Markus Zusak Quotes & Sayings
Enjoy the top 100 famous quotes, sayings and quotations by Markus Zusak.
Famous Quotes By Markus Zusak
I had many boxing matches with my brother in the backyard when we were younger, and I guess while other people abhor boxing for its brutality, I also have to admire anyone who climbs into the ring to face up to what could be the ultimate defeat. — Markus Zusak
After another ten minutes, the gates of thievery would open just a crack, and Liesel Meminger would widen them a little further and squeeze through.
***TWO QUESTIONS***
Would the gates shut behind her?
Or would they have the goodwill to let her back out?
As Liesel would discover, a good thief requires many things.
Stealth. Nerve. Speed.
More important than any of those things, however, was one final requirement.
Luck.
Actually.
Forget the ten minutes.
The gates open now. — Markus Zusak
Could she smell my breath? Could she hear my cursed circular heart beat revolving like the crime it is in my deathly chest? — Markus Zusak
As she watched all of this, Liesel was certain that these were the poorest souls alive. That's what she wrote about them ... Some looked appealingly at those who had come to observe their humiliation, this prelude to their deaths. Others pleaded for someone, anyone to step forward and catch them in their arms.
No one did. — Markus Zusak
Goodbye, Papa, you saved me. You taught me to read. No one can play like you. I'll never drink champagne. No one can play like you.
-Liesel — Markus Zusak
The city was dark except for the building lights that seemed to appear like sores - like bandaids had been ripped off to expose the city's skin. — Markus Zusak
Those souls are always light because more of them have been put out. More of them have already found their way to other places. This one was sent out by the breath of an accordion, the odd taste of champagne in summer, and the art of promise-keeping. — Markus Zusak
Tradition can be a dirty word, especially around Christmas. Families all over the globe get together and enjoy each other's company for all of a few minutes. For an hour, they endure each other. After that, they just manage to stomach each other. — Markus Zusak
I could smell something. Fear.
I could taste it now.
It tasted like blood in my mouth, and I could feel it slide through me and open me up when I saw him ... — Markus Zusak
There are so many moments to remember and sometimes I think that maybe we're not really people at all. Maybe moments are what we are ... Sometimes I just survive. But sometimes I stand on the rooftop of my existence, arms stretched out, begging for more. — Markus Zusak
Sometimes I imagined how everything looked above those clouds, knowing without question that the sun was blond, and the endless atmosphere was a giant blue eye — Markus Zusak
* * *THE FILES OF RECOLLECTION* * *
Oh, yes, I definitely remember him
The sky was murky and deep like quicksand.
There was a young man parceled up in barbed wire,
like a giant crown of thorns. I untangled him and carried him
out. High above the earth, we sank together,
to our knees. It was just another day, 1918. — Markus Zusak
They're strange, those wars.
Full of blood and violence - but full of stories that are equally difficult to fanthom. "It's true," people will mutter. "I don't care if you don't belive me. It was the fox who saved my life" or, "They died on either side of me and I was left standing there, the only one without a bullet between my eyes. Why me? Why me and not them? — Markus Zusak
A small but noteworthy note. I've seen so many young men over the years who think they're running at other young men. They are not. They are running at me. — Markus Zusak
The point is, it didn't really matter what the book was about. It was what it meant that was important. — Markus Zusak
To me, war is like the new boss who expects the impossible. He stands over your shoulder repeating one thing, incessantly: "Get it done, get it done." So you work harder. You get the job done. The boss, however, does not thank you. He asks for more. Often, — Markus Zusak
I like the idea that every page in every book can have a gem on it. It's probably what I love most about writing - that words can be used in a way that's like a child playing in a sandpit, rearranging things, swapping them around. — Markus Zusak
All four of us were young and undaunted and our smiles were so strong that it made me smile even then on the couch, with a kind of loss. — Markus Zusak
He was the second snowman to be melting away before her eyes, only this one was different. It was a paradox. The colder he became, the more he melted. — Markus Zusak
The nightmares arrived like they always did, much like the best player in the opposition when you've heard rumors that he might be injured or sick-but there he is, warming up with the rest of them, ready to take the field. — Markus Zusak
There was also a rumor that later in the day, she walked fully clothed into the Amper River and said something very strange.
Something about a kiss.
Something about a Saumensch.
How many times did she have to say goodbye? — Markus Zusak
It's all very well for such a person to whine and moan and criticize other family members, but they won't let anyone else do it. — Markus Zusak
One thing I've noticed about the Germans: They seem very fond of pigs. — Markus Zusak
The paper landed on the table, but the news was stapled to his chest. A tattoo. — Markus Zusak
Now he turned on to the side street, making his way to number thirty-three, resisting the urge to smile, resisting the urge to sob or even imagine the safety that might be awaiting him. He reminded himself that this was no time for hope. — Markus Zusak
It could be worse. I could be you. — Markus Zusak
See, Cameron. The only things I care about in this life are me, you, Mum, Dad, Steve and Sarah. And maybe Miffy. The rest of the world means nothing to me. The rest of the world can rot.'
