Cass Quotes

I could not hold my breath for seven minutes. I couldn't even make it to one. I once tried to run a mile in seven minutes after hearing some athletes could do it in four but failed spectacularly when a side stitch crippled me about halfway in.
However, there was one thing I managed to do in seven minutes that most would say is quite impressive: I became queen.
By seven tiny minutes I beat my brother, Ahren, into the world, so the throne that ought to have been his was mine. Had I been born a generation earlier, it wouldn't have mattered. Ahren was the male, so Ahren would have been the heir.
Alas, Mom and Dad couldn't stand to watch their firstborn be stripped of a title by an unfortunate but rather lovely set of breasts. So they changed the law, and the people rejoiced, and I was trained day by day to become the next ruler of Illéa. ~ Kiera Cass

He gave me a wink and a crooked smile, and I was left there, grinning like an idiot. ~ Kiera Cass

Padmé insists: "There's always a choice." Does Anakin hear the echo of her voice decades later, when he decides to save their son from the Emperor? I like to think so.

"YOU GET MANY OPPORTUNITIES TO KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN"

Here's Leia, speaking of Han's apparent desertion of the rebellion in A New Hope: "A man must follow his own path. No one can choose it for him." Here's Obi-Wan to Luke, again in A New Hope: "Then you must do what you think is right, of course." Here are Lucas's own words: "Life sends you down funny paths. And you get many opportunities to keep your eyes open." He was talking about his own life, but he might as well have been talking about Star Wars and the characters who populate it. ~ Cass R. Sunstein

There is widespread support for nudges that are taken to have legitimate ends and to be consistent with the interests and the values of most choosers. ~ Cass R. Sunstein

What ? said Josie, able to hear her name if it was so much as tapped out in Morse code on a different continent. ~ Kiera Cass

Mom was bossy. Even in print I could hear her tone, smugly congratulating me on already earning the prince's affections and telling me firmly to keep up whatever I was doing.
Yeah, Mom, I'll just keep telling the prince that he has absolutely no shot with me and offend him as often as I can. Great plan. ~ Kiera Cass

It's funny how you can think you've said something when you never really did."
I giggled, feeling that the words were coming in his very next breath. "It's also funny how you can think you've heard something when you didn't either," he said instead.
All the humor vanished from the moment. "I know what you mean." I swallowed and watched as his hand moved from my cheek to lace his fingers through mine, knowing that he and I were both watching them. "Maybe, for some people, it would be hard to confess that. Like, if they worried they might not make it to the end." He sighed. "Or it would be hard to say if you worried that someone might not want to make it to the end ... maybe never quite gave up on someone else. ~ Kiera Cass

Democrats want to use government power to make people's lives go better; Republicans respond that people know more than politicians do. We think that both might be able to agree that nudging can maintain free markets, and liberty, while also inclining people in good directions. ~ Cass Sunstein

I would be the best of us, the highest of the lows. ~ Kiera Cass

You can't plan wars, don't know how to cook, and refuse to write love letters, I teased. ~ Kiera Cass

I love The Matrix, especially the first one. ~ Cass Sunstein

My daughter is going to work for Jaime Dalton," her mother shouted to Mrs. Perkins next door; there was pride in her voice. "She's going to Miami."

"Have fun, Cass. That Jaime Dalton has a cute ass. Tell him I said that, okay?" Mrs. Perkins was somewhere in her seventies, still very active, with a wicked sense of humor and was man crazy.

"I'll do that, Mrs. P."

