Margaret Peterson Haddix Quotes

And this is why people believe in God, isn't it? Jonah wondered. Because we can tell there's something bigger out there that we're part of. Because we can tell that there's something more to all of us, and more to all of our lives.

Mother came over and gave Luke's shoulder a reassuring squeeze before turning back to the stove. They had defied the Government once, with Luke. That had taken all the defiance they had in them. Maybe more.

Maybe never again as long as I live. He turned and walked into the

A thousand times today I've started to open my mouth, started to squeak out, Can you tell me ... ? But then I'd look into the front seat, at my mother's silent shaking, my father's grim profile, the mournful bags under his eyes, and all the questions I might ask seemed abusive. Assault and battery, a question mark used like a club. My parents are old and fragile. I'd have to heartless to want to hurt them.

You bite off more than you can chew, 'course you're going to choke. One bite at a time. And that goes for thinking things, too, not just food.

Ah, jeez ... She really is a cheerleader.' And it seemed suddenly that this was true- not because she was an airhead or a hottie or a nonjock, but because she could throw herself so wholeheartedly into someone else's cause, because she could care so much and try so hard from the sidelines.

But really, he told himself. There are just some people who don't seem like they ever could have been young. It's like trying to imagine my grandparents as little kids. Or - like the guy who played Dumbledore in the Harry Potter movies. No way he was ever young.

And sometimes it takes a kid to show adults the truth.

Governments will rise, and governments will fall, and man will do evil to man, and all we can do is turn our hearts to good.

I snorted "oh, beauty. What's that good for?"
Mary stared, her eyes round.
"It won you the prince, did it not?"
I snorted again, I prefer to think that he was captivated by my charming personality." I giggled to let Mary know I was trying to make fun of myself.

I can't go back to being who I used to be!'
Hadley looked down at him sympathetically.
'None of us can, kid.' he said. 'That's the point. You get what you get. Life changes you. Time travel or no, you always have to build on what you live through.

Smashed fly or the dead pig, gone stiff in the sun. It made his stomach feel funny even trying. "I don't think it's fair we've got to do Luke's chores now," Luke's other brother,

The truth is, time travel is hard, and people are lazy.

People would rather believe in fairy godmothers and divine intervention than to think that you took charge of your own destiny.

Sometimes you do your very best and you lose anyway.

It just happened,

It kind of seemed like, as long as he was alive, there was still hope that he could fix things.

Sometimes you have to fight for what you want,' Chip said, his expression set. 'Sometimes the fight is all you get.

But Mother, I don't want to go. It's just that ... I have to. I can't spend the rest of my life hiding in the attic.
[ ... ]
I don't want to be a burden[ ... ]I want to do something with my life. Figure out ways to help other third kids. Make - make a difference in the world.

To quote a famous philosopher revered in my time 'But this is no different from regular life. When have you ever known what's going to happen in the future?' Wait a minute, Jonah thought. I said that. Back at Westminster, with Katherine. Does that mean I'm going to be a famous philosopher in the future? Does that mean I'm going to be revered? There wasn't time to ask.

I like to know what I'm celebrating before I put on a party hat.

Being poor isn't the only way to be in need."
pg 306
Summer of Broken Things

I wouldn't even let your dad talk about . . .

Sure you can be a coward and hope somone else changes the wrld for you. You can hide up in that attic of yours until someone knocks on the door and says, 'Oh, hey, they freed the hidden. Want to come out?' Is that what you want"
Luke didnt answer
"You've got to come, Luke, or you'll hate yourself the rest of your life. When you dont have to hide anymore, even years from now, there'll always be some small part of you whispering 'I don't deserve this. I didnt fight for it. I'm not worth it.' And you are, Luke, you are. You're smart and funny and nice, and you should be living life, instead of being buried alive in that old house of yours

The sudden silence is horrifying, and it seems to catch my mother off guard. A tiny whimper escapes her, the sound amplified in the stillness. Surely, my father hears her now; surely he and I can't go on pretending she isn't crying.