Am I like that too?'
You? No way.' There's a slight gap in his words. 'And that's your problem. You care about everything.'
He's right.
I do. — Markus Zusak
They were all placed on a conveyor belt and run through a rampant machine that gave them a lifetime in ten minutes. Words were fed into them. Time disappeared and they now knew everything they needed to know. They were hypnotized. — Markus Zusak
When death tells a story yo really have to listen — Markus Zusak
Personally, I think sex should be like math.
At school.
No one really cares if they're crap at math. They even proclaim it. They'll say to anyone, "Yeah, I don't mind science and English, but I'm absolutely shithouse at math." And other people will laugh and say,"Yeah, me too. I would have a clue about all that logarithm shit. You should be able to say that about sex too.
You should be proudly able to say, "Yeah I wouldn't have a clue about all that orgasm shit, ay. I'm okay at everything else but when it comes to that part I wouldn't have a clue. — Markus Zusak
You know, Ed,' the Father says, "They say their countless saints that have nothing to do with church and almost no knowledge of God, but they say that God walks with those people without them ever knowing it.' His eyes are inside me now followed by the words 'You're one of those people, Ed. It's an honor to know you.' I've been called many things in my life, but no one has told me it's an honor to know me. — Markus Zusak
**** A 2 A.M. CONVERSATION****
"Is this yours?"
"Yes, Papa."
"Do you want to read it?"
Again, "Yes,Papa."
A tired smile.
Metallic eyes, melting.
"Well, we'd better read it, then. — Markus Zusak
I'm afraid, of falling asleep again. — Markus Zusak
And I stop listening to me, because to put it bluntly, I tire me. — Markus Zusak
It's funny how when you watch people from a long distance, it all seems voiceless. It's like watching a silent movie. You guess what people say. You watch their mouths move and imagine the sounds of their feet hitting the ground. You wonder what they're talking about and, even more so, what they might be thinking — Markus Zusak
I'm twenty years old and look at me
there isn't a thing I want to do — Markus Zusak
His soul sat up. It met me. Those kinds of souls always do - the best ones. The ones who rise up and say "I know who you are and I am ready. Not that I want to go, of course, but I will come." Those souls are always light because more of them have been put out. More of them have already found their way to other places. — Markus Zusak
No one had ever given her music before. — Markus Zusak
My full name's Ed Kennedy. I'm nineteen. I'm an underage cab driver. I'm typical of many of the young men you see in this suburban outpost of the city
not a whole lot of prospects or possibility. That aside, I read more books than I should, and I'm decidedly crap at sex and doing my taxes. Nice to meet you. — Markus Zusak
I deliberately seek out the colors to keep my mind off them, but now and then, I witness the ones who are left behind, crumbling among the jigsaw puzzle of realization, despair and surprise. — Markus Zusak
No crime in wanting a little more, — Markus Zusak
Quite frankly, so am I, because what I'm about to tell you is a fact.
In this country, there is only one thing that can draw a crown without any shadow of a doubt. The answer?
Beer.
Free beer. — Markus Zusak
I carried them in my fingers, like suitcases. Or I'd throw them over my shoulder. It was only the children I carried in my arms. — Markus Zusak
If there are alleys inside me, there must also be hallways. I — Markus Zusak
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph." Papa's hands tightened on the splintery wood. "I'm an idiot."
No, Papa.
You're just a man. — Markus Zusak
We smell the impact of traffic and humans. Humans and traffic. Back and forth. We taste our moment, swallowing it, knowing it. We feel our nerves twitching inside our stomaches, lunging at our skin from beneath. — Markus Zusak
Usually it was like spillage- cold and heavy, slippery and gray- but once in a while some stars had the nerve to rise and float, if only for a few minutes. — Markus Zusak
Do you have to pay to be Jewish? Do you need a licence? — Markus Zusak
They were going to Dachau, to cencentrate. — Markus Zusak
The soft-spoken words fell off the side of the bed, emptying to the floor like powder. — Markus Zusak
She rubbed her eyes, and after a long study of his face, she spoke
"Is it really you?"
Is it from your cheek, she thought, that I took the seed?
The man nodded.
His heart wobbled and he held tighter to the branches.
It is. — Markus Zusak
It was a Monday and they walked on a tightrope to the sun. — Markus Zusak
Maybe one morning I'll wake up and step outside of myself to look back at the old me lying dead among the sheets. — Markus Zusak
Walter Kugler was on the ground, his blond hair peppered with dirt. — Markus Zusak
Sergeant Stephan Schneider — Markus Zusak
It said: Dearest Milla, My sould needs yours. Love, Jimmy — Markus Zusak
Footsteps crease the grass behind us. — Markus Zusak
How do you give someone a piece of sky? — Markus Zusak
They ignore the reality that a new version of the same old problem will be waiting at the end of the trip - — Markus Zusak
Are you looking at a dead man now? — Markus Zusak
She waited for the suffocation of sleep. — Markus Zusak
Just because I can't read, doesn't mean I'm stupid - Liesel — Markus Zusak
Make no mistake, the woman had a heart. She had a bigger one that people would think. There was a lot in it, stored up, high in miles of hidden shelving. Remember that she was the woman with the instrument strapped to her body in the long, moon-slit night. — Markus Zusak
Tears were frozen to the book theif's face. — Markus Zusak
He was skinny with soft hair, and his thick, murky eyes watched as the stranger played one more song in the heavy room. From face to face, he looked on as the man played and the woman wept. The different notes handled her eyes. Such sadness. — Markus Zusak
See, I was never a guy who had a whole heap of friends to belong to. Besides Greg Fienni, I never really had friends. I kind of stayed on my own. I hated it, but I was proud of it too. Cameron Wolfe needed no one. He didn't need to be amongst a pack. Not all of us roam like that. No, all he needed was his instincts. All he needed was himself. — Markus Zusak
If they killed him tonight, at least he would die alive. — Markus Zusak
Jewish shops that were still in operation in Molching. Inside, a small man was stuttering about, crushing the broken glass beneath his feet as he cleaned up. — Markus Zusak
On many counts, taking a boy like Rudy Steiner was robbery
so much life, so much to live for
yet somehow, I'm certain he would have loved to see the frightening rubble and the swelling of the sky on the night he passed away. He'd have cried and turned and smiled if only he could have seen the book thief on her hands and knees, next to his decimated body. He'd have been glad to witness her kissing his dusty, bomb-hit lips.
Yes, I know it.
In the darkness of my dark-beating heart, I know. He'd have loved it all right.
You see?
Even death has a heart. — Markus Zusak
Grimly, she realized that clocks don't make a sound that even remotely resembles ticking, tocking. It was more the sound of a hammer, upside down, hacking methodically at the earth. It was the sound of a grave. — Markus Zusak
And I can promise you something, because it was a thing I saw many years later - a vision in the book thief herself - that as she knelt next to Hans Hubermann, she watched him stand and play the accordion. He stood and strapped it on in the alps of broken houses and played the accordion with kindness silver eyes and even a cigarette slouched on his lips. The bellows breathed and the tall man played for Liesel Meminger one last time as the sky was slowly taken away from her. — Markus Zusak
You can do all manner of underhanded nice things when you have a caustic reputation. — Markus Zusak
[Mama's] voice was surprisingly calm and caring. As you can imagine, this worried the girl a great deal. She'd have preferred to hear them arguing. Whispering adults hardly inspired confidence. — Markus Zusak
Eleven-year-old paranoia was powerful. Eleven-year-old relief was euphoric. — Markus Zusak
Jesus, Mary and Joseph — Markus Zusak
She was like a lone angel floating above the surface of the earth, laughing with delight because she could fly but crying out of loneliness. — Markus Zusak
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. — Markus Zusak
Five hundred souls.
I carried them in my fingers, like suitcases. Or I'd throw them over my shoulder. It was only the the children I carried in my arms. — Markus Zusak
They sat a few meters apart, speaking very rarely, and there was really only the noise of turning pages ( ... ) Where Hans Hubermann and Erik Vandenburg were ultimately united by music, Max and Liesel were held together by the quiet gathering of words.
"Hi, Max."
"Hi, Liesel."
They would sit and read. — Markus Zusak
In that one stolen second, I considered the Glebe girl. She entered my mind like a burglar, them vanished again, taking nothing. It was like the humiliation of the past had been dragged instantly from my back and left somewhere on the ground. — Markus Zusak
Come on, Max,' she whispered, and even the sound of Mama's arrival at her back did not stop her from silently crying. It didn't stop her from pulling a lump of salt water from her eye and feeding it onto Max Vandenburg's face.
Mama took her.
Her arms swallowed her.
'I know',she said.
She knew. — Markus Zusak
One good punch from Rube on me would send the sky into my head and the clouds into my lungs. I just always tried to stay up. — Markus Zusak
When you lie once, you have to make it uniform. We all know that. — Markus Zusak
If a guy like you can stand up and do what you did then maybe everyone can. Maybe everyone can live beyond what they're capable of.
And that's when I realize: I'm not the messenger at all. I'm the message. — Markus Zusak
... it was raining on Himmel Street when the world ended for Liesel Meminger.
The sky was dripping.
Like a tap that a child has tried its hardest to turn off but hasn't quite managed. — Markus Zusak
Failure has been my best friend as a writer. It tests you, to see if you have what it takes to see it through. — Markus Zusak
It's not the place, I think. It's the people. We'd have all been the same anywhere else. — Markus Zusak
You hide a Jew. You pay. Somehow or other, you must. — Markus Zusak