Veronica Roth quote: "Any idiot can stand in front of a target. It doesn't prove anything except that you're bullying him. Which, as I recall, is a sign of cowardice."

If you actually succeed in creating a utopia, you've created a world without conflict, in which ...
VERONICA ROTH

It's not that I ever sat down and outlined a trilogy, but I always have a sense of what size an ...
VERONICA ROTH

Seeing people who are actually reading your book and listening to the wide variety of reactions they...
VERONICA ROTH

I always appreciate people's opinions, but sometimes I have to take a step back and remember why...
VERONICA ROTH

I really like the group tour better than going it alone. First of all, it kind of takes the pressure...
VERONICA ROTH

I think it's fascinating to look at a world that an author has created that has sort of stemmed ...
VERONICA ROTH

I think everyone's a little afraid of being part of a trend, because you get compared to each ot...
VERONICA ROTH

I love 'Harry Potter.' I'm a huge nerd - I would dress up if I could.
VERONICA ROTH

I know exactly what it's like to stand on top of a tall building or in a high place and look dow...
VERONICA ROTH

When you're a teenager, everything seems like the end of the world, and I don't think that&#...
VERONICA ROTH

I don't really think about what's 'age appropriate' for my audience because I think ...
VERONICA ROTH

I want people to come away from my book with questions. Questions about virtue and goodness. Not ans...
VERONICA ROTH

If utopian fiction became the new trend, I wouldn't read it.
VERONICA ROTH

People make me key chains... someone attached a Dauntless symbol to a silver pen. That one is what I...
VERONICA ROTH

When you're a writer, you hear your internal critic, and that's really hard to get over. And...
VERONICA ROTH

'Divergent' was my utopian world. I mean, that wasn't the plan. I never even set out to ...
VERONICA ROTH

There's really no way to be perfect. Perfectionism is a silly trait to have, so in a lot of ways...
VERONICA ROTH

I think it's a human tendency that's been around for a while to try to be as good as possibl...
VERONICA ROTH

Maybe it's a little depressing to think that my vision of a perfect world is actually so messed ...
VERONICA ROTH

Cruelty does not make a person dishonest, the same way bravery does not make a person kind.
VERONICA ROTH

I tell myself, as sternly as possible, that is how things work here. We do dangerous things and peop...
VERONICA ROTH

Human reason can excuse any evil.
VERONICA ROTH

We believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for anothe...
VERONICA ROTH

Two things you should know about me; The first is that I am deeply suspicious of people in general. ...
VERONICA ROTH

But I think that no matter how smart, people usually see what they're already looking for, that's al...
VERONICA ROTH

No matter how long you train someone to be brave, you never know if they are or not until something ...
VERONICA ROTH

I touch her cheek to slow the kiss down, holding her mouth on mine so I can feel every place where o...
VERONICA ROTH

We are not people who touch each other carelessly; every point of contact between us feels important...
VERONICA ROTH

...there is power in self-sacrifice.
VERONICA ROTH

The Amity exchange smiles. They are dressed comfortably in red or yellow. Every time I see them, the...
VERONICA ROTH

A son says to his Mother: "Mother, today I fought with my friend."
His Mother says: "Why did yo...
VERONICA ROTH

I'm not abnegation, I'm not dauntless, I am Divergent
VERONICA ROTH

Can you tell me where to find Tobias'? I ask. When I imagine his face, affection for him bubbles up ...
VERONICA ROTH

Can I be forgiven for all I've done to get here?
I want to be.
I can.
I believe it.
VERONICA ROTH

Knowledge is power. Power to do evil...or power to do good. Power itself is not evil. So knowledge i...
VERONICA ROTH

Lies require commitment.
VERONICA ROTH

I could never hurt him enough to make his betrayal stop hurting. And it hurts, in every part of my b...
VERONICA ROTH

A brave man acknowledges the strength of others.
VERONICA ROTH

Sleep,” he says. “I'll fight the bad dreams off if they come to get you.” “With what?” “...
VERONICA ROTH

I think you're still the only person sharp enough to sharpen someone like me.
VERONICA ROTH