"Have a good time, dear, and don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"Thelma, don't scare the girl, you know there isn't much out there you wouldn't do. ~ Mercy Celeste

Vehemently denying something always implies guilt. ~ Kiera Cass

Maybe the rules are wrong! ~ Kiera Cass

I've always littered my songs with jokes. You might need to dig a little deeper to find the humor, but I would totally object to being some kind of distraught personality. I've never tried to attach myself to that. ~ Cass McCombs

Leave it to you to find beauty in something others would say ruins a day. ~ Kiera Cass

December 25, 10:35 p.m.
Dear America,
It's nearly bedtime, and I'm trying to relax, but I can't. All I can think about is you. I'm terrified you're going to get hurt. I know someone would tell me if you weren't all right, and that has led to its own kind of paranoia. If anyone comes up to me to deliver a message, my heart stops for a moment, fearing the worst: You are gone. You're not coming back.
I wish you were here. I wish I could just see you.
You are never getting these letters. It's too humiliating.
I want you home. I keep thinking of your smile and worrying that I'll never see it again.
I hope you come back to me, America.
Merry Christmas.
Maxon ~ Kiera Cass

Social scientists emphasize that people use the "availability heuristic," which means that we assess risks by asking whether a bad (or good) event is cognitively "available." It ~ Cass R. Sunstein

It was dark, so I couldn't make out much of her face, but she had brilliant red hair, like honey and roses and the sun altogether. ~ Kiera Cass

I've seen a lot of people let the bad around them make them hard or stubborn. In the end, they miss the chance to make their world better because they only see the worst in it. ~ Kiera Cass

We can believe in hierarchy. We can believe the universe was made just for us. Hierarchy and a major sense of entitlement are not insurmountable problems. The problem occurs when we treat those whom we believe lie beneath us as slaves. Religion once sustained human slavery. It was wrong then. When it blindly sanctions the slavery of every nonhuman animal, it is wrong now. ~ Cass R. Sunstein

If it was nineteen years until my new life began, that meant that I was now a hundred years old. He was the singularly most beautiful thing I had seen in a hundred years. ~ Kiera Cass

I can't wait for him to visit me again. He's just so handsome, don't you think?" she asked.
I paused. "Yeah, he's cute."
"Come on, America! You have to have noticed those eyes and his voice..."
"Except when he laughs!" Just remembering Maxon's laugh had me grinning. It was cute but awkward. He pushed his breaths out, and then made a jagged noise when he inhaled, almost like another laugh in itself.
"Yes, okay, he does have a funny laugh, but it's cute."
"Sure, if you like the lovable sound of an asthma attack in your ear every time you tell a joke."
Marlee lost it and doubled over in laughter.
"All right, all right," she said, coming up for air. "You have to think there's something attractive about him."
I opened my mouth and shut it two or three times. I was tempted to take another jab at Maxon, but I didn't want Marlee to see him in a negative light. So I thought about it.
What was attractive about Maxon?
"Well, when he lets his guard down, he's okay. Like when he just talks without checking his words or you catch him just looking at something like...like he's really looking for the beauty in it."
Marlee smiled, and I knew she'd seen that in him, too.
"And I like that he seems genuinely involved when he's there, you know? Like even though he's got a country to run and a thousand things to do, it's like he forgets it all when he's with you. He just dedicates himself to what's right in front of him. I like that.
Kiera Cass

I sighed. "Actually, Mom, we argue pretty regularly."
"What?" She gaped at me. "Well, stop it!"
"Oh, and I kneed him in the groin once."
There was a split second of silence before May barked a laugh. She covered her mouth and tried to stop it, but it kept coming out in awkward, squeaky sounds. Dad's lips were pressed together, but I could tell he was on the verge of losing it himself.
Mom was paler then snow.
"America, tell me you're joking. Tell me you didn't assault the prince."
I don't know why, but the word assault pushed us all on the edge; and May, Dad, and I bent over laughing as Mom stared at us.
"Sorry, Mom," I managed.
"Oh, good lord." She suddenly seemed very excited in meeting Marlee's parents, and I didn't stop her from going. ~ Kiera Cass

Because those who hold conspiracy theories typically suffer from a crippled epistemology, in accordance with which it is rational to hold such theories, the best response consists in cognitive infiltration of extremist groups. Various policy dilemmas, such as the question whether it is better for government to rebut conspiracy theories or to ignore them, are explored in this light. ~ Cass Sunstein

