Revis Quotes & Sayings

I lean closer to him, so close I can smell his skin, and when I speak, I can see how the little hairs near his ear move with my breath. I also want you to know that I won't kill you right away. But that you'll wish I had. — Beth Revis

I click on the deaths and read the names carefully, memorising them. Because here's the simple truth - if I hadn't taken the ship off Phydus, people like ***** and ******* would still be alive. And while I could say that a shorter life with feelings is better than a longer life without, the dead can't tell me their side. [p.88] — Beth Revis

I saw you running," she says, her attention on the rabbit. "What were you running from?"
"Just running," I say. She watching me silently and intently, like a cat.
"Why?" she asks.
I shrug. "Why not?"
"It's not Productive." She says it like productivity is holy, the only thing worth having.
"So?" ~Amy — Beth Revis

What if eternity is nothing more than me, alone, in the darkness? — Beth Revis

They'll never truly be able to comprehend how much was lost for their limitless sky. — Beth Revis

As soon as the words slip past my lips, I wish I could grab them with my hands and crush them in my fists.
But I can't.
The words are there. — Beth Revis

You never know all of a person; you only know them in a specific moment of time. — Beth Revis

I'm sorry.' The two most inadequate words in the English language. — Beth Revis

If someone loves you, he'll wait for you to love him back — Beth Revis

She stops speaking, but I can hear her silent sobs. They're the loudest thing I've ever heard. — Beth Revis

Don't you see? Those monsters you've been so worried about. Not aliens. People. The monsters have always been people. — Beth Revis

A week ago, I would have snorted at those words. Love was no more real than the "god" Amy worshipped. I'd heard of "love" in the same context that I heard of those religious fairy tales - as stories Sol-Earth people used to tell to make themselves feel better about the imperfect world they helped to create.

But now... — Beth Revis

I told Victria that love is a choice, and I told myself that I didn't have to choose Elder, but I can't forget the way my heart stopped when his did. — Beth Revis

I gaze out, to the stars. I remember the first time I saw real stars, through the hatch window. They were beautiful then, but now, seeing them here, all around me, beautiful feels like an inadequate word. I see the stars as a part of the universe, and having spent my life behind walls, suddenly having none fills me with both awe and terror. Emotion courses through my veins, choking me. I feel so insignificant, a tiny speck surrounded by a million stars.
A million suns.
Centuries away is Sol. Circling around it is Sol-Earth, the planet Amy came from. And one of these other stars is the Centauri binary system, where the new planet spins, waiting for us.
And here we are, in the middle, surrounded by a sea of stars.
Any of them could hold a planet. Any of them could hold a home.
But all of them are out of reach. — Beth Revis

When I finally get out of bed, the only thing I want to do is go straight to Amy and demand her forgiveness. Maybe we can at least go back to what we had before our fight, even if all we had was an awkward friendship punctuated by significant silences. — Beth Revis

It is like a piece of my soul had been lost, empty, and it is now filled with the light of a million stars. — Beth Revis

I'll always come back to you. — Beth Revis

He treats books like treasured, rare things, and I guess they are, but my father used to dog-ear books and read them until they fell apart, and I like his method better — Beth Revis

This is... mating, it's not love. — Beth Revis

We fall into each other. All the other voices in my head
the fear, the doubt, the worry
are drowned out. I die at the end of each kiss and am brought gasping back to life at the beginning of the next. I close my eyes and the entire world fades away. — Beth Revis

It's not knowing that's killing me. Not knowing if there's a chance that something can change, not knowing if there's hope at all. — Beth Revis

Before, if I thought Christmas, I would have remembered my past on Earth and would have succumbed to the aching sadness for a life I can never have again.
Now, I can think the word and not feel anything but a dull ache, a phantom pain for a part of my life that's been amputated. [p.244] — Beth Revis

I choose this," I say, my voice ragged with want. "I choose you. — Beth Revis

If we don't have that, what do we have to live for? Does it matter if it's a lie if it keeps us alive? — Beth Revis

But why run? Run where? What's the point?
Seems silly, running.
May as well stand here.
And wait.
The world seems slow. — Beth Revis

But ... If my life on Earth must end, let it end with a promise.
Let it end with hope. — Beth Revis

