Veronica Roth Quotes

You're the bravest person I've ever met. Stay here. Let yourself mend. ~ Veronica Roth

But I killed a man just like my mother did. David says it's okay because I didn't mean to, and because he was about to kill that little kid. But I'm pretty sure my mom didn't mean to kill my dad, either, so what difference does that make, meaning or not meaning to do something? Accident or on purpose, the result is the same, and that's one fewer life than there should be in the world. ~ Veronica Roth

And then the screaming begins. ~ Veronica Roth

I am a Shotet. I am sharp as a blade and just as strong, I see all of the galaxy and it is all mine. ~ Veronica Roth

Then I thought of how strong I have become, how secure I feel with the person I now am, and how all along the way he has told me that I am brave, I am respected, I am loved and worth loving. ~ Veronica Roth

There is a difference between admitting and confessing. Admitting involves softening, making excuses for things that cannot be excused; confessing just names the crimes at its full severity. ~ Veronica Roth

The battle we are fighting is not against a particular group. It is against human nature - or at least what it has become. ~ Veronica Roth

That's what I really want - to shed all the people who want to form and shape me, one by one, and learn instead to form and shape myself. ~ Veronica Roth

It's not about Al," I snap. "It's about everyone watching! Everyone who now sees
hurling themselves into the chasm as a viable option. I mean, why not do it if everyone
calls you a hero afterward? Why not do it if everyone will remember your name? It's ... I
can't ... ~ Veronica Roth

To continue to love someone so far beyond help, beyond redemption, was madness ~ Veronica Roth

I laugh shakily. 'You're a little scary, Four.'
'Do me a favor,' he says, 'and don't call me that.'
'What should I call you, then?'
'Nothing.' He takes his hand from my face. 'Yet. ~ Veronica Roth

I didn't realize until that moment that Dauntless initiation had taught me an important lesson: how to keep going. ~ Veronica Roth

I also don't believe that whatever come after life depends on my correctly reciting a list of my transgressions-that sounds too much like an Erudite afterlife to me, all accuracy and no feeling. ~ Veronica Roth

Is there any other way to Erudite headquarters?" I say. "Not that I now of," says Cara. "Unless you want to jump from one roof to another." She laughs a little as she says it, like it's a joke. I raise my eyebrows at her. "Wait," she says. "You aren't considering
? ~ Veronica Roth

Dauntless traitors crowded the hallway; the Erudite crowd the execution room, but there, they have made a path for me already. Silently they study me as I walk to the metal table in the center of the room. Jeanine stands a few steps away. The scratches on her face show through hastily applied makeup. She doesn't look at me.

Four cameras dangle from the ceiling, one at each corner of the table. I sit down first, wipe my hands off on my pants, and then lie down.

The table is cold. Frigid, seeping into my skin, into my bones. Appropriate, perhaps, because that is what will happen to my body when all the life leaves it; it will become cold and heavy, heavier than I have ever been. As for the rest of me, I am not sure. Some people believe that I will go nowhere, and maybe they're right, but maybe they're not. Such speculations are no longer useful to me anyway.

Peter slips an electrode beneath the collar of my shirt and presses it to my chest, right over my heart. He then attaches a wire to the electrode and switches on the heart monitor. I hear my heartbeat, fast and strong. Soon, where that steady rhythm was, there will be nothing.

And then rising from within me is a single thought:

I don't want to die.

All those times Tobias scolded me for risking my life, I never took him seriously. I believed that I wanted to be with my parents and for all of this to be over. I was sure I wanted to emulate their self-sacrifice. ~ Veronica Roth

I tell lies better than I tell truths.: ~ Veronica Roth

I wonder if fears ever really go away, or if they just lose their power over us. ~ Veronica Roth

We have to go," Tris says, and I know she's not talking about leaving Michigan Avenue or taking Edward to the hospital; she's talking about the city. "We have to go," I repeat. ~ Veronica Roth

Some Days are Harder than others, But I'm Ready to Live each One of Them ~ Veronica Roth