When we were in New York, you cried for two days and passed out. You said a word in your sleep, over and over. Akinli." Elizabeth stared down at the drawing.
"At first I thought it was gibberish. And then I thought it was the name of a town or a building. . . . I didn't figure out it belonged to a person until you made that." Elizabeth pointed down to the paper, worn from being folded and unfolded who knew how many times.
"When Elizabeth came to me, I had to tell her the truth, and we decided to find him. You gave us the name of the town. We went there looking for someone answering to that name, fitting this image." Miaka smiled ruefully. "Very small town. It wasn't hard."
Tears pooled in my eyes. "You've really seen him?"
They both nodded. I thought about all those trips they had taken, making up ridiculous stories so they could get to him without me knowing.
"How is he?" I asked, unable to contain my curiosity. "Is he okay? Has he gone back to school? Is he still with Ben and Julie? Is he happy? Could you tell? Is he happy?"
The questions tumbled out without me being able to hold them in. I was desperate to know. I felt a single word would put my soul at ease.
Elizabeth swallowed hard. "That's the thing, Kahlen. We're afraid he's dying. ~ Kiera Cass

He stood and went to read my pin as I approached. "America, is it?" he said, a smile playing on his lips.
"Yes, it is. And I know I've heard your name before, but could you remind me? ~ Kiera Cass

Why don't we spend the day together tomorrow? he asked.
I smiled. I'd like that. ~ Kiera Cass

Nothing makes you quite so aware of a person's presence as the loss of it. ~ Kiera Cass

Sorry," he mumbled, looking my way. "Keep 'em closed! ~ Kiera Cass

By birth you have been blessed, and it is time to acknowledge that blessing. ~ Kiera Cass

I'd heard of Evergreen Care Center before. Cass and I had always made fun of the stupid ads they ran on TV, featuring some dragged-out woman with a limp perm and big, painted-on circles under her eyes, downing vodka and sobbing uncontrollably. "We can't heal you at Evergreen", the very somber voiceover said. "But we can help you to heal yourself." It had become our own running joke, applicable to almost anything.
"Hey Cass, "I'd say, "hand me that toothpaste."
"Caitlin," she'd say, her voice dark and serious. "I can't hand you the toothpaste. But I CAN help you hand the toothpaste to yourself. ~ Sarah Dessen

I don't know if I'm supposed to be holding on or letting go. I don't want to give up, but if there's nothing for me to hope for, then tell me. ~ Kiera Cass

Was that my voice? Really? I sounded like a five-year-old girl with a smoking problem. ~ Kiera Cass

Liberals are sometimes defined as people who can't take their own side in an argument. ~ Cass Sunstein

Opinions only carry weight in the second or third person. ~ Cass McCombs

Having the baby changed my life a lot. I don't want to go on the road. ~ Cass Elliot

That moment, it felt like we had a connection, something true and deep. ~ Kiera Cass

I was lost in a hundred different worlds. ~ Kiera Cass

If there's a regulation that's saving 10,000 lives and costing one job, it's worth it. ~ Cass Sunstein

This new condition, this unwilled silence, had fallen over him ten days ago. The day Cass had gone into the hospital. The day she had fallen into a coma. ~ Pseudonymous Bosch

I just write songs whenever I feel like it, whenever they come to me. ~ Cass McCombs

Do you think, that I could still call you 'my dear'? ~ Kiera Cass

Mistakes mean it's real. ~ Kiera Cass

For a small period of time, she was the only one who understood what I was feeling. She made me feel less isolated in my sadness. ~ Kiera Cass

Sometimes I feel like we're a knot, top tangled to be taken apart."
I nodded. "It's true. So much of me is tied up in you. I feel kind of lost without you. ~ Kiera Cass

It's you," I said. "I don't want to leave you." "Me?" I nodded. "You want me?" I giggled at his bewildered expression. "That's what I'm saying. ~ Kiera Cass

