Quotes by Suzanne Collins

theres plenty of blame to go around.

Whenever I write a story, I hope it appeals to both boys and girls.

One of the reasons its important for me to write about war is I really think that the concept of war, the specifics of war, the nature of war, the ethical ambiguities of war, are introduced too late to children. I think they can hear them, understand them, know about them, at a much younger age without being scared to death by the stories.

I think we put our children at an enormous disadvantage by not educating them in war, by not letting them understand about it at an early age.

If your parent is deployed and you are that young, you spend the whole time wondering where they are and waiting for them to come home. As time passes and the absence is longer and longer, you become more and more concerned - but you dont really have the words to express your concern. Theres only this continued absence.

Telling a story in a futuristic world gives you this freedom to explore things that bother you in contemporary times.

If I took the 40 years of my dad talking to me about war and battles and taking me to battlefields and distilled it down into one question, it would probably be the idea of the necessary or unnecessary war.

“I am not pretty. I am not beautiful. I am as radiant as the sun.”

“I no longer feel allegiance to these monsters called human beings, despise being one myself. I think that Peeta was onto something about us destroying one another and letting some decent species take over. Because something is significantly wrong with a creature that sacrifices its children’s lives to settle its differences. You can spin it any way you like. Snow thought the Hunger Games were an efficient means of control. Coin thought the parachutes would expedite the war. But in the end, who does it benefit? No one. The truth is, it benefits no one to live in a world where these things happen.”

“All around the dining hall, you can feel the rejuvenating effect that a good meal can bring on. The way it can make people kinder, funnier, more optimistic, and remind them its not a mistake to go on living. Its better than any medicine.”

“Knowing it and seeing it are two different things.”

“Because, sometimes, things happen to people and theyre not equipped to deal with them.”

“But some secrets are too delicious not to share.”

“A need for revenge can burn long and hot. Especially if every glance in a mirror reinforces it.”

“Shes not here, I tell him. Buttercup hisses again. Shes not here. You can hiss all you like. You wont find Prim. At her name, he perks up. Raises his flattened ears. Begins to meow hopefully. Get out! He dodges the pillow I throw at him. Go away! Theres nothing left for you here! I start to shake, furious with him. Shes not coming back! Shes never ever coming back here again! I grab another pillow and get to my feet to improve my aim. Out of nowhere, the tears begin to pour down my cheeks. Shes dead, you stupid cat. Shes dead.”

“Youll never be able to let him go. Youll always feel wrong about being with me.”

“People of Panem, we fight, we dare, we end our hunger for justice!” There‘s dead silence on the set. It goes on. And on. Finally, the intercom crackles and Haymitch‘s acerbic laugh fills the studio. He contains himself just long enough to say, “And that, my friends, is how a revolution dies.”

“Only.. I want to do die as myself”

“Star-crossed lovers desperate to get home together. Two hearts beating as one. Romance.”

“What I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life can go on, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good again.”