Neal Shusterman - Unwind (2007)

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Anger is only our friend when we know its caliber and how to aim it.

Neal Shusterman
Sharks have a deadly form of claustrophobia. It's not so much fear of enclosed spaces as it is inability to exist in them. No one knows why. Some say it's the metal in aquariums that throws their equilibrium off. But whatever it is, big sharks don't last long in captivity

Neal Shusterman
There's a quickening of her heart when she sees him. She tells herself it's anger.

Neal Shusterman
That's wisdom you can take to the grave, and dig up when you need it!

Neal Shusterman
If more people had been organ donors, unwinding never would have happened...but people like to keep what's theirs, even after they're dead.

Neal Shusterman
He's become like that briefcase in the ground-full of gems yet void of light, so nothing sparkles, nothing shines.

Neal Shusterman
What can fingerprints mean when they're not necessarily yours?

Neal Shusterman
Hey," says Hayden, "I'm Switzerland; neutral as can be, and also with great chocolate." "Get lost," Roland tells him. "Already am." And Hayden strolls away.

Neal Shusterman
What he's really saying is: Please be a human being. With a life so full of rules and regiments, it's so easy to forget that's what they are. She knows—she sees—how often compassion takes a back seat to expediency.

Neal Shusterman
You see, a conflict always begins with an issue - a difference of opinion, an argument. But by the time it turns into a war, the issue doesn't matter anymore, because now it's about one thing and one thing only: how much each side hates the other.

Neal Shusterman
It holds no fear for her now, because the shark has been tamed by the soul of a boy. No—the soul of a man.

Neal Shusterman
Because if their own parents didn't care enough about them to keep them, who would want them in Heaven?

Neal Shusterman
Most people have two emergency modes. Fight and Flight. But Conner always knew he had three. Fight, Flight, and Screw Up Royally.

Neal Shusterman
Unwinds didn't go out with a bang-they didn't even go out with a whimper. they went out with the silence of a candle flame pinched between two fingers.

Neal Shusterman
Would you rather die, or be unwound? Now he finally knows the answer. Maybe this is what he wanted. Maybe it's why he stood there and taunted Roland. Because he'd rather be killed with a furious hand than dismembered with cool indifference.

Neal Shusterman
The Bill of Life was signed, the Unwind Accord went into effect, and the war was over. Everyone was so happy to end the war, no one cared about the consequences

Neal Shusterman
Statistically speaking, there's a better chance that some part of me will go on to greatness somewhere in the world. I'd rather be partly great than entirely useless.

Neal Shusterman
(Why did they call them sneakers if it was so hard to sneak in them?)

Neal Shusterman
The good thing about being explosive is that no one can beat you.

Neal Shusterman
In a perfect world everything would be either black or white, right or wrong, and everyone would know the difference. But this isn't a perfect world. The problem is people who think it is.

Neal Shusterman
Don't I have a choice in this? But when she looks behind her, the answer is clear. There are two guards waiting to make sure that she has no choice at all. And as they lead her away, she thinks of Mr. Durkin. With a bitter laugh, Risa realizes that he may get his wish after all. Someday he may see her hands playing in Carnegie Hall. Unfortunately, the rest of Risa won't be there.

Neal Shusterman
I gotta go to the bathroom," Emby mumbles. "You should have thought of that before you left," says Hayden, putting on his best mother voice. "How many times do we have to tell you? Always use the potty before climbing into a shipping crate.

Neal Shusterman
One thing you learn when you've lived as long as I have-people aren't all good, and people aren't all bad. We move in and out of darkness and light all of our lives. Right now, I'm pleased to be in the light.

Neal Shusterman
We'll never be ready. So I guess that means we're as ready as we'll ever be.

Neal Shusterman
The eternally sleeping princess, thinks Cam. But I shall free you from those poisoned brambles that surround your heart. And then you will have no choice but to love me.

Neal Shusterman
Then she offers him a slim but sincere smile, and he reluctantly returns it. It doesn't bridge the gap between them, but at least it marks the spot where the bridge might be built.

Neal Shusterman
[...] every time he forces himself to think before acting, it's her voice in his head telling him to slow down. He wants to tell her, but she's always so busy in the medical jet—and you don't just go to somebody and say, "I'm a better person because you're in my head.

Neal Shusterman
Why are you still with me, Fry?" CyFi asks after one of his body-shaking seizures. "Any sane dude woulda taken off days ago. "Who says I'm sane?" "Oh, you're sane, Fry. You're so sane, you scare me. You're so sane, it's insane.

Neal Shusterman
Fine," Connor tells him. "Think about stuff until your head explodes. But the only thing I want to think about is surviving to eighteen." I find your shallowness both refreshing and disappointing at the same time. Do you think that means I need therapy?

Neal Shusterman