Death, he thought. This whole clue hunt's been about death.

You know how to steer a yacht?" Mr. McIntyre asked Ian worriedly.
"I was born knowing how to steer a yacht," Ian said. Then a stricken look came over his face. "But–do you suppose Jonah prepaid the full amount for renting this? Once my dad hears what Natalie and I did, he'll cancel our credit cards."
"You mean we're...we're poor now?" Natalie gasped.
"Penniless," Ian said grimly.
"Actually," Mr. McIntyre said, "I should have mentioned this before the others left. Grace had an addendum to her will regarding everyone who made it through the gauntlet. There were eight of you–you will all receive double the amount you turned down to get the first clue."
"It was a million dollars originally," Ian said. "So Natalie and I each get two million dollars? I suppose we could live on that."
Natalie beamed.
"That is such a relief!" she said. "Being poor wasn't quite as bad as I thought it would be, but still–"
"You were only poor for about two seconds!" Dan protested, rolling his eyes.

Why didn't you tell me that evil could be so lighthearted?

ever-present, BlackBerry-obsessed dad.

I don't know what you two are up to," Hobart said. "But you be careful now, you hear? Don't do anything I wouldn't do."
"Well now, that doesn't restrict us very much, does it?" Mark teased back.

I wasn't asking anything about God," Jonah complained.
"Yeah, you kind of were," JB said. "If there is fate, who else would control it?

There is nothing more valuable than the printed word.

I want to Live! Not Die, Not Hide, LIVE!

Maybe everyone is just waiting for someone else to save them.

Does FBI mean Federal Bureau of Idiots?

Hope doesn't mean anything ... Action's the only thing that counts.

Even the most independent people sometimes needed help. And if I'd learned nothing else from my life thus far, it was that you don't always end up where you think you're going.

We will not be stupid girls. We will not be powerless girls. We will not be useless girls

Saw the first tree shudder and fall, far off in the distance. Then he heard his mother call out the kitchen window: Luke! Inside. Now.

Luke's dad harrumphed, and paused in the midst of shoveling forkfuls of boiled potatoes into his mouth.

What were you supposed to do, talking to a hologram of a dead man, when a younger version of that man was still alive? Should you offer condolences?
Jordan decided that really wasn't necessary.

I was there laughing and joking with everyone else, but it's like there was some part of me
standing back, watching, thinking, Is this as good as it gets?

It's impossible," Amy muttered.
"The lead?" Nellie said, a baffled look spreading across her face. "You havn't even heard it yet."
"The whole clue hunt," Dan corrected. "It's useless. We can't win. Not the way we're supposed to. Why'd we even bother coming here?

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I rise up on my tiptoes. He's already bending his head down, moving his lips toward mine. And then, well, I haven't exactly studied this, but I'm pretty sure that ours is not the most expert kiss in Sualan history. It's a little hard to figure out how we should tilt our heads so our noses don't bump. But this kiss is a promise, a vow. Come to think of it, it doesn't really matter that ours is not the most expert kiss in Sualan history. It's still the best.

Angles from their former lofty positions in the sky. Their absence made everything look different, like a fresh haircut exposing a band of untanned skin on a forehead. Even from deep inside the kitchen, Luke could tell the trees were missing because everything was brighter, more open. Scarier.

But why bother?"
So cold. A woman's life dismissed in three words.

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Jonah wondered what JB could possibly find to say without bringing up some touchy topic: Hey, sorry about kidnapping your niece and taking her four hundred years back in time. Sorry she got stuck there for five years. Sorry we had to count on a thirteen-year-old to rescue her. Oh, wait - you don't know about any of that, do you?

Love is a wonderous thing. It moves mountains and stills a baby's cries. It beats inside every human's heart, yet is more precious than gold. It cannot be bought or sold or stolen. It keeps us alive.

Some things just are. They can't be changed or undone or fixed.But people-people can heal. Even from events they believe are unendurable.