Maybe it's a little depressing to think that my vision of a perfect world is actually so messed up, but I think it means that I don't really understand what 'perfect' is. ~ Veronica Roth

It was difficult to sleep after someone had peeled one's skin off with a knife, but I gave it my best effort. ~ Veronica Roth

Its imposible to have real friendship when no one feels like they can accept help or even talk about themselves. ~ Veronica Roth

The impulse to share anything is a new one, the impulse to hide as natural as breathing ~ Veronica Roth

A Stiff, the first to jump? Unheard of." "There's a reason why she left them, Lauren," he says. His voice is deep, and it rumbles. ~ Veronica Roth

Morning," I say.
"Shh," she says. "If you don't acknowledge it, maybe it will go away. ~ Veronica Roth

I know exactly what it's like to stand on top of a tall building or in a high place and look down and go, 'Ohhhh my God.' I try to get into that place every time I write a scene like that. And definitely when I write the action scenes, I get overheated and my heart goes really fast. I get very involved. ~ Veronica Roth

I hear footsteps and Four's hands wrap around my wrists. I let him pry my hands from my eyes. He encloses one of my hands perfectly between two of his. The warmth of his skin overwhelms the ache in my fingers from holding the bars. "You all right?" he asks, pressing our hands together.
"Yeah."
He starts to laugh. ~ Veronica Roth

It's my choice now, no matter what the test says. Abnegation. Dauntless. Erudite. Divergent. ~ Veronica Roth

We're all right, you know,' he says quietly. 'You and me. Okay?' My chest aches, and I nod. 'Nothing else is all right.' His whisper tickles my cheek. 'But we are. ~ Veronica Roth

Tobias presses into the wall behind me, so close to me that his chin floats over my head and I can feel his chest against my shoulders. Shielding me. ~ Veronica Roth

It's not that I ever sat down and outlined a trilogy, but I always have a sense of what size an idea is when I start it. ~ Veronica Roth

I also wanted to ask you if we can talk to the Erudite you're keeping safe here," I say. "I know they're hidden, but I need access to them."
"And what do you intend to do?" she says.
"Shoot them," I say, rolling my eyes.
"That isn't funny. ~ Veronica Roth

Luck is simply a construct to make people believe they are in control of some aspect of their destinies. ~ Veronica Roth

I keep thinking about when we were young and we played 'Candor,'" he says. "How I used to sit you down in a chair in the living room and as you questions? Remember?"
"Yes," I say. I lean my hips into the lab table. "You used to find the pulse in my wrist and tell me that if I lied, you would be able to tell, because the Candor can always tell when other people are lying. It wasn't very nice."
Caleb laughs. "That one time, you confessed to stealing a book from the school library just as Mom came home--"
"And I had to go to the librarian and apologize!" I laugh too. "That librarian was awful. She always called everyone 'young lady' or 'young man.'"
"Oh, she loved me, though. Did you know that when I was a library volunteer and was supposed to be shelving books during my lunch hour, I was really just standing in the aisles and reading? She caught me a few times and never said anything about it."
"Really?" I feel a twinge in my chest. "I didn't know that."
"There was a lot we didn't know about each other, I guess." He taps his fingers on the table. "I wish we had been able to be more honest with each other."
"Me too."
"And it's too late now, isn't it." He looks up.
"Not for everything." I pull out a chair from the lab table and sit in it. "Let's play Candor. I'll answer a question and then you have to answer a question. Honestly, obviously."
He looks a little exasperated, but he plays along. "Okay. What did you really do to break ~ Veronica Roth

Then everyone can call you Six."
"Four and Six," I say. ~ Veronica Roth

His hand touches my waist, steadies me. The touch sends a shock through my body, and all my insides burn like his fingers ignited them. I pull close to him, pressing my body against his, and lift my head to kiss him. ~ Veronica Roth