Sometimes his words were like single lines of poetry. ~ Kiera Cass

The summer was ending, and soon we'd be faced with cold. And worry. ~ Kiera Cass

What are these?" Maxon asked, brushing across the tips of my fingers as we walked.
"Calluses. They're from pressing down on violin strings four hours a day."
"I've never noticed them before."
"Do they bother you?" I was the lowest caste of the six girls left, and I doubted any of them had hands like mine.
Maxon stopped moving and lifted my fingers to his lips, kissing the tiny, worn tips.
"On the contrary. I find them rather beautiful." I felt myself blush. "I've seen the world – admittedly mostly through bulletproof glass or from the tower of some ancient castle – but I've seen it. And I have access to the answers of a thousand questions at my disposal. But this small hand here?" He looked deeply into my eyes. "This hand makes sounds incomparable to anything I've ever heard. Sometimes I think I only dreamed that I heard you play the violin, it was so beautiful. These calluses are proof that it was real. ~ Kiera Cass

Yes, Maxon," I whispered. "It's possible. ~ Kiera Cass

Failure meant having my life led by someone else. ~ Kiera Cass

America Singer, one day you will fall asleep in my arms every night. And you'll wake up to my kisses every morning. ~ Kiera Cass

It was true that I wasn't the best candidate for the crown, but I didn't deserve to be in the running at all if I couldn't at least be brave enough to confess how I felt. ~ Kiera Cass

What we need is change. I can't help but wonder if I might be the only person who can provide it. ~ Kiera Cass

True love is usually the most inconvenient kind. ~ Kiera Cass

I don't want you to think that your life has been wasted while you have been so precious to me. ~ Kiera Cass

They got under each of my shoulders and pulled me up, Padma walking in front of me and holding her arms out for good measure. I walked on my own, but I knew that if they hadn't been there, I might have fallen more than once. Side by side, we marched into the Ocean, all of us crying for help.
What? I felt the swirling waves of Her worry as we floated just beneath the surface.
Something's wrong with Kahlen, Miaka said.
In the water, they could let me go, and I floated there, the Ocean holding me like a child.
I'm so tired.
Look at her skin, Elizabeth said. She's so pale. And she keeps sleeping. Like she needs it.
She has a fever, too, Miaka added. I was acutely aware that my temperature was off; I could feel the water around me warming from my touch....She fretted. This has never happened before. I don't know what to do.
Maybe if she stays in You for a while, it would help, Elizabeth suggested.
What, Miaka? the Ocean asked suddenly.
Nothing. But she did look like she was hiding something.
What were you thinking?
Nothing, Miaka insisted. Flipping through ideas, it's all nothing. I think Elizabeth is onto something. She swam up to me. We'll come and check on you every hour until you feel like coming back to bed.
I didn't want to say how much it bothered me that she said "back to bed" instead of "back to the house." It was like she knew I wasn't going to be standing again.
Okay.
They fled, of ~ Kiera Cass

Cinderella never asked for a prince, she asked for a night off and a dress ~ Kiera Cass

You deserved to be loved. And I hope you get to marry for love and not a number. ~ Kiera Cass

We were in the middle of a game of cards when I noticed a figure out of the corner of my eye. It was Maxon, standing at the open door, looking amused. As our eyes met, I could see that his expression was clearly asking what in the world I was doing. I stood, smiling, and walked over to him.
"Oh, sweet Lord," Anne muttered as she realized the prince was at the door. She immediately swept the cards into a sewing basket and stood, Mary and Lucy following suit.
"Ladies," Maxon said.
"Your Majesty," she said with a curtsy. "Such an honor, sir."
"For me as well," he answered with a smile.
The maids looked back and forth to one another, flattered. We were all silent for a moment, not quite sure what to do.
Mary suddenly piped up. "We were just leaving."
"Yes! That's right," Lucy added. "We were-uh-just..." She looked to Anne for help.
"Going to finish Lady America's dress for Friday," Anna concluded.
"That's right," Mary said. "Only two days left.
They slowly circled us to get out of the room, huge smiles plastered on their faces.
"Wouldn't want to keep you from your work," Maxon said, following them with his eyes, completely fascinated with their behavior.
Once in the hall, they gave awkwardly mistimed curtsies and walked away at a feverish pace. Immediately after they rounded the corner, Lucy's giggles echoed down the corridor, followed by Anne's intense hushing.
"Quite a group you have," Maxon said, walking into my ~ Kiera Cass

