The Darkest Minds Quotes & Sayings

Cellophane flowers of yellow and green ...
And I can't even help myself, I start laughing - I'm laughing and laughing and
laughing like an absolute crazy person, until the tears track down my face, because it has
to be a sign. I can't believe it's anything less. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. Of course.
Look for the girl with the sun in her eyes
And she's gone
The words echo in my mind, making it ache all over again. She's gone.
Don't go, don't go, don't go - I hate those words, I hate the magnetic pull of whatever it is I've forgotten, the regret waiting to make itself known. — Alexandra Bracken

Mr. President, passage of this bill will visit the heel of oppression on all the people, vitiate their constitutional shield against tyranny, and materially hasten the destruction of the best design for self-government yet devised by the minds of men. Its passage will mark one of the darkest days in history — Strom Thurmond

The darkest minds never fade in the afterlight. — Alexandra Bracken

Breathing him in wasn't enough, I wanted to inhale him. The leather, the smoke, the sweetness. — Alexandra Bracken

There's something I forgot to do. I know I left something I didn't mean to.But when I look back in the rear-view mirror, no one's there. There's nothing at all. Nothing. — Alexandra Bracken

People don't live like islands. — Alexandra Bracken

Hey Boo, I'm in this now, too, & I got a lot of experience playing assholes like they're fucking harps. You need backup, I got you. Stop trying to convince yourself that you're in this alone. — Alexandra Bracken

People are often wary of reading or watching anything in the horror genre because in their minds, it's just senseless gore, death and violence. Well, I can tell you from avid experience, that's not what horror is about. The horror genre teaches us that sometimes really bad things happen to really good people, but that hope always prevails in even the darkest of situations. That's a very important lesson, no matter how frightening you think the teacher is, and to be in the top of her class, all you need to do is to go in with an open mind. — Rebecca McNutt

I started at the beginning, the escape. Fleeing through the forest, meeting a new danger at every turn, the desperation that came with trying to protect everyone when you could barely take care of yourself. The boy with the bottomless dark eyes, the betrayal, the fire, the smoke. And by the time I realized I had told him my own story, Jude was fast asleep, tucked firmly into dreams. — Alexandra Bracken

Are you driving this slow because you have no idea where we're going, or because you're hoping we jump out of the car & put ourselves out of our misery? — Alexandra Bracken

The thing that scares me is that some part of me understands where they're coming from. They took everything from us, you know? Why shouldn't we be able to take it back if we have the power to? — Alexandra Bracken

A moment later, Liam's bright blue eyes opened, and he was seeing me. He just wasn't seeing Ruby. — Alexandra Bracken

Fire is calling my name. It is whispering words of encouragement, sweet things. It wants out, for me to fan the heat until it's a vortex that can't and won't be stopped. — Alexandra Bracken

Horror itself is a bit of a bullied genre, the antagonist being literary snobbery and public misconception. And I think good horror tackles our darkest fears, whatever they may be. It takes us into the minds of the victims, explores the threats, disseminates fear, studies how it changes us. It pulls back the curtain on the ugly underbelly of society, tears away the masks the monsters wear out in the world, shows us the potential truth of the human condition. Horror is truth, unflinching and honest. Not everybody wants to see that, but good horror ensures that it's there to be seen. — Kealan Patrick Burke

The most disastrous times have produced the greatest minds. The purest metal comes of the most ardent furnace; the most brilliant lightning come of the darkest clouds. — Francois-Rene De Chateaubriand

I did more than just toy with her feelings, didn't I, Stewart? — Alexandra Bracken

Life isn't fair." I said. "It's taken me a while to get that. It's always going to disappoint you in some way or another. You'll make plans, and it'll push you in another direction. You will love people, and they'll be taken away no matter how hard you fight to keep them. You'll try for something and won't get it. You don't have to find meaning in it; you don't have to try to change things. You just have to accept the things that are out of your hands and try to take care of yourself. That's your job. — Alexandra Bracken

Black ia the color that is no color at all.
Black is the color of a child's still, empty bedroom. The heaviest hour of night - the one that traps you in your bunk, suffocating in another nightmare. It is a uniform stretched over the broad shoulders of an angry young man. Black is the mud, the lidless eye watching your every breath, the low vibrations of the fence that stretches up to tear at the sky. — Alexandra Bracken