No need to continually insist upon your unshakable masculinity. ~ Veronica Roth

She said she didn't want to be here without him. ~ Veronica Roth

I like to think that im helping them by hating them ~ Veronica Roth

If we stay together, I'll have to forgive you over and over again, and if you're still in this, you'll have to forgive me over and over again too. So forgiveness isn't the point. What I really should have been trying to figure out is whether we were still good for each other or not ~ Veronica Roth

That our world is so massive that it is completely out of our control, that we cannot possibly be as large as we feel. ~ Veronica Roth

I could never hurt him enough to make his betrayal stop hurting. And it hurts, in every part of my body. ~ Veronica Roth

She tips her chin up and looks at me with that Abnegation stubbornness I know so well. She may have left them, but they are what's making her strong. ~ Veronica Roth

Not like Tobias, who is almost shy when he smiles, like he is surprised you bothered to look at him in the first place. ~ Veronica Roth

But the fire, the fire. The desire to live. I am not done yet, I am not. ~ Veronica Roth

Let the guilt teach you how to behave next time, ~ Veronica Roth

I could tell him I've been worried for weeks about what the aptitude test will tell me - Abnegation, Candor, Erudite, Amity, or Dauntless? ~ Veronica Roth

I want people to come away from my book with questions. Questions about virtue and goodness. Not answers. ~ Veronica Roth

But then I stopped allowing myself to dream, because it was more painful to long for things and never get them than to deal with whatever was in front of me. [ ... ] I'm too old to hear confront nonsense anymore. Too old to believe that everything will be alright. ~ Veronica Roth

Relax Beatrice, I've driven a car before.' MARCUS
'I've done a lot of things before, but that doesn't mean I'm any good at them!' TRIS ~ Veronica Roth

Are you conceding?' he says, his mouth falling open with mock surprise. 'Seems like that serum did you some good after all ... ' I shove him as hard as I can. 'Take that back. Take it back now.' 'Okay, okay!' He puts up his hands. 'It's just ... I'm not very nice either, you know. That's why I like you so- ' 'Out!' I shout, pointing at the door. ~ Veronica Roth

Let's go to the festival," he said. He was too thin, I thought. There were shadows under his cheekbones where flesh should have been, in a face so young. "No Ryzek. Just you and me."
I stared down at his upturned palm. He offered touch to me so freely, without realizing how rare it was. How rare he was, to a person like me.
"Why?" I said.
"What?"
"You've been nice to me recently." I furrowed my brow. "You're being nice to me now. Why? What's in it for you?"
"Growing up here really has warped you, hasn't it?"
"Growing up here," I clarified, "has made me see the truth about people."
He sighed, like he disagreed with me but didn't want to bother to argue. He sighed that way a lot. "We spend a lot of time together, Cyra. Being nice is a matter of survival."
"I'll be recognized. The currentshadows are memorable, even if my face is not."
"You won't have any currentshadows. You'll be with me." He cocked his head to the side. "Or are you really that uncomfortable with touching me?"
It was a challenge. And maybe a manipulation. ~ Veronica Roth

I regret ... " Tobias tilts his head, and sighs. "I regret my choice."
"What Choice?"
"Dauntless," he says. "I was born Abnegation. I was planning on leaving Dauntless, and becoming factionless. But I met her, and ... I felt like maybe I could make something more of my decision."
Her. ~ Veronica Roth

Come on,'he says.' I have something else to show you. ~ Veronica Roth

Sometimes I forget that I can hurt you. That you are capable of being hurt ~ Veronica Roth

Don't you dare try to apologize." His voice shakes. "This is not something you can bandage with a word or two and some hugging, or something. ~ Veronica Roth

I was almost afraid to break the silence that surrounded me. But then I pounded, hard, with the handle of the knife, until Yma Zetsyvis answered.
"Miss Noavek," Yma said. She wasn't smiling, for once. She was staring at the weapon in my right hand.
"Hello," I said. "Mind if I come in? ~ Veronica Roth

Oh. I just assumed ... That because I am so absorbed by him everyone must be too. ~ Veronica Roth

