Quotes by Suzanne Collins

Why...do you find this...distracting?

Lunch makes me feel a bit better.

Ill tell them that on bad mornings, it feels impossible to take pleasure in anything because Im afraid it could be taken away.

How do you bear it? Finnick looks at me in disbelief. I dont, Katniss! Obviously, I dont. I drag myself out of nightmares each morning and find theres no relief in waking up. Something in my expression stops him. Better not give in to it. It takes ten times as long to put yourself back together as it does to fall apart.

That what? That I knew i misjudged you. That you love him. Im not saying In what way. Maybe you dont know yourself. But anyone paying attention could see how much you care about him, he says gently.

Its my new best friend, Claudius Templesmith, and as I expected it, hes inviting us to a feast.

Cookies. A pin. Im getting all kinds of gifts today. Madge gives me one more. A kiss on the cheek. Then shes gone and im left thinking that maybe Madge really has been my friend all along.

He hates me more, says Peeta. I dont think people in general are his sort of thing.

Im sick of people lying to me for my own good when really its for there own good.

And if we burn, you burn with us.

Are you preparing for another war, Plutarch? I ask.Oh, not now. Now were in a sweet period where everyone agrees that our recent horrors should never be repeated, he says. But collective thinking is usually short-lived. Were fickle, stupid beings with poor memories and a great gift for self-destruction. Although who knows? Maybe this will be it, Katniss.

The War Has Been Declared.Your Ally Been Ensnared.It Is Now Or It Is Never.Break The Code Or Die Forever.Time Is Running OutRunning OutRunning OutTo the Warrior Give My BladeBy His Hand Your Fate Is MadeBut Do Not Forget the TickingOr the Clicking, Clicking, ClickingWhile a Rats Tongue May Be FlickingWith Its Feet It Does the TrickingFor the Paw and Not the Jaw Makes the Code of ClawTime Is Standing StillStanding StillStanding StillSince the Princess Is the KeyTo Unlock the TreacheryShe Cannot Avoid the Matching or the Scratching, Scratching, ScratchingWhen a Secret Plot is HatchingIn the Naming Is the CatchingWhat She Saw, It Is the FlawOf the Code of ClawTime is Turning BackTurning BackTurning BackWhen the Monsters Blood Is SpilledWhen the Warrior Has Been KilledYou Must Not Ingore the RappingOr the Tapping, Tapping, TappingIf the Gnawers Find you NappingYou Will Rot While They Are MappingOut the Law of Those Who GnawIn the Code of Claw

Frankly, our ancestors dont seem much to brag about. I mean, look at the state they left us in, with the wars, the broken planet. Clearly, they didnt care about what would happen to the people who came after them.

Remember that even in war there is a time for restraint. A time to hold back your sword.

In theory, sure, Gregor could still go home. Pack up his three-year-old sister, Boots, get his mom out of the hospital, where she was recovering from the plague, and have his bat, Ares, fly them back up to the laudry room of their appartment building in New York City. Ares, his bond, who saved his life numerous times and who had had nothing but suffering since he had met Gregor. He tried to imagine the parting. Well, Ares, its been great. Im heading home now. I know by leaving Im completely dooming to annihilation everbody whos helped me down here, but Im really not up for this whole war thing anymore. So, fly you high, you know? Like that would ever happen.

He was safe for the moment, here in the playground, but people all over the world were suffering, starving, fleeing, killing one another as they waged their wars. How much energy they put into harming one another. How little into saving. Would it ever change? What would it take to make it change? He thought of Luxas hand pressed into Ripreds paw. Thats what it would take. People rejecting war. Not one or two, but all of them. Saying it was an unacceptable way to solve their differences. By the look of things, the human race had a lot of evolving to do before that happened. Maybe it was impossible. But maybe it wasnt. Like Vikus said, nothing would happen unless you hoped it could. If you had hope, maybe you could find the way to make things change. Because if you thought about it, there were so many reasons to try.

They can fatten me up. They can give me a full body polish, dress me up, and make me beautiful again. They can design dream weapons that come to life in my hands, but they will never again brainwash me into the necessity of using them. I no longer feel allegiance to these monsters called human beings, despite being one myself.

Youre really going to do it, arent you? Youre really going to go back to war? Gregor said. He could feel something boiling up inside of him. So, well just forget about what happened. The jungle, the Firelands, the Bane. His voice was rising and he could feel the rager side of him taking over. Forget about everybody whos dead! Tick and Twitchtip and Hamnet and Thalia and Ares! And your parents, Luxa! And your pups, Ripred! Lets just forget about everybody who gave their lives so that you could have this moment where you could — could make things right again! So you could stop the killing! We were fighting for the same thing, remember? You two owe each other your lives! You owe me your lives! And now you stand there and ask me to choose between you? To help you kill each other? Gregor yanked Sandwichs sword from his belt and swung it so violently that even Luxa and Ripred stepped back. Well, guess what? The warriors not fighting for either of you!

Even in war there should be lines you didnt cross.

How much energy they put into harming each other. How little into saving.