I belong to the people I love, and they belong to me--they, and the love and loyaty I give them, for...
VERONICA ROTH

Some things are hard to let go of.
VERONICA ROTH

Fear doesn't shut you down; it wakes you up
VERONICA ROTH

Tris," he says. "What did they do to you? You're acting like a lunatic."
"That's not very nice ...
VERONICA ROTH

Can you be a girl for a few seconds?"
"I'm always a girl" I frown.
"You know what I mean. ...
VERONICA ROTH

When her body first hit the net, all I registered was a gray blur. I pulled her across it and her ha...
VERONICA ROTH

There are so many ways to be brave in this world. Sometimes bravery involves laying down your life f...
VERONICA ROTH

You don’t believe things because they make your life better, you believe them because they’re tr...
VERONICA ROTH

We believe that preparation eradicates cowardice, which we define as the failure to act in the midst...
VERONICA ROTH

What did you do?” I mumble. He is just a few feet away from me now, but not close enough to hear m...
VERONICA ROTH

Becoming fearless isn't the point. That's impossible. It's learning how to control your fear, and ho...
VERONICA ROTH

I fell in love with him. But I don't just stay with him by default as if there's no one else availab...
VERONICA ROTH

Then I realize what it is. It's him. Something about him makes me feel like I am about to fall. Or t...
VERONICA ROTH

I have something I need to tell you," he says. I run my fingers along the tendons in his hands and l...
VERONICA ROTH

Ich habe sie Erfahrung gemacht, dass die Menschen aus vielen verschiedenen Schichten von Geheimnisse...
VERONICA ROTH

Dead people can be our heroes because they cant disappoint us later; they only improve over time, as...
VERONICA ROTH

I feel like myself, strong and weak at once - allowed, at least for a little while, to be both.
VERONICA ROTH

As a teenager, I put a lot of pressure on myself, and a lot of that, for me, was about finding a mor...
VERONICA ROTH

I didn't know that idiocy caused people to just start spontaneously bleeding from the nose.
VERONICA ROTH

There is a difference between admitting and confessing. Admitting involves softening, making excuses...
VERONICA ROTH

Caleb," I say, "I love you."
His eyes gleam with tear as he says, "I love you, too, Beatrice.
VERONICA ROTH

I don’t know how long it takes for me to realize that isn’t going to happen,
that she is go...
VERONICA ROTH

Pride is what killed Al, and it is the flaw in every Dauntless heart. It is in mine.
VERONICA ROTH

It's what you deserve to hear," I say firmly, my eyes going cloudy with tears. "That you're whole, t...
VERONICA ROTH

Sometimes I still forget to look for the gentler parts of her. For so long all I saw was the strengt...
VERONICA ROTH

Take a person’s memories, and you change who they are.
VERONICA ROTH

But that wasn´t the first time I ever saw her. I saw her in the hallways at school, and at my mothe...
VERONICA ROTH

I love you" I say.
"I love you, too" he says. "I'll see you soon.
VERONICA ROTH

Yeah, sometimes life really sucks," she says. "But you know what I'm holding on for?"

I r...
VERONICA ROTH

The first step to loving someone else is to recognize the evil in ourselves, so we can forgive them.
VERONICA ROTH

If I don't survive," I say, "tell Tobias I didn't want to leave him.
VERONICA ROTH

The person you became with her is worth being.
VERONICA ROTH

Change, like healing, takes time.
VERONICA ROTH

You're not very nice," I say, grinning.
"You're one to talk."
"Hey, I could be nice if I t...
VERONICA ROTH

I'll say it one last time: Be brave.
VERONICA ROTH

She taught me all about real sacrifice. That it should be done from love... That it should be done f...
VERONICA ROTH

I wonder if fears ever really go away, or if they just lose their power over us.
VERONICA ROTH

I suppose a fire that burns that bright is not meant to last.
VERONICA ROTH

In my own relationships, I know that I should break up with someone who doesn't encourage me to ...
VERONICA ROTH

I regret..." Tobias tilts his head, and sighs. "I regret my choice."
"What Choice?"
"Daunt...
VERONICA ROTH

I have realized that part of being Dauntless is being willing to make things more difficult for your...
VERONICA ROTH

Human reason can excuse any evil; that is why it's so important that we don't rely on it.
VERONICA ROTH

For a few minutes we kiss, deep in the chasm, with the roar of water all around us. And we rise, han...
VERONICA ROTH

People tend to overestimate my character," I say quietly. "They think that because I'm small, or a g...
VERONICA ROTH

You think giving you a hug would give away too much?" he says.
"You know," I say. "I really don...
VERONICA ROTH

One Choice

One Choice, decided your friends.