Nope," he whispered, when I tried to tug it away. "Mine now. — Alexandra Bracken

So thought crossed my mind," Liam said suddenly.
"That must've been a lonely journey," Chubs said flipping the pages of his book. — Alexandra Bracken

We used our minds like weapons clenched tightly in our fists, struggling to return them back to their holsters without injuring ourselves in the process. — Alexandra Bracken

I thought I had escaped the monsters, that I'd left them locked up behind an electric fence. But the shadows were alive, and they had chased me here. — Alexandra Bracken

Not Chaos, not the darkest pit of lowest Erebus, nor aught of blinder vacancy, scooped out by help of dreams - can breed such fear and awe as fall upon us often when we look into our Minds, into the Mind of Man. — William Wordsworth

As hope kindles hope, millions more will find it. By our efforts, we have lit a fire as well - a fire in the minds of men. It warms those who feel its power, it burns those who fight its progress, and one day this untamed fire of freedom will reach the darkest corners of our world. — George W. Bush

She shows up everywhere, at any time, like she can guess
what we're going to do before we do it."
"The lady is good at what she does," Liam confirmed.
"Can you please not compliment the person trying to drag our asses back to camp? — Alexandra Bracken

Ruby, give me one reason why we can't be together, and I'll give you a hundred why we can. We can go anywhere you want. I'm not your parents. I'm not going to abandon you or send you away, not ever. — Alexandra Bracken

The thing about enthusiasm-- especially Liam's particular brand-- was that it was catching. There would be nights I would simply sit back, watching, as he became more and more animated with his hands as he spoke, as if trying to shape his ideas out of the air for the rest of us to see. His words were coated with such unyielding hopefulness that it visibly inflated everyone around him. — Alexandra Bracken

I hesitate, hand on my seatbelt buckle. I know I need to get going somewhere, but - well, what's the harm in scoping the area out? Making sure it's as safe as Remy seems to think it is?
"All right, Remy," I say, opening the door.
"Remy," he shoots back. "Jesus, you can't even remember my name? The sewers weren't kind to you, were they?"
"Wait - what?" I ask, shutting the door, locking it. No one's taking my Lucy.
He just looks exasperated, which just makes me confused.
"You called me Ruby," Remy said, indignantly.
I stare at him. There's a flutter of something wild, panicked in my chest I don't understand and I don't particularly want to examine. I'm tired and when I'm tired my tongue gets lazy. "Sorry. Tired. Idiot. — Alexandra Bracken

Maybe we had just gotten too used to being alone
and maybe that needed to change. — Alexandra Bracken

Er, um, well. Most of the things coming out of my mouth are sounds, not words. Seems you spend enough time by yourself dumpster diving, you forget basic
human social skills — Alexandra Bracken

Oh my God, Green," I heard Chubs say from somewhere in the room. "Just take the damn socks
and put the kid out of his misery. — Alexandra Bracken

Even the darkest minds can be overcome with compassion — C.E. Dimond

That's right, you get him, Mary. Don't let him change the subject! — Alexandra Bracken

Let me tell you what I think about your fucking rules," he said, his voice dripping with venom as he pushed past Liam. "You sit up in your room and you pretend like you want what's best for everyone, but you don't do any of the work yourself. I can't tell if you're just a spoiled little shit, or if you're too worried about getting your pretty princess hands dirty, but it sucks. You are fucking awful, and you sure as hell don't have me fooled ... You talk about us all being equals, like we're one big rainbow of peace and all that bullshit, but you never once believed that yourself, did you? You won't let anyone contact their parents, and you don't care about the kids that are still trapped in camps your father set up. You wouldn't even listen when the Watch kids brought it up. So what I want to know is, why can't we leave? ... What's the point of this place, other than for you to get off on how great you are and toy with people and their feelings? — Alexandra Bracken

Love is the greatest healing power I know. Love can heal even the deepest and most painful memories because love brings the light of understanding to the darkest corners of our hearts and minds ... — Louise Hay

Then he was stepping back, away, letting distance flood between us again. His voice was low, rough. "Give 'em hell, darlin'."
"And for the love of God, bitch, don't get stabbed this time!" Vida added. — Alexandra Bracken

Can't seem to stop looking for their reflections behind mine in each window or glossy surface I pass. — Alexandra Bracken

Jude was down there. He was down there. And the last place I would ever leave Jude was alone in the darl. — Alexandra Bracken

