Quotes by Ransom Riggs

Strange, I thought, how you can be living your dreams and your nightmares at the very same time.

If I never went home, what exactly would I be missing? I pictured my cold cavernous house, my friendless town full of bad memories, the utterly unremarkable life that had been mapped out for me. It had never once occurred to me, I realized, to refuse it.

...slow and drunk is no match for fast and scared shitless.

Millard! Whos the prime minister?Winston Churchill, he said. Have you gone daft?Whats the capital of Burma?Lord, Ive no idea. Rangoon?Good! Whens your birthday?Will you quit shouting and let me bleed in peace!

At the heart of nature’s mystery lies another mystery.

I love you too, I wanted to say with as much hurtful sarcasm as I could muster, but she hadnt seen me, and I kept quiet. I did love her, of course, but mostly just because loving your mother is mandatory, not because shes someone I think Id like very much if I met her walking down the street. Which she wouldnt be anyway; walking is for poor people

She moved to pinch me again but I blocked her hand. Im no expert on girls, but when one tries to pinch you four times, Im pretty sure thats flirting.

I didn’t know what to call it, what was happening between us, but I liked it. It felt silly and fragile and good.

What would Golan Do? That way I can ask myself before I do anything. Before I take a dump. How would Dr. Golan want me to take this dump? Should I bank it off the side or go straight down the middle? What would be the most psychologically beneficial dump I could take?

No one here is embarrassed of their gift.

Have they built cities on the moon? another boy asked hopefully.We left some garbage and a flag there in the sixties, but thats about it.

You Sure this is it? I said. It looks empty.Empty? No way, theres loads of shit in there, worm replied

Will you quit shouting and let me bleed in peace!

That was our friendship: equal parts irritation and cooperation.

..he had trampled her poor, pining heart, and the wound was still raw, even these many years later.

Hugh and Fiona stood off to one side, their hands linked and foreheads touching, saying goodbye in their own quiet way. Finally, wed all finished with Claire and were ready to go, but no one wanted to disturb them, so we stood watching as Fiona pulled away from Hugh, shook a few seeds from her nest of wild hair, and grew a rose bush heavy with red flowers right where they stood. Hughs bees rushed to pollinate it, and while they were occupied– as if shed done it just so they could have a moment to themselves– Fiona embraced him and whispered something in his ear, and Hugh nodded and whispered.

But these werent the kind of monsters that had tentacles and rotting skin, the kind a seven-year-old might be able to wrap his mind around--they were monsters with human faces, in crisp uniforms, marching in lockstep, so banal you dont recognize them for what they are until its too late.

Consider the simple hedgehog, and his neighbor, the opossum...do they waste their energy trying to throw one another into chasms when they face a common enemy, the winter? No!

What a beautiful day to go to hell

Youre upset, youre cold, and youre wet, wouldnt you rather discuss all this over a pot of hot tea? Yes, but I wasnt going to say so.