It sparkles in the dim light of the room, and when he shakes it out, dust mingles with glitter. — Beth Revis

I guess when someone's gone from your life for a while, all you think about are the big things. The big regrets, the could-have, should-haves. Or the big moments, the memories that are going to be with you forever, those life-changing moments, like first kisses and first confessions and first trusts. And you think about the lasts too: the last kiss, the last words, the last moments. — Beth Revis

We all die someday. Maybe the only thing that makes that fact bearable is the idea that death is the only way we can return to the stars. — Beth Revis

I run and run and run. Past the hospital, through the garden, past a pond. And to the cold metal wall. I stop, gulping at the air, my heart racing in my ears. I reach up with one hand and touch the wall. My fingers curl into a fist, but it falls weakly to my side. And that's when I realize there is no where to run. 'But', my heart whispers, 'there is Elder. — Beth Revis

When I get to my room, the first thing I do is punch the button that operates the blind over the window. The room dims. Good. I want darkness. ~Amy — Beth Revis

It's bad, being frozen, but it's better than waking up alone. — Beth Revis

I reached inside her and pulled out the deepest memories in her body, the memories that words can't describe, the memories that are as much a piece of her as her arms and legs. Those are the ones she's filled with now. — Beth Revis

We're so close we could touch. All it would take is for me to reach out my hand. But neither of us makes a move. — Beth Revis

I'm running as if the force of the wind whipping around my body will be enough to keep all the pieces of me from crumbling. — Beth Revis

But death doesn't work like that. It doesn't care if someone loves you, doesn't want you to go. It just takes. It takes and it takes until eventually you have nothing left. — Beth Revis

I look up. And I am surrounded by the universe.
silence
and stars
A million suns stretch out beyond me, their light piercing the darkness. — Beth Revis

Maybe I'm reading too much into this. It's probably nothing. But I've had "nothing" for too long, and I'm ready for something. Anything. — Beth Revis

I've never seen the stars before.
And I never knew they were so beautiful. — Beth Revis

Words are powerful things. They can start - or end - wars. People believe in words. They are the fundamental expression of ourselves, the division between human and not, the means by which we learn. And while people use words to teach, to express art, to proclaim truths, at the most basic level, people use words to simply say: I am here. — Beth Revis

All of them? I ask. I could almost understand her need to awaken her parents, but we don't need to add nearly a hundred frozen people to the cacophony of voices around us. — Beth Revis

That was before I'd started thinking about how life stuck on a ship wouldn't be so bad if Elder walked around pantless more. — Beth Revis

We are, at least in part, who we remember ourselves to be. Take away our memories, and you take away our selves. — Beth Revis

This ship is built on secrets; it runs on secrets", he says, tiny droplets of spittle flying from his mouth to my face. "And if you keep asking about them, you'll see how far I'm willing to go to keep mine." ~ Eldest — Beth Revis

I have the whole world now, but I don't have him. — Beth Revis

When I look at the fields, all I can see is how fake they are, how poor an imitation they are of the pictures of Sol-Earth fields.
[ ... ]
And that's why I'll never be as good an Eldest as he is.
Because I like a little chaos. — Beth Revis

Mom used to say that the thoughts in our heads were nothing more than electrical impulses. I remember Dad and her talking about this over dinner. It frustrated Dad that the human brain can fire electrical sparks and think, but that the electricity he'd pump into an android brain would never give it independent thought. The body isn't that different from a machine. Humans and androids both run on electricity.
That lightning spark of energy I saw in the reverie.
That was my mother's last thought, an echo of electricity, something that sparked when I entered her dreamscape.
That spark is gone now. Her life is gone now. Everything that made her, her, is gone now. Faded into nothing. — Beth Revis

I feel hollow inside, as if there's a black hole where my heart was, as if I am caving in around myself. — Beth Revis

Eldest taught me about ancient religions that worshiped the sun. I never understood why- it's just a ball of light and heat. But if the sun of Sol-Earth swirls in colors and lights like that girl's hair, well, I can see why the ancients would worship that. — Beth Revis

There's a meaning behind blank pages, too. — Beth Revis

I could tell them about the different kinds of rain, pouring rain that's perfect for when you want to stay inside and watch a movie or read, or piercing rain that feels like needles on your skin, or soft summer rain that makes your first kiss with your first love all the sweeter. ~ Amy — Beth Revis