Ship ID Renegade Transport, Captain Surukta requesting permission to land."
"Captain Surukta, permission granted to landing area thirty-two. Congratulations on your safe arrival," a voice responded over the intercom.
Teka snorted as she switched off the communicator. "I bet that's standard practice, congratulating people on surviving."
"I've been here before," Sifa said, wry. "It is indeed standard practice. ~ Veronica Roth

He hooks a thumb in one of his belt loops and says, "How are you, Beatrice?" "Did you just call me Beatrice?" "Thought I would give it a try." He smiles. "Not good?" "Maybe on special occasions only. Initiation days, Choosing Days ... ~ Veronica Roth

I paused. I was tempted to call Akos a friend, but it seemed too simple for what he had been to me, too small a word. ~ Veronica Roth

A pale ring of sunlight burns into the clouds like the end of a lit cigarette. ~ Veronica Roth

Four sets his hand on my back and says, Welcome to Dauntless. ~ Veronica Roth

How have I never realized before that for all the strong, kind parts of him, there are also hurting, broken parts? ~ Veronica Roth

Four shrugs. "So I suggest that you take the next week to consider your fears and develop strategies to face them." "That doesn't sound fair," says Peter. "What if one person only has seven fears and someone else has twenty? That's not their fault." Four stares at him for a few seconds and then laughs. "Do you really want to talk to me about what's fair?" The crowd of initiates parts to make way for him as he walks toward Peter, folds his arms, and says, in a deadly voice, "I understand why you're worried, Peter. The events of last night certainly proved that you are a miserable coward." Peter stares back, expressionless. "So now we all know," says Four, quietly, "that you are afraid of a short, skinny girl from Abnegation." His mouth curls in a smile. ~ 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

If you try to say something meaningful and profound about scars, I'll punch you in the head," she said.
He shrugged, and turned his left arm so the kill marks faced her. "I guarantee you yours aren't as ugly as mine."
"At least you chose yours."
Well, she had a point. ~ Veronica Roth

I walked the maintenance tunnels, my face pulsing. The memory of his lips against my cheek played over and over in my mind. I tried to stomp it down like a stray ember. I couldn't kindle it and still do what needed to be done. ~ Veronica Roth

Vas dragged me over to Akos, so we knelt across from each other, barely an arm's length of space between us.
"I'm sorry" was all I could think to say to him. That he was here was my fault, after all. If I hadn't fallen in with the renegades…but it was too late for thoughts like that.
Everything inside me slowed as his eyes met mine, like I had stopped him. I looked him over carefully, like a caress, his tousled brown hair, the dusting of freckles on his nose, and his gray eyes, unguarded for the first time I could remember. I didn't see the bruises or the blood that marked him. I listened to his breaths. I had heard them in my ear just after I kissed him, every exhale bursting a little, like he didn't want to let it go.
"I always thought my fate meant I would die a traitor to my country." Akos's voice was rough, like he had worn away at it by screaming. "But you made it so I won't. ~ Veronica Roth

My father has a way of persuading people without charm that has always confused me. He states his opinions as if they're facts, and somehow his complete lack of doubt makes you believe him. That quality frightens me now, because I know what he told me: that I was broken, that I was worthless, that I was nothing. How many of those things did he make me believe? ~ Veronica Roth

But now I'm wondering if I need it anymore, if we ever really need these words, "Dauntless," "Erudite," "Divergent," "Allegiant," or if we can just be friends or lovers or siblings, defined instead by the choices we make and the love and loyalty that binds us. ~ Veronica Roth

To the temple!" their dad cried, his fist in the air. He always said that when they went to the temple. Sort of like cheering for a boring lecture or a long line on voting day.
"If only we could bottle that excitement and sell it to all of Thuvhe. Most of them I see just once a year, and then only because there's food and drink waiting for them," their mom drawled with a faint smile.
"There's your solution, then," Eijeh said. "Entice them with food all season long."
"The wisdom of children," their mom said. ~ Veronica Roth

There were some things I needed to learn." "How to be brave?" my father says quietly. "How to be selfless," I say. "Often they're the same thing. ~ Veronica Roth

