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61 " Does being forced to sit in time-out ever make little kids stop putting cats in the dishwasher or drawing on white walls with purple marker? Of course not. It teaches them to be sneaky and guarantees that when they get to high school they’ll love detention because it’s a great place to sleep. "
― Laurie Halse Anderson , The Impossible Knife of Memory
62 " The difference between forgetting something and not remembering it is big enough to drive an eighteen-wheeler through. "
63 " But that's the wrong question. Ask why everyone else is so pathetically stupid and why they're always whining about detention, I should get a medal for not slapping people in the face every day. "
64 " The winds of the desert have names. They feed on the bodies of broken children and rip out the beating hearts of men. "
65 " Halloween - the day when we could pretend to be whatever we wanted - seemed to be letting everyone be who they really were. "
66 " Nothing chases away the sand or the memories engraved on the back of my eyelids. They play on a continuous loop, with smells and sound and sorrow. "
67 " Love messes you up and makes you do strange things "
68 " The stars folded themselves away as the sun peeked above the horizon and cracked open the sky and I kissed him and we laughed and it was good. "
69 " A wide valley of the dead spread out below me, hundreds of them gently tucked into the ground in neat rows, their whispers frozen into the stones above them: I am here. I was here. Remember me. Remember. "
70 " our culture has the expectation that the memories of a happy childhood will somehow ground you and prepare you for adult life. But what about the memories that cut, that wound, that won't heal? "
71 " want to go out with me? ??? chill, im not gay ???? r u shur you’re not my type G wats yr typ? people who can spell "
72 " Where did you live before you came here?” I asked. “The moon,” he said smoothly. “We left because the place had no atmosphere. "
73 " You can only be brave if you're scared. "
74 " Now you are burnt-out husks, your spirits haggard, sere, always breeding over your wanderings long and hard, your hearts never lifting with any joy - you've suffered far too much. "
75 " It had become easier to lie about most things because it didn't hurt as much when he ignored me. "
76 " The rest of the class looked away. He [Jonas} was a quiet freak, not a zombie. The horde would not protect him. They'd stand by and watch the culling. "
77 " Keep breathing. It took a few minutes but I won. The grey pulled away from my eyes in ribbons and whispered that it would be back soon. "
78 " You can’t say that, you can’t know what’s going to happen.” “As soon as you get a higher security clearance, I’ll show you the crystal ball that I keep hidden in the bottom of my closet, but until then . . .” He kissed me. “Until then we’re going to keep making memories like this, moments when we’re the only two people in the whole world. And when we get scared or lonely or confused, we’ll pull out these memories and wrap them around us and they’ll make us feel safe.” He kissed me again. “And strong. "
79 " Hurry up,” Gracie called after him. “I want to talk to dead people. "
80 " A trained assassin who babysits. "