He was more p***ed off by us playing a game of who could think up the worst nickname for him."
"Let me guess, you won?"
"It was Boy Scout, actually. I mean, come on. Even I couldn't top Chubby Chubby Choo Choo. — Alexandra Bracken

- I don't want to lose you
- Then why are you the one that keeps letting go? — Alexandra Bracken

I flew in on a cloud and came blitzing down from the heavens like a bolt of lightning on this kid — Alexandra Bracken

You really didn't have White Noise? Calm Control?" I demanded, surprised by the anger licking
at my heart. What camp had these kids been in? Candy Land? — Alexandra Bracken

Let's see if I remember all of this - born in Charlottesville, Virginia, but raised in Salem by her mother, Susan, a teacher, and her father, Jacob, a police officer. Attended Salem Elementary School until your tenth birthday, when your father called into his station to report an unknown child in his house - "
"Stop," I muttered. Liam looked over his shoulder, trying to divide his attention between me and the boy reciting the sordid tale of my life. " - but, bad luck, the PSFs beat the police to your house. Good luck, someone dropped the ball or they had other kiddies to pick up, because they didn't wait around long enough to question your parents, and thus, didn't pre-sort you. And then you came to Thurmond, and you managed to avoid their detecting you were Orange - " "Stop!" I didn't want to hear this - I didn't want anyone to hear it. — Alexandra Bracken

Let's carpe the hell out of this diem. — Alexandra Bracken

The Darkest Minds tend to hide behind the most unlikely faces. — Alexandra Bracken

Stay out of this, Green!" He was still wholly focused on Chubs. "What else did you tell her?
What else did she get out of you?"
I jerked back, one single word throwing me off balance.
"What did you just call her?" Chubs interrupted. Of course he had caught it, too.
"What? I'm not allowed to use her name now?" he demanded. The look on his face was ripe
with derision. "What do you want me to call you? What clever codename did the League think up for
you? Pumpkin? Tiger? Tangerine?"
"You called me Green," I said.
"No I didn't," he said. "Why the hell would I call you that? I know what you are."
"You did," Chubs insisted. "You called her Green. You really don't remember? — Alexandra Bracken

What?" The word exploded out of me. "What do you want me to tell you? You want to hear about how they tied us up like animals to bring us into the camp - or, hey! How about that time a PSF once beat in a girl's skull so badly she actually lost an eye? You want to know what it was like to drink rotten water for an entire summer until new pipes finally came? How I woke up afraid and went to bed in terror every single day for six years? For God's sake, leave me alone! Why do you always have to dig and dig when you know I don't want to talk about it? — Alexandra Bracken

The kids in the League knew about the camps-vaguely. There were only a few of us who had actually lived in one and experienced the life firsthand, but there was an unspoken rule we didn't talk about it. Everyone knew the truth, but the truth didn't live inside them the same way it did for us. They'd heard about the sorting machines, the cabins, the testing, but most of their stories were gossip, completely wrong. These kids had never stood for hours on end in an assembly lime. They didn't know fear came in the shape of a small black camera lens, an eye that followed you everywhere at all times. — Alexandra Bracken

Jude: But I thought Fancy was the Slip Kid?
Olivia: Fancy?
Ruby: He nicknamed Clancy.
Olivia: Fancy sort of suits him. — Alexandra Bracken

Joseph Lister?" Liam said suddenly, cutting through the silence. "Really? Him?"
Chubs stiffened beside me. "That man was a hero. He pioneered research on the origins of infections and sterilization."
Liam stared hard at the faux leather cover of just Chubs's skip-tracer ID, carefully choosing his next words. "You couldn't have chosen something cooler? Someone who is maybe not an old dead white guy?"
"His work led to the reduction of post operative infections and safer surgical practices," Chubs insisted. "Who would you have picked? Captain America?"
"Steve Rogers is a perfectly legit name." Liam pass the ID back to him. " This is all ... very Boba Fett of you. I'm not sure what to say, Chubsie. — Alexandra Bracken

Times of great calamity and confusion have been productive for the greatest minds. The purest ore is produced from the hottest furnace. The brightest thunder-bolt is elicited from the darkest storm. — Charles Caleb Colton

It's been so long since anything really went my way that I can't really remember what "easy" feels like anymore - maybe like breathing without inhaling the ash of the world burning around you — Alexandra Bracken