Veronica Roth - Divergent (2011)

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You're not a coward just because you don't want to hurt people.

Veronica Roth
There's a reason why she left them, Lauren," he says. His voice is deep, and it rumbles. "What's your name?" "Um..." I don't know why I hesitate. But "Beatrice" just doesn't sound right anymore. "Think about it," he says, a faint smile curling his lips. " You don't get to pick again." A new place, a new name. I can be remade here. "Tris," I say firmly.

Veronica Roth
My father says that those who want power and get it live in terror of losing it. That's why we have to give power to those who do not want it.

Veronica Roth
You're the one who has to live with your choice, everyone else will get over it, move on, no matter what you decide. But you never will

Veronica Roth
My problem might be that even if I did go home, I wouldn't belong there, among people who give without thinking and care without trying.

Veronica Roth
Now she looks pale and small, but her eyes make me think of wide- open skies that I have never actually seen, only dreamed of.

Veronica Roth
Four grabs a bar with each hand and pulls himself up, easy, like he's sitting up in bed. But he is not comfortable or natural here— every muscle in his arm stands out. it is a stupid thing for me to think when I am one hundred feet off the ground.

Veronica Roth
I touch her cheek to slow the kiss down, holding her mouth on mine so I can feel every place where our lips touch and every place where they pull away. I savor the air we share in the second afterwards and the slip of her nose across mine. I think of something to say, but it is too intimate, so I swallow it. A moment later I decide I don't care. "I wish we were alone," I say as I back out of the cell. She smiles. "I almost always wish that.

Veronica Roth
I understand why she did all those things, but that doesn't mean we aren't still broken.

Veronica Roth
It will be difficult to break the habits of thinking Abnegation instilled in me, like tugging a single thread from a complex work of embroidery. But I will find new habits, new thoughts, new rules. I will become something else.

Veronica Roth
It must be because you're so approachable", I say flatly. "You know, like a bed of nails." He stares at me, and I don't look away. He isn't a dog but the same rules apply. Looking away is submissive. Looking him in the eye is a challenge. It's my choice. Heat rushes into my cheeks. What will happen when this tension breaks? But he just says, "Careful, Tris.

Veronica Roth
What?" I ask. "I'm developing a theory." "And it is?" She picks up her hamburger, grins, and says, "That you have a death wish.

Veronica Roth
Al walks in, and I don't even have to ask him to help me, he just walks over and strips bedding with me. i will have to scrub the frame later. Al carries the stack of sheets to the trash and together we walk toward the training room. "Ignore him," Al says. "He's an idiot, and if you don't get angry, he'll stop eventually.

Veronica Roth
Your daughter is doing well here. I've been overseeing her training." Since when does "overseeing" include throwing knives at me and scolding me at every opportunity?

Veronica Roth
Today you will choose your factions. Until this point you have followed your parents' paths, your parents' rules. Today you will find your own path, make your own rules.

Veronica Roth
When i get home, I sit on the front step and take deep breaths of the cool spring air for a few minutes. My mother was the one who taught me to steal moments like those, moments of freedom, though she didn't now it. I watched her... But I learned something else from watching her too, which is that the free moments always have to end.

Veronica Roth
Drink this," she says. "What is it?" my throat feels swollen. I swallow hard. "What's going to happen?" "Can't tell you that. Just trust me." I press air from my lungs and tip the contents of the vial into my mouth. My eyes close.

Veronica Roth
Sleep, he says. I'll fight the bad dreams off if they come to get you. With what? My bare hands, obviously.

Veronica Roth
Sorry, am I being rude?" she asks. "I'm used to saying whatever is on my mind. Mom used to say that politeness is deception in pretty packaging

Veronica Roth
I feel the monster of grief again, writhing in the empty space where my heart and stomach used to be. I gasp, pressing both palms to my chest. Now the monstrous thing has its claws around my throat, squeezing my airway. I twist and put my head between my knees, breathing until the strangled feeling leaves me.

Veronica Roth
A sob racks my body again, and he wraps his arms around me so tightly I find it difficult to breathe, but it doesn't matter. My dignified weeping gives way to full-on ugliness, my mouth open and my face contorted and sounds like a dying animal coming from my throat. If this continues I will break apart, and maybe that would be better, maybe it would be better to shatter and bear nothing.

Veronica Roth
I know that I am birdlike, made narrow and small as if for taking flight, built straight-waisted and fragile. But when he touches me like he can't bear to take his hand away, I don't wish I was any different.

Veronica Roth
There is power in controlling something that can do so much damage - in controlling something, period.

Veronica Roth
Those who blamed aggression formed Amity.'… 'Those who blamed ignorance became the Erudite.'… 'Those who blamed duplicity created Candor.'… 'Those who blamed selfishness made Abnegation.'… 'And those who blamed cowardice were the Dauntless.

Veronica Roth
Or you can stay frigid," says WIll, his green eyes glinting with mischief. "You know. If you want." Christina throws a roll at him. He catches it and bites it. "Don't be mean to her," she says. "Frigidity is in her nature. Sort of like being a know-it-all is in yours." "I am not frigid!" I exclaim. "Don't worry about it," says Will. It's endearing. Look you're all red.

Veronica Roth
Four sits down on the edge of the carousel, leaning against a plastic horse's foot. His eyes lift to the sky, where there are no stars, only a round moon peking through a thin layer of clouds. The muscles in his arms are relaxed; his hand rests on the back of his neck. He looks almost comfortable, holding that gun to his shoulder. I close my eyes briefly. Why does he distract me so easily? I need to focus.

Veronica Roth
I should wonder what courage—which is the virtue they most value—has to do with a metal ring through your nostril.

Veronica Roth
I am proud. It will get me into trouble someday, but today it makes me brave

Veronica Roth
When I look at the Abnegation lifestyle as an outsider, I think it's beautiful. When I watch my family move in harmony; when we go to dinner parties and everyone cleans together afterward without having to be asked; when I see Caleb help strangers carry their groceries, I fall in love with this life all over again.

Veronica Roth
What did you do, memorize a map of the city for fun? says Christina. Yes, says Will, looking puzzled. Didn't you?

Veronica Roth