One Choice, defines your beliefs....
VERONICA ROTH

Human beings as a whole cannot be good for long before the bad creeps back in and poisons us again.
VERONICA ROTH

You know, most boys would enjoy being trapped in close quarters with a girl." I roll my eyes.
"...
VERONICA ROTH

I feel his heartbeat against my cheek,as fast as my own.
"Are you afraid of me, too, Tobias?" VERONICA ROTH

Somewhere inside me is a merciful, forgiving person. Somewhere there is a girl who tries to understa...
VERONICA ROTH

Four flips the gun in this hand, presses the barrel to Peter's forehead, and clicks a bullet into pl...
VERONICA ROTH

Who cares about pretty? I'm going for noticeable.
VERONICA ROTH

Moths," repeats Will. "You're afraid of moths?"

"Not just a cloud of moths," she says, "...
VERONICA ROTH

Sometimes, the best way to help someone is just to be near them.
VERONICA ROTH

I feel like someone breathed new air into my lungs. I am not Abnegation. I am not Dauntless.
I...
VERONICA ROTH

It must require bravery to be honest all the time.
VERONICA ROTH

Politeness is deception in pretty packaging.
VERONICA ROTH

You think my first instinct is to protect you. Because you're small, or a girl, or a Stiff. But you'...
VERONICA ROTH

I am selfish. I am brave.
VERONICA ROTH

Sometimes crying or laughing are the only options left, and laughing feels better right now.
VERONICA ROTH

Peter would probably throw a party if I stopped breathing.'

'Well,' he says, 'I would onl...
VERONICA ROTH

I have a theory that selflessness and bravery aren't all that different.
VERONICA ROTH

Living without virtues is to live divorced from society, seperated from the most important thing in ...
VERONICA ROTH

I don't need to relive my fears anymore. All I need to do now is try to overcome them.
VERONICA ROTH

The opinions of others cannot damage you.
VERONICA ROTH

It isn’t right to wish pain on other people just because they hurt me first.
VERONICA ROTH

Since I was young, I have always known this: Life damages us, every one. We can’t escape that dama...
VERONICA ROTH

She said that everyone has some evil inside them, and the first step to loving anyone is to recogniz...
VERONICA ROTH

What do you think they're going to do to us when they find us guilty?" she says after a few minutes ...
VERONICA ROTH

What has become clear is that lies are just a temporary solution to a permanent problem. Lying to sp...
VERONICA ROTH

I believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another...
VERONICA ROTH

Awkwardness aside, it's nice to be liked.
VERONICA ROTH

This body had carried me through a hard life. It looked exactly the way it was supposed to.
VERONICA ROTH

Soft hearts make the universe worth living in.
VERONICA ROTH

I might be in love with you." He smiles a little. "I'm waiting until I'm sure to tell you, though.
VERONICA ROTH

But when I do feel all the strength go out of me, and I fall to my knees beside the table and I thin...
VERONICA ROTH

Grief is not as heavy as guilt, but it takes more away from you.
VERONICA ROTH

Part of me wonders if this is a suicide mission disguised as a game.
VERONICA ROTH

I’m not important. Everyone will do just fine without me,” I say.
“Who cares about everyo...
VERONICA ROTH

Like a wild animal, the truth is too powerful to remain caged.
VERONICA ROTH

Got that gun?” Peter says to Tobias. “No,” says Tobias, “I figured I would shoot the bullets...
VERONICA ROTH

People, I have discovered, are layers and layers of secrets. You believe you know them, that you und...
VERONICA ROTH

