Quotes by Markus Zusak

“Ive got every Dr Seuss book there is. Everything was red, like the sky was on fire. That was a memory that I could see really clearly as a child, a very visual image.”

“I wanted Death to talk in a way that humans dont speak. One thing I stood by [in the editing process] was when Death says things like the trees who stood or the sky who was this color. He refers to the sky and the trees and the clouds as though theyre colleagues.”

“I feel like every other book has been a small piece of me. This is every piece of me.”

“Every time you experiment with something, every time youve tried something, you can cross that off. Every time you find something that doesnt work, youre a step closer to what does work. Just do the work every day -- and do it and do it.”

“Shes not a writer, thankfully.”

“Its the first time Ive been really worried. Its the first time Ive written a book and thought, Can I do a better book? I dont know if I can.”

“I definitely cant do the On the Waterfront speech. Ive had my shot and I couldnt be happier.”

“The idea that he is haunted by what humans do — I just loved that irony because we are all so afraid of dying. Originally, he was a very different voice. He was supercilious. He was enjoying his work too much and he would say creepy things, which is the obvious.”

“So many teenage books say, This is in your voice, this is about you, and thats great. We really need that. But we also need books that say, This is also for you, but you need to come up here, to step up to this.”

The only thing worse than a boy who hates you: a boy that loves you.

He does something to me, that boy. Every time. It’s his only detriment. He steps on my heart. He makes me cry.

A DEFINITION NOT FOUND IN THE DICTIONARY Not leaving: an act of trust and love,often deciphered by children

She leaned down and looked at his lifeless face and Leisel kissed her best friend, Rudy Steiner, soft and true on his lips. He tasted dusty and sweet. He tasted like regret in the shadows of trees and in the glow of the anarchists suit collection. She kissed him long and soft, and when she pulled herself away, she touched his mouth with her fingers...She did not say goodbye. She was incapable, and after a few more minutes at his side, she was able to tear herself from the ground. It amazes me what humans can do, even when streams are flowing down their faces and they stagger on...

If only she could be so oblivious again, to feel such love without knowing it, mistaking it for laughter.

She looks at the swings, and I can see she’s imagining what they’d look like if the kids weren’t there. The guilt of this holds her down momentarily. It appears to be there constantly. Never far away, despite her love for them.I realize that nothing belongs to her anymore and she belongs to everything.

Sometimes people are beautiful.Not in looks.Not in what they say.Just in what they are.

Even death has a heart.

Maybe everyone can live beyond what theyre capable of.

I want words at my funeral. But I guess that means you need life in your life.

Can a person steal happiness? Or is just another internal, infernal human trick?