John Boyne Quotes

38 quotes in 680 categories

• Bruno: Why do you wear pajamas all day? Shmuel: The soldiers. They took all our clothes away. Bruno: My dad's a soldier, but not the…
• Bruno: We're not supposed to be friends, you and me. We're meant to be enemies. Did you know that?
• The thing about exploring is that you have to know whether the thing you've found is worth finding. Some things are just sitting there, minding…
• Very slowly he turned his head back to look at Shmuel, who wasn't crying anymore, merely staring at the floor and looking as if he…
• Bruno opened his eyes in wonder at the things he saw. In his imagination he had tough that all the huts were full of happy…
• The dot that became a speck that became a blob that became a figure that became a boy
• Their lost voices Must continue to be heard.
• He suddenly became convinced that if he didn’t do something sensible, something to put his mind to some use, then before he knew it he…
• Sitting around miserable all day won't make you any happier.
• He looked the boy up and down as if he had never seen a child before and wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to…
• The first thing he noticed was how quiet it was. This was nothing like the kind of quiet he heard when he woke up in…
• . . .only the victims and survivors can truly comprehend the awfulness of that time and place; the rest of us live on the other…
• Well you've been brought here against your will, just like I have. If you ask me, we're all in the same boat. And it's leaking.
• He looked down and did something quite out of character for him: he took hold of Shmuel's tiny hand in his and squeezed it tightly.…
• ...Despite the mayhem that followed, Bruno found that he was still holding Shmuel's hand in his own and nothing in the world would have persuaded…
• In his heart, he knew that there was no reason to be impolite to someone, even if they did work for you. There was such…
• But still there are moments when a brother and sister can lay down their instruments of torture for a moment and speak as civilized human…
• The people I see from my window. In the huts, in the distance. They're all dressed the same.' 'Ah, those people,' said Father, nodding his…
• What exactly was the difference? he wondered to himself. And who decided which people wore the striped pajamas and which people wore the uniforms?
• Do you see the irony at all, Tristan?’ I stare at him and shake my head. He seems determined not to speak again until I…

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