Like walking through water.
Like drowning. — Beth Revis

Maybe the secret of the stars has nothing to do with being alone. — Beth Revis

The only way to handle pressure is to apply it. — Darrelle Revis

I can think of no better way to meet a girl than to see her through the eyes of the story she loves best. — Beth Revis

Our masterpieces are Shakespeare and Jane Austen and griots and Murasaki Shikibu, but they're also J.K. Rowling and Chuck Palahnuik and Douglas Adams and Amy Tan and Suzanne Collins and Chinua Achebe. Read. Read them all. Read the books you love, and try to read books you don't. Read the genres you love, but sometimes also read a book outside your comfort zone. Read voraciously. — Beth Revis

Emotion courses through my veins, choking me. I feel so insignificant, a tiny speck surrounded by a million stars.
A million suns. — Beth Revis

All the computers in the world are on a network. They're linked by our cuffs. But I'm a computer. Jack's a computer - Akilah - PA Young - all the cy-clones. We're all computers.
You know the great thing about computers?
They can be hacked. — Beth Revis

I've made her relive, over and over, the last few days," I say softly, watching Ms. White's body. "I've had to fill in the blanks with my own feelings and experiences. She's spiraling around those last moments, those times when she went against me, and she's feeling it from my side, the pain, the betrayal."
She thinks she's awake. I'm doing to her just what she did to me. I'm making her feel what it was like to slowly go crazy, to question everything. To watch my mother die. To fight for my life against my best friend. To feel the man who loved me try to kill me.
To know that the woman I trusted as much as my own mother betrayed me.
That's what I'm making her feel.
I've turned her into me, and made her live the life she forced me to live.
Over and over and over again. — Beth Revis

I hug my knees, burying my face in my arms.
This room feels very large, and I feel very small. — Beth Revis

Don't stagnate because of fear. — Beth Revis

Science can make a heart beat," Jack says softly, each word falling on me like a caress. "But it can't make it race. — Beth Revis

Remember that time I punched you in front of my father's grave? I ask in a sentimental voice. — Beth Revis

I try not to look obvious as I wait for Mom's answer. I feel as if I am on the edge of a knife, my feet being sliced by the blade, teetering toward one side or the other.
"Oh, of course!" Mom exclaims, her voice trilling with laughter. "How could I have forgotten?"
And now I know. Really know. This woman is not my mother. I don't know who she is, but I know absolutely who she is not. — Beth Revis

There is only him and me and this thing between us that I cannot name, not out loud, but that my heart knows is love. — Beth Revis

Power isn't control at all - power is strength, and giving that strength to others. A leader isn't someone who forces others to make him stronger; a leader is someone willing to give his strength to others that they may have the strength to stand on their own. — Beth Revis

We can fight, and we can disagree, but I'm never going to let you walk away from me thinking I don't love you. — Beth Revis

That is what a book is: a million little things, a thousand feelings, hundreds of experiences, all melted together and sculpted into a book-shaped vessel. — Beth Revis

You must dedicate your whole life to this idea: you are the caretaker of every single person on this ship. They are your responsibility.
You can never show weakness in front of them: you are their strength.
You can never let them see you in despair: you are their hope.
You must always be everything to everyone on board. — Beth Revis

Even when you're silent, even when you block out all noise, you body is still a cacophony of life. — Beth Revis

I can see, for just a moment, his beating heart in his ribcage, and then that, too, withers and dies, the useless, blackened lump tapping against his ribs before plopping out of his body. — Beth Revis

So, no. I'm talking to an oversized potholder. — Beth Revis

Amy looks up at me, her eyes melting jade. — Beth Revis

What you really want to know," I say, "is how to make sure we all don't just rip each other apart, right?" The fight earlier is way too fresh in our minds. We are a powder keg; just a spark will blow us apart. — Beth Revis

I am surrounded by death, inside and out, and all it does is remind me of how futile everything is, everything ever was. — Beth Revis

I'll always come back to you, he tells me, pulling me close.
Always.
Beth Revis (Shades of Earth pg. 441) — Beth Revis