At times like this, Eryn didn't feel like they were just twins. They were teammates. They were partners. They were two halves of the same brain.

Because," he said in an even voice, "you're used to winning, so you don't even think about how, every time there's a game, both sides get that 'rah, rah, team' speech from their coaches both sides hear 'you're the best!' 'You've got to win!' 'You're the greatest!' But half of the people playing that game are going to walk away losers. Half!

Jen, we did it. Everyone's free now.

I start to think, 'It's awful being too poor to even buy my own dress for homecoming.' But that's instantly swept away by another thought: 'I'm so lucky that someone cates enough to loan me a dress.

He looked at the piles of food again, and it was like he was seeing it with new eyes. "This is wrong", he thought, "Letting food rot while people die of hunger. It's evil." ...
He breathed in the too-sweet smell of rotting food, "I can stop this evil.

Oh, Myr," he chokes out. "I hate having to ask this of you ... "
He glances towards the car again, and I crouch down in the shadows, hoping it's too dark for him to see whether the window is open or closed. The woman pats his arm, cradling her hand against his elbow.
"You know I'd do anything for you and Hil," she says. I like her voice. It's throaty and rich.
"You'd do anything?" my father repeats numbly. "Even now? After -?"
"Even now," the woman says firmly.

Baby smuggling is a serious crime,' he said. 'There were thirty-six babies on that plane. We could charge you with thirty-six counts of kidnapping.'
That, at least, got Second to look back at Mr. Reardon.
'Does FBI mean Federal Bureau of Idiots?' he asked. 'If any of you were any good at analyzing footprints, you would know that I fell when I was trying to sneak into the airport grounds, not out.'
'And why would you do that?' Mr. Reardon asked, hunching forward over a notepad.
'It was a dare, all right?' Second snarled. 'I was with my friends and we were talking about what it would be like to stand on a runway when a plane was landing and ... we decided to try it out.'
'That's a crime too,' Mr. Reardon said.
Second shrugged. 'It ain't thirty-six counts of kidnapping,' he said.

I am not just what I remember. I am also what I dream.

bitter is a bad way to live!

Staring into the ring of candles - proud that the number of his years finally made a ring, all around the cake

There's hope around the corner.

Unlike my mother, my father does not cry quietly. His wails roll out like a wave of pain, and I scramble to roll up my window. My mother cannot hear that. I cannot bear to hear it myself. I am not used to my father's crying. I've had no time to harden my heart against him.

The Government justifies keeping everyone else in poverty because people seem to work the hardest when they're right on the edge of survival.

The story begins like so much else,' she says slowly, 'With hope. Hope and dreams and daring ...

adulation." I stare at the

I was Pandora, bound and determined to open that box.

He reaches over a goat that's come between us and grabs my hand.
"Don't let go!" he orders. Harper's hand is dry and soothing, while mine is sweaty with fear. We've never held hands before. I think about what it means in the village when boys and girls only a few years older then Harper and me wander around with their hands clasped together. They're always peering dreamily into each other's eyes, sneaking sky kisses ... and soon after, there's a wedding.

And yet, I felt a surge of exhilaration just thinking about that night. Not just because I'd met the prince and fallen in love and started on my course toward happiness ever after, but because I'd made something happen. I'd done something everybody had told me I couldn't. I'd changed my life all by myself. Having a fairy godmother would have ruined everything.

Whatever happened to, 'Yes, Mum. Whatever you say, Mum'?" Isabel demanded. "When did you stop obeying instantly?"
…
"We haven't stopped obeying. We just think first now." - Ian

But things are so bad, I feel like I'm going to explode if I don't do something.

Knowledge isn't evil, in and of itself. It's what people choose to do with their knowledge that makes the difference. I think it matters what you want knowledge for. And what you're willing to sacrifice to get it.

Was it still paranoia if all his fears were justified?

Why did everyone like that story so much when it wasn't true? Why was everyone so eager to believe it? Was it because, in real life, ever after's generally stink?