It's okay, Kriss. Have some pie," Natalie offered. ~ Kiera Cass

Aspen had shifted to fill a desperate place in my life. Not my boyfriend, not my friend, but my family. ~ Kiera Cass

- Just that. Your family must be very different from mine.
- I'd say so. - I laughed. - For one, no one wears their tiaras to breakfast.
- Maxon smiled. - More of a dinner thing at the Singer house?"
- "Of course. ~ Kiera Cass

Say it, America. Please. Tell me you love me, that you want to be mine alone. ~ Kiera Cass

Luck was fine and well, but I didn't need it. I had a plan. ~ Kiera Cass

We rich nations, for that is what we are, have an obligation not only to the poor nations, but to all the grandchildren of the world, rich and poor. We have not inherited this earth from our parents to do with it what we will. We have borrowed it from our children and we must be careful to use it in their interests as well as our own. Anyone who fails to recognise the basic validity of the proposition put in different ways by increasing numbers of writers, from Malthus to The Club of Rome, is either ignorant, a fool, or evil. ~ Moss Cass

I can text in complete sentences. Oh, yeah, it's a skill." He smiled, proud of his accomplishments. "And, thanks to my mom being a competitive dancer as a teen, I know how to do the Lindy hop and the jitterbug."
I sat bolt upright, and Akinli rolled his eyes.
"I swear, if you tell me you can jitterbug, I'm going to . . . I don't even know. Set something on fire. No one can dance like that."
I pursed my lips and dusted off my shoulder, a thing I'd seen Elizabeth do when she was bragging.
As if he was accepting a challenge, he shrugged off his backpack and stood, holding out a hand for me.
I took it and positioned myself in front of him as he shook his head, grinning.
"All right, we'll take this slow. Five, six, seven, eight."
In unison, we rock stepped and triple stepped, falling into the rhythm in our head. After a minute, he got brave and swung me around, lining me up for those peppy kicks I loved so much.
People walked by, pointing and laughing, but it was one of those moments when I knew we weren't being mocked; we were being envied.
We stepped on each other's toes more than once, and after he accidentally knocked his head into my shoulder, he threw his hands up.
"Unbelievable," he said, almost as if he was complaining. "I can't wait to tell my mom this. She's gonna think I'm lying. All those years dancing in the kitchen thinking I was special, and then I run across a master. ~ Kiera Cass

I don't care much about politics. That kind of witchcraft I stay away from because people end up dead. I'd rather die for music. ~ Cass McCombs

I'm so sorry." He reached up his hand and covered mine. "No, I'm sorry," he said. "I was about to ruin both our lives. ~ Kiera Cass

I strongly believe that the Second Amendment creates an individual right to possess and use guns for purposes of both hunting and self-defense. ~ Cass Sunstein

Sometimes people don't know whether to interpret silence as confidence or fear. ~ Kiera Cass

Not that I am cheering for him or anything, but if he can't see how amazing you are, he's an idiot.
-Aspen ~ Kiera Cass

I feel that no good leader can let the masses go unfed ~ Kiera Cass

If manipulation really does increase welfare, then it would seem to be justified and even mandatory on ethical grounds. ~ Cass R. Sunstein

I was home. And I finally found my voice. Yes. ~ Kiera Cass

He wasn't allowed to come with me there - my own rule for this
little adventure.
No more.
Good-bye, Aspen. ~ Kiera Cass

Besides, I wouldn't want to end up with a man who's in love with someone else. ~ Kiera Cass

I wish you were safe at home, but I'm really glade you're here ~ Kiera Cass

but I noticed she was parked on a bench near the back wall of the palace in the brutally hot sun, her closest companion ~ Kiera Cass

Ha!" she exclaims as the music shifts. "Wait until tonight." "Marlee! ~ Kiera Cass