His hands shift to my shoulders, and his fingers brush over the edge of my bandage. He pulls back wi...
VERONICA ROTH

With four? Doing a little... Addition? Multiplication?
VERONICA ROTH

He bends over to untie his shoes. “So, have you been ostracized from your little crowd of devotees...
VERONICA ROTH

Why do you say vague things if you don't want to be asked about them?
VERONICA ROTH

Sorry, am I being rude?" she asks.
"I'm used to saying whatever is on my mind. Mom used to say ...
VERONICA ROTH

We've all started to put down the virtues of the other factions in the process of bolstering our own...
VERONICA ROTH

Learning how to think in the midst of fear is a lesson that everyone needs to learn.
VERONICA ROTH

Looks like someone had a mood swing.” She rolls her eyes. “Like you don’t want to
know wh...
VERONICA ROTH

Do remember, though, that sometimes the people you oppress become mightier than you would like.
VERONICA ROTH

He told me once to be brave, and though I have stood still while knives spun toward my face and jump...
VERONICA ROTH

The truth has a way of changing people's plans.
VERONICA ROTH

We both have war inside us. Sometimes it keeps us alive. Sometimes it threatens to destroy us.
VERONICA ROTH

All three combined is...a different kind of stupid formerly unheard of by humankind.
VERONICA ROTH

My natural tendency toward sarcasm is still not appreciated.
VERONICA ROTH

Lynn, she saved half our faction from this stuff," says Marlene, tapping the bandage on her a...
VERONICA ROTH

His absence will haunt their hallways, and he will be a space they can't fill. And then time will pa...
VERONICA ROTH

That our world is so massive that it is completely out of our control, that we cannot possibly be as...
VERONICA ROTH

. . . in the distance I hear a train rushing over the rails, but we are moving away from this place ...
VERONICA ROTH

How many different kinds of ruin do you have to see, before you resign yourself to calling it all 'r...
VERONICA ROTH

She is a woman of muscle twisted around bone.
VERONICA ROTH

This concept could easily have gone awry. Stories about love tend to go that way sometimes. They wan...
VERONICA ROTH

It's stupid to miss a thing when there are so many people to miss instead, but I miss this train alr...
VERONICA ROTH

Everything - our houses, our clothes, our hairstyles - is meant to help us forget ourselves and to p...
VERONICA ROTH

What did you do?" I scream.
"You die, I die too.
VERONICA ROTH

His fingers slide into my hair, and I hold on to his arms to stay steady as we press together like t...
VERONICA ROTH

There's a reason why she left them, Lauren," he says. His voice is deep, and it rumbles. "What's you...
VERONICA ROTH

I deposited Drew at the infirmary a half hour ago.
VERONICA ROTH

I would like to experience this 'date' phenomenon.
VERONICA ROTH

And don't call me 'Four', okay? It's nice to hear my name again.
VERONICA ROTH

I push open the door just as Tobias, who is sitting on the floor with one leg stretched out, hurls a...
VERONICA ROTH

I have a scar - a faint gouge in my knee from when I fell down on the sidewalk as a child. It's alwa...
VERONICA ROTH

In them we find administrators and teachers and counselors and leaders and protectors. In them we fi...
VERONICA ROTH

I have to get out.
VERONICA ROTH

Today you will choose your factions. Until this point you have followed your parents’ paths, your ...
VERONICA ROTH

she sighs, then breaks a piece off the muffin in my hand. 'Hey. There are plenty more just five feet...
VERONICA ROTH

Dauntless,' he says. 'I was born for Abnegation. I was planning on leaving Dauntless, and becoming f...
VERONICA ROTH

His eyes search the crowd until they find my face. My heartbeat lives in my throat; lives in my chee...
VERONICA ROTH

If we stay together, I'll have to forgive you over and over again, and if you're still in this, you'...
VERONICA ROTH

Tris," Tobias says, crouching next to me. His face is pale, almost yellow.
There is too much I ...
VERONICA ROTH

You die, I die too.
VERONICA ROTH

Whoa there, Tobias," says the man to my left. "Weren't you raised a Stiff? I thought the most you pe...
VERONICA ROTH

