Ruta Sepetys Quotes

Death, it seems, has a mind of its own.

~ Ruta Sepetys

My arm began moving, turning the invisible crank of Death's music box. Somewhere inside, I didn't want the melody to end.

~ Ruta Sepetys

I became good at pretending. I became so good that after a while the lines blurred between my truth and fiction. And sometimes, when I did a really good job of pretending, I even fooled myself.

~ Ruta Sepetys

We sat and drank in silence. It was something I appreciated about Jesse. He didn't feel the need to fill every moment with talk or some sort of silly exchange.

~ Ruta Sepetys

A guilty conscience is not worth extra food.

~ Ruta Sepetys

We pushed to the edge of recklessness, yet I felt safe.

~ Ruta Sepetys

Per aspera ad astra, Papa,' I whispered. Through hardship to the stars.

~ Ruta Sepetys

He wrapped his arms around me and planted a kiss straight on my lips, hard and long. It felt like I was watching the kiss instead of being inside of it.

~ Ruta Sepetys

Well, I don't know, Lina. But let's just say I've met a lot of dead people.

~ Ruta Sepetys

And she didn't judge nobody. She loved everyone equal- accountants, queers, musicians, she welcomed us all, said we were all idiots just the same.

~ Ruta Sepetys

The only reason I'd lift my skirt is to pull a pistol and plug you in the head.

~ Ruta Sepetys

He wanted to know something about me. I leaned over and put my mouth to his ear. It was barely a whisper.'I'm a murderer.

~ Ruta Sepetys

Perhaps tomorrow I would actually put pen to paper.

~ Ruta Sepetys

He threw his burning cigarette onto our clean living room floor and ground it into the wood with his boot.We were about to become cigarettes.

~ Ruta Sepetys

What determines how we remember history and which elements are preserved and penetrate the collective consciousness? If historical novels stir your interest, pursue the facts, history, memories, and personal testimonies available. These are the shoulders that historical fiction sits upon. When the survivors are gone we must not let the truth disappear with them. Please, give them a voice.

~ Ruta Sepetys

But all of the survivors had one thing in common, and that was love. They survived through love. Whether love of friend, love of country, love of God, or even love of enemy—love reveals to us the truly miraculous nature of the human spirit.

~ Ruta Sepetys

I don't want to see no dead body. Willie ain't in there. She put her walkin' shoes on. She gone to see the Lord.

~ Ruta Sepetys

All the little duckies with their heads in the waterHeads in the waterAll the little duckies with their heads in the waterOh, such sweet little duckies.

~ Ruta Sepetys

I was surrounded by hundreds of drowned children, heads in the water, their little feet in the air.All the little duckies, with their heads in the waterHeads in the water.It was my punishment. Honor lost. Everything lost.Shame is a hunter.My shame was all around me now.

~ Ruta Sepetys

We'd be trying to touch the sky from the bottom of the ocean. I realize that if we boosted one another, maybe we'd get a little closer.

~ Ruta Sepetys

You stand for what is right, without the expectation of gratitude or reward.

~ Ruta Sepetys

Unless it was Cokie, gifts from men weren't free.

~ Ruta Sepetys

It grey louder. Louder. They were singing, singing at the top of their lungs. Andrius joined, and then my brother and the gray-haired man. And finally, the bald man joined in, singing out national anthem. 'Lithuania, land of heroes...

~ Ruta Sepetys

What if this is a horrible mistake? I croaked. Oh, it'll be horrible fine, just a bunch of pretentious rