It must require bravery to be honest all the time.
I stare at him. I feel my heartbeat everywhere, even in my toes. I feel like doing something bold, but I could just as easily walk away. I am not sure which option is smarter, or better. I am not sure that I care.
He pulls me over the railing and against his chest, gathering me into his arms, easing an arm under my knees. I press my face into his shoulder, and there is a sudden, hollow silence.
One choice can transform you!
I have a theory that selflessness and bravery aren’t all that different.
They try to make you think they care about what you do but they don’t. They don’t want you to act a certain way. So you’re easy to understand. So you won’t pose a threat to them.
What good is a prepared body if you have a scattered mind?
I have done bad things. I can’t take them back, and they are part of who I am. Most of the time, they seem like the only thing I am.
Eric walks toward me, and I back away by instinct. I try not to be afraid of him, but I know how smart he is and that if I’m not careful he’ll notice that I keep staring at her, and that will be my undoing.
I have to admit that Christina is good – though I don’t like giving credit to Candor smart-mouths – and so is Peter – though I don’t like giving credit to future psychopaths.
I feel like someone is pressing me into a mold that does not fit my body, forcing me intothe wrong shape.
I’ll have to keep looking for more of them, more brief moments of freedom in a world that refuses to allow it.
This was the first place I everfelt strong. Every time I breathe this air I feel it again.
I never used to understand why people bothered to hold hands as they walked, but then he runs one of his fingertips down my palm, and I shiver and understand it completely.
The floor is solid metal in some places and metal grating in others. Everything smells like rotting garbage and fire. “Don’t say I never took you anywhere nice,” Peter says. “Wouldn’t dream of it,” I say.
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.
My dear girl. I am his family. I am permanent. You are only temporary.
Sometimes pain is for the greater good.
I point at a window to my left, and it explodes. Particles of glass rain over us. ‘You’ll have to do better than that,’ I say.
The Candor sing the praises of the truth, but they never tell you how much it costs.