I fit my mouth to his and he tastes like water and smells like fresh air. I drag my hand from his ne...
VERONICA ROTH

Come on,'he says.' I have something else to show you.
VERONICA ROTH

Why is your heart racing Tris?
VERONICA ROTH

You don't have to tell me everything right away, but I have to tell you everything right away? Can't...
VERONICA ROTH

Your daughter is doing well here. I've been overseeing her training."
Since when does "overseei...
VERONICA ROTH

I'll be your family now," he says.
"I love you," I say. (....)
He stares at me. I wait wi...
VERONICA ROTH

People are supossed to aspire to become their fathers, not shudder at the thought.
VERONICA ROTH

Sometimes, all it takes to save people from a terrible fate is one person willing to do something ab...
VERONICA ROTH

Now she looks pale and small, but her eyes make me think of wide- open skies that I have never actua...
VERONICA ROTH

I understand why she did all those things, but that doesn't mean we aren't still broken.
VERONICA ROTH

In the days that follow, it's movement, not stillness, that helps to keep the grief at bay.
VERONICA ROTH

All I can do is stand still- I feel like if I just stand still, I can stop it from being true, I can...
VERONICA ROTH

I keep finding myself stifled by the company of others and then crippled by loneliness when I leave ...
VERONICA ROTH

Simulation Tobias kisses my neck.

I try to think. I have to face the fear. I have to take...
VERONICA ROTH

He slides his hand over my cheek, one finger anchored behind my ear. Then he tilts his head down and...
VERONICA ROTH

Okay, okay.” I set my hand on top of his and guide it to my chest, so it’s right over my heart. ...
VERONICA ROTH

Resisting is worth doing.
VERONICA ROTH

Someone shouts, "Enough!" and I think too much and nothing at all.
VERONICA ROTH

I want to be brave, and selfless, and smart, and kind, and honest.
VERONICA ROTH

One thing I know: For helping me forget how awful the world is, I prefer her to alcohol.
VERONICA ROTH

I never used to understand why people bothered to hold hands as they walked, but then he runs one of...
VERONICA ROTH

It isn't just brave that she died for me; it is brave that she did it without announcing it, without...
VERONICA ROTH

One choice can transform you.
One choice can destroy you.
Once choice will define you.
VERONICA ROTH

It is more important for you to be safe than right, for the time being. Understand? (...) But please...
VERONICA ROTH

Every faction conditions its members to think and act a certain way. And most people do it. For most...
VERONICA ROTH

My name is Four,” I say. “Call me ‘Stiff’ again and you and I will have a problem.
VERONICA ROTH

And I'm the kind of person who does not let inconsequential things like boys and near death experien...
VERONICA ROTH

He turns toward me. I want to touch him, but I’m afraid of his bareness; afraid that he will make ...
VERONICA ROTH

Yeah, well," I say, "I left Abnegation because I wasn't selfless enough, no matter how hard I tried ...
VERONICA ROTH

Okay. Then...I can talk. Ask me something."
"Okay." He laughs shakily in my ear. "Why is your h...
VERONICA ROTH

You nearly died today,' he says. 'I almost shot you. Why didn't you shoot me, Tris?'
'I couldn'...
VERONICA ROTH

I release the trigger of my gun and drop it. Before I can lose my nerve, I turn and press my forehea...
VERONICA ROTH

We believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for anothe...
VERONICA ROTH

Now i remember why I chose Dauntless. Not because they were brave or anything. But because they were...
VERONICA ROTH

The knife will only hurt for a moment. Then your choice will be made, and it will all be over.
VERONICA ROTH

Killing you is not the worst thing they can do to you," I say. "Controlling you is.
VERONICA ROTH

But you should know that about Dauntless- girl, guy, whatever, it doesn't matter here. What matters ...
VERONICA ROTH

Any idiot can stand in front of a target. It doesn't prove anything except that you're bullying him. Which, as I recall, is a sign of cowardice.

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Veronica Roth

Any idiot can stand in front of a target. It doesn't prove anything except that you're bullying him. Which, as I recall, is a sign of cowardice.

Veronica Roth

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