Veronica Roth, Divergent

"My body rises with the water. Instead of kicking my feet to stay abreast of it, I push all the air from my lungs and sink to the bottom. The water muffles my ears. I feel its movement over my face. I think about snorting the water into my lungs so it kills me faster, but I can't bring myself to do it. I blow bubbles from my mouth. Relax. I close my eyes. My lungs burn."

"Is it selfish for me to crave victory or is it brave?"

"You're my daughter. I don't care about the factions."

"Looking away is submissive. Looking [..] in the eye is a challenge."

"I want to break something, or hit something, but I am afraid to move, so I start crying instead."

"I don't understand', I say,'why they care what I think, as long as I'm acting how they want me to.''You're acting how they want you to now', he says,'but what happens when your Abnegation-wired brain tells you to do something else, something they don't want?"

"Becoming fearless isn't the point. That's impossible. It's learning how to control your fear, and how to be free from it."

"Tris!” Four calls out. Will and I exchange a look, half surprise and half apprehension. Four pulls away from the railing and walksup to me. Ahead of us, Al and Christina stop running, and Christina slides to the ground. I don’t blame them for staring. There are four of us, and Four is only talking to me.“You look different.” His words, normally crisp, are now sluggish.“So do you,” I say. And he does—he looks more relaxed, younger. “What are you doing?”“Flirting with death,” he replies with a laugh. “Drinking near the chasm. Probably not a good idea.”“No, it isn’t.” I’m not sure I like Four this way. There’s something unsettling about it.“Didn’t know you had a tattoo,” he says, looking at my collarbone. He sips the bottle. His breath smells thick and sharp. Like the factionless man’s breath.“Right. The crows,” he says. He glances over his shoulder at his friends, who are carrying on without him, unlike mine. He adds,“I’d ask you to hang out with us, but you’re not supposed to see me this way.”I am tempted to ask him why he wants me to hang out with him, but I suspect the answer has something to do with the bottle inhis hand.“What way?” I ask. “Drunk?”“Yeah...well, no.” His voice softens. “Real, I guess.”“I’ll pretend I didn’t.”“Nice of you.” He puts his lips next to my ear and says, “You look good, Tris.”His words surprise me, and my heart leaps. I wish it didn’t, because judging by the way his eyes slide over mine, he has no ideawhat he’s saying. I laugh. “Do me a favor and stay away from the chasm, okay?”“Of course.” He winks at me."

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

"Oh. I just assumed... That because I am so absorbed by him everyone must be too."

"At home I used to spend calm, pleasant nights with my family. My mother knit scarves for the neighborhood kids. My father helped Caleb with his homework. There was a fire in the fireplace and peace in my heart, as I was doing exactly what I was supposed to be doing, and everything was quiet. I have never been carried around by a large boy, or laughed until my stomach hurt at the dinner table, or listened to the clamor of a hundred people all talking at once. Peace is restrained; this is free."

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

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

"What did you do, memorize a map of the city for fun?” says Christina.“Yes,” says Will, looking puzzled. “Didn’t you?"

"Because life is not fair, Albert. And the world is conspiring against you."

"I should have forgiven him.”“Maybe. Maybe there’s more we all could have done,” he says, “but we just have to let the guilt remind us to do better next time.”I frown and pull back. That is a lesson that members of Abnegation learn – guilt as a tool, rather than a weapon against the self."

"Maybe there's more we all could have done, but we just have to let the guilt remind us to do better next time."

"I wish I could say I felt guilty for what I did. I don't."

"It's when you're acting selflessly that you are at you bravest"

"The opinions of others cannot damage you."