Markus Zusak - The Book Thief (2005)

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Clearly," said Arthur,"you're an idiot- but you're our kind of idiot. Come on.

Markus Zusak
The human child – so much cannier at times than the stupefyingly ponderous adult.

Markus Zusak
She looks at the swings, and I can see she's imagining what they'd look like if the kids weren't there. The guilt of this holds her down momentarily. It appears to be there constantly. Never far away, despite her love for them. I realize that nothing belongs to her anymore and she belongs to everything.

Markus Zusak
I traveled the globe as always, handing souls to the conveyor belt of eternity.

Markus Zusak
The commitment had disappeared, and although he still watched the imagined glory of stealing, she could see now he was not believing. He was trying to believe it, and that's never a good sign.

Markus Zusak
An eleven-year-old girl is many things, but she is not stupid.

Markus Zusak
Maybe one morning I'll wake up and step outside of myself to look back at the old me lying dead among the sheets.

Markus Zusak
A snowball in the face is surely the perfect beginning to a lasting friendship.

Markus Zusak
There were not many people who could say that their education had been paid for with cigarettes.

Markus Zusak
They say that war is death's best friend, but I must offer you a different point of view on that one. To me, war is like the new boss who expects the impossible. He stands over your shoulder repeating one thin, incessantly: 'Get it done, get it done.' So you work harder. You get the job done. The boss, however, does not thank you. He asks for more.

Markus Zusak
Five hundred souls. I carried them in my fingers, like suitcases. Or I'd throw them over my shoulder. It was only the the children I carried in my arms.

Markus Zusak
Somewhere, far down, there was an itch in his heart, but he made it a point not to scratch it. He was afraid of what might come leaking out.

Markus Zusak
He was the crazy one who had painted himself black and defeated the world. She was the book thief without the words. Trust me, though, the words were on their way, and when they arrived, Liesel would hold them in her hands like the clouds, and she would wring them out like rain.

Markus Zusak
Or had she always loved him? It's likely. Restricted as she was from speaking, she wanted him to kiss her. She wanted him to drag her hand across and pull her over. It didn't matter where. Her mouth, her neck, her cheek. Her skin was empty for it, waiting.

Markus Zusak
She wanted none of those days to end, and it was always with disappointment that she watched the darkness stride forward.

Markus Zusak
And I stop listening to me, because to put it bluntly, I tire me.

Markus Zusak
"When death captures me," the boy vowed, "he will feel my fist in his face."

Markus Zusak
And the boy whose hair remained the color of lemons forever.

Markus Zusak
Liesel's blood had dried inside of her. It crumbled. She almost broke into pieces on the steps.

Markus Zusak
To swear with a ferocity that can only be described as a talent.

Markus Zusak
We both laugh and run and the moment is so thick around me that i feel like dropping into it to let it carry me.

Markus Zusak
Imagine smiling after a slap in the face. Then think of doing it twenty-four hours a day.

Markus Zusak
Liesel shrugged away entirely from the crowd and entered the tide of Jews, weaving through them till she grabbed hold of his arm with her left hand. His face fell on her. It reached down as she tripped, and the Jew, the nasty Jew, helped her up. It took all of his strength.

Markus Zusak
Oh, come on, Arthur." "I don't want to hear it, Andy." "Jesus Christ" "He doesn't want to hear it, either.

Markus Zusak
I wanted to tell the book thief many things, about beauty and brutality. But what could I tell her about those things that she didn't already know? I wanted to explain that I am constantly overestimating and underestimating the human race-that rarely do I ever simply estimate it. I wanted to ask her how the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious, and its words and stories so damning and brilliant.

Markus Zusak
No matter how many times she was told that she was loved, there was no recognition that the proof was in the abandonment.

Markus Zusak
It was the beginning of the greatest Christmas ever. Little food. No presents. But there was a snowman in their basement.

Markus Zusak
It's all very well for such a person to whine and moan and criticize other family members, but they won't let anyone else do it. That's when you get your back up and show loyalty.

Markus Zusak
Each night, Liesel would step outside, wipe the door, and watch the sky. Usually it was like spillage - cold and heavy, slippery and gray - but once in a while some stars had the nerve to rise and float, if only for a few minutes. On those nights, she would stay a little longer and wait. Hello, stars.

Markus Zusak
Liesel crossed the bridge over the Amper River. The water was glorious and emerald and rich. She could see the stones at the bottom and hear the familiar song of water. The world did not deserve such a river.

Markus Zusak