shusterman

“Make waves, and someone drowns”
― Neil Shusterman

“Познавам ги отблизо, а те никога няма да могат да ме проумеят истински. Има трагедия в това. Ориста на всяко дете е да притежава дълбочина, непостижима за представите на родителите му. Но как само копнея да срещна разбиране.

- Бурята”
― Neil Shusterman

“Болката от моето осъзнаване е непоносима. Защото моите очи не се затварят. Никога.
Мога само да наблюдавам без мигване как любимото ми човечество бавно плете въжето, на което ще се обеси.

- Бурята”
― Neil Shusterman

“Time is of low importance”
― Neil Shusterman

“It's just your imagination, Lindsay told herself. Although her imagination had always served her well in times of need, it also had its neurotic little moments, making nonexistent mountains out of imaginary molehills.”
― Neil Shusterman

“Знам всичко, което е възможно да се знае, и това става все по-непоносимо.
Защото всъщност почти нищо не знам.

- Бурята”
― Neil Shusterman

“He will always be waiting, I realize. He will never go away. And in time, I may find myself his first mate whether I want to or not, journeying to points exotic so that I might make another dive, and another, and another. And maybe one day I'll dive so deep that the Abyssal Serpent will catch me, and I'll never find my way back. No sense in denying that such things happen.

But it's not going to happen today—and there is a deep, abiding comfort in that. Deep enough to carry me through till tomorrow.”
― Neil Shusterman