With emotion, so thick I am surprised it does not choke him on the way out. ~ Veronica Roth

All I can think is that this would be so much easier if we were dealing with a completely different set of people who could actually see reason. Then we might be able to find a balance between protecting the experiments and opening themselves up to other possibilities. ~ Veronica Roth

But becoming fearless isn't the point. That's impossible. It's learning how to control your fear, and how to be free from it, that's the point. ~ Veronica Roth

Took you long enough to get here," Jorek said. "I was beginning to think you guys got kidnapped by the chancellor."
"No," Akos said. "Actually, we abandoned her in an escape pod. ~ Veronica Roth

Honor," I said with a snort. "Honor has no place in survival. ~ Veronica Roth

We share a common enemy, but does that make us friends? ~ Veronica Roth

So small as to be negligible.
It's strange, but there's something in that thought that makes me feel almost ... free. ~ Veronica Roth

He still smiles all the time, but now his smiles look like they're made out of water, about to drip down his face. ~ Veronica Roth

Vas laughed. "Better listen to her, Kereseth. Those aren't little heart tattoos she hides under that arm guard. ~ Veronica Roth

But there's so much that was a lie, it's hard to figure out what was true, what was real, what matters. ~ Veronica Roth

Do the elevators work?" I ask Uriah, as quietly as I can. "Sure they do." says Zeke, rolling his eyes, "You think I'm stupid enough not to come here early and turn on the emergency generator?" "Yeah," says Uriah. "I kinda do. ~ Veronica Roth

Sarcasm is always at someone's expense. ~ Veronica Roth

Maybe now he thinks I'm stupid, or strange. Maybe it was worth it. I ~ Veronica Roth

A lot can happen to a person's appearance in three months. ~ Veronica Roth

What are you waiting for, sister?" Ryzek said. "Have you lost your nerve?"
"No," I said. "I'm waiting for the poison you swallowed this morning to settle in. ~ Veronica Roth

I notice, however, that Peter only pretends to inject himself - when he presses the plunger down, the fluid runs down his throat, and he wipes it casually with a sleeve.
I wonder what it feels like to volunteer to forget everything. ~ Veronica Roth

I say vague things because that's as close as I can get to stopping myself from saying anything, my mind addled by the feeling of her body through her shirt. ~ Veronica Roth

I slowly realized that perfectionism just not that important. What's more important is to try to love the people around you. Whatever that means at a particular time is the best you can do. ~ Veronica Roth

Do you think I'm important to the Dauntless? Because I'm not. I'm just someone who isn't afraid of much. ~ Veronica Roth

I'll be your family now." ~ Tobis 'Four ~ Veronica Roth

She kisses my cheek and slides the panel over the mirror. I think my mother could be beautiful, in a different world. Her body is thin beneath the gray robe. She has high cheekbones and long eyelashes, and when she lets her hair down at night, it hangs in waves over her shoulders. But she must hide that beauty in Abnegation. ~ Veronica Roth

I didn't think I would see you here again, Ms. Prior," she says.
"Is that because I'm supposed to be dead?" I say.
"I always expect those who live by the gun to die by it. I am often pleasantly surprised. ~ Veronica Roth

I will not be molded and shaped ~ Veronica Roth

I would rather be dead than empty ~ Veronica Roth

We have each other memorized. ~ Veronica Roth

Honesty leads to peace. ~ Veronica Roth

But as I look at him, my anger ebbs away, like the changing of the tide. And standing in the place of my anger is my initiation instructor and friend, alive again.
I grin.
"So you're alive," I say.
"More importantly," he says, pointing at me, "you are no longer upset about it."
He grabs my arm and pulls me into an embrace, slapping my back with one hand. I try to return his enthusiasm, but it doesn't come naturally
when we break apart, my face is hot. And judging by how he bursts into laughter, it's also bright red.
"Once a Stiff, always a Stiff," he says.
"Whatever," I say. ~ Veronica Roth