How are you feeling?" "Your eyes look like chocolate," I mumbled. He smiled. "And yours look like the morning sky." "Can I have water?" "Yes. Lots," he promised. "Let's get her upstairs," he said to someone else. And I fell asleep to the rocking of his steps. ~ Kiera Cass

I loved the excitement and the pleasures of life in New York, the opportunities for advancement, the pursuit of ambition, the theaters, the places of amusement, and such nights as the last I spent with you just as I was leaving for the West. ~ Cass Gilbert

He had dark hair and green eyes, and this smile that made you think he had a secret. He was tall, but not too tall. Thin, but not too thin. ~ Kiera Cass

I squinted. " You guys fought?"
"All. The. Time." For some reason that brought a smile to her face. ~ Kiera Cass

My plan is to enjoy the food until you kick me out." He ~ Kiera Cass

Admiring was one thing, but it was a bad idea to let my mind be affected so strongly by a stranger. ~ Kiera Cass

The usual graffiti on the wall. JRH WAS HERE. NICK LOVES CASS. Visitors leaving the worst parts of themselves behind in fluorescent paint. ~ Anthony Horowitz

Don't let them know they're getting to you. ~ Kiera Cass

I didn't realize you thought I was so flawed." I stood, turning away.
"Eadlyn, that's not what I'm saying."
"It is. That's fine." I made my way to the door. The accusation filled me with so much rage I could
barely stand it.
"Eadlyn, darling, we want you to be the best queen you can be, that's all," she pleaded.
"I will," I answered, one foot in the hallway. "And I certainly don't need a boy to show me how to
do that. ~ Kiera Cass

You are so spoiled, and you are so obnoxious ... but I'm here. ~ Kiera Cass

yesterday made me think of something. ~ Kiera Cass

I was overwhelmed. He understood me so well, how nervous I was about making this commitment, how frightening it was for me to become a princess. He was going to give me every last second he could and, in the meantime, lavish me with everything possible. I had another one of those moments when I couldn't believe this was all happening.
"That's not fair, Maxon," I mumbled. "What in the world am I supposed to be able to give you?"
He smiled. "All I want is your promise to stay with me, to be mine. Sometimes it feels like you can't possibly be real. Promise me you'll stay."
"Of course, I promise. ~ Kiera Cass

I love your hair!" Marlee gushed. "I wish I'd been born with red hair. It makes you look so alive. I hear that people with red hair have bed tempers. Is that true?
Despite my rotten day, Marlee's manner was so vivacious that my smile grew wider. "I don't think so. I mean, I can have a bad temper at times, but my sister is a redhead, and she's as sweet as can be. ~ Kiera Cass

A note caught my ear, and I dropped my hands, my fear and worries fading away as the song took hold. It ~ Kiera Cass

It was a fact that many people ignored: Children's books held truths" -Kahlen ~ Kiera Cass

All I learned about was butter." "Then you know everything." In ~ Kiera Cass

Do you think the ability to sleep in counts as a special skill?" I asked Dad, trying to sound torn over the decision.
"Yes, list that. And don't forget to write that you can eat an entire meal in under five minutes," he replied. I laughed. It was true; I did tend to inhale my food.
"Oh, the both of you! Why don't you just write down that you're an absolute heathen!" My mother went storming from the room. ~ Kiera Cass

If you love me, love me now. dont hold yourself so badly until tears starts to mean nothing ~ Kiera Cass

December 26, 7:40 p.m.
Dear America,
I've been thinking of our first kiss. I suppose I should say first kisses, but what I mean is the second, the one I was actually invited to give you. Did I ever tell you how I felt that night? It wasn't just getting my first kiss ever; it was getting to have that first kiss with you. I've seen so much, America, had access to the corners of our planet. But never have I come across anything so painfully beautiful as that kiss. I wish it was something I could catch with a net or place in a book. I wish it was something I could save and share with the world so I could tell the universe: this is what it's like; this is how it feels when you fall.
These letters are so embarrassing. I'll have to burn them before you get home.
Maxon ~ Kiera Cass