But Harley has always been this way, for as long as I've known him: he thinks ignorance is the best way to protect someone, and he doesn't understand that what we imagine is often worse than the truth. — Beth Revis

So you're sticking with me, and I'm sticking with you. — Beth Revis

Actually I feel I'm a better player; more mentally. I guess you get better with age people say. You have a lot more wisdom. — Darrelle Revis

Even though I know the rain is fake, it feels the same as real rain, and I desperately need that. — Beth Revis

All I had to do was die a little, and you get a new planet!"
I expected her to laugh, or at least smile. I did not expect her to slap my arm. "You stupid idiot!" she says, smacking me again. "I don't want the new planet without you!"
Her eyes round as she realizes what she just said. Anytime we'd gotten this close to talking about us before, Amy has shied away from the topic. But now, instead of drawing away from me, she leans closer. Her hair spills over her shoulders, brushing my chest as she leans down. Her fiery joy at learning about the planet is replaced with something else, something warmer like a slow-burning but steady flame.
"It wouldn't be worth it without you," she says, her voice low. — Beth Revis

Everyone, this is the new girl. Elder knows her. New girl, this is everyone." A few people look up politely; some actually smile. Most, however, look wary at best, disgusted at worse. The nurse closest to me jabs her finger behind her ear and starts whispering to nobody.
"What's wrong with her?" I ask Harley as he leads me to the table he was sitting at.
"Oh, don't worry, we're all mad here."
I giggle, mostly from nerves. "It's a good thing I read Alice in Wonder-land . I definitely think I've fallen into the rabbit hole."
"Read what?" Harley asks.
"Never mind." All around me, eyes follow my every move.
"Look," I say loudly. "I know I look different. But I'm just a person, like you." I hold my head up high, looking them all in the eyes, trying to hold their stares for as long as possible.
"You tell 'em," says Harley with another Cheshire grin. — Beth Revis

I never thought about how important the sky was until I didn't have one. — Beth Revis

I'm not human.
I'm better. — Beth Revis

Of everyone on this ship, even the frozen bodies of my parents, Elder's the only one who handed me truth and waited for me to accept it. — Beth Revis

Love without choice isn't love at all. — Beth Revis

He looks once in my eyes, a question still there. But we are beyond questions. We are in a plsce where there are only answers, and my answer to him is yes. — Beth Revis

She was a good person. She didn't deserve to die."
"I don't think it works that way. — Beth Revis

God, did they know? A year made the world of difference! This was one more year I could be with Jason, one more year I could live! I signed up for three hundred years ... not three hundred and one! — Beth Revis

And it is everything I have longed for, and everything that breaks my heart. — Beth Revis

As the dreamscape around me grows clearer, I slip further away from it. The mind is a magical thing, I'm discovering. A dreamscape is made of thought and is wider than the sky, able to grow large enough to fit not just our own world, but every possibility and impossibility beyond it. Once I quit thinking of it as being forced into the laws of physics, it's easy to manipulate the dreamscape into anything I want. I don't know how I know all this, no more than I understand how I know things when I dream. I just do.
I throw up my hand, and a wall rises between the orange grove and me. Behind the wall, I start creating the world I need in Representative Belles's mind. — Beth Revis

He's the only stable thing in the swirling chaos. — Beth Revis

Be fearless. Write what you want. Write how you want. Create art. — Beth Revis

It was to apologize, and apologizing means he remembers what happened, and that means being trapped in a nightmare that's already come true. — Beth Revis

(D)reams are like that: they go in and out of memories and scenes, but they're never real. They're never real, and I hate them because they aren't. — Beth Revis

You just never know with contract situations and the whole business side of it. I'm here now and I'm happy to be here now. The future will take care of itself. — Darrelle Revis

Amy pulls away and looks into my face. Her pale skin is blotchy red, her eyes are veined and shadowed, and a shiny line of snot trickles from her nose to the top of her lip.
She wipes her face and with her arm, smearing tears and mucus. She never looked more BEAUTIFUL to me. — Beth Revis

Sometimes home is a person. — Beth Revis

If it's a matter of dying here or dying there, I think I'd like to at least see the world first. — Beth Revis

So, I do what any reasonable person would do when faced with a crying girl.
I get the frex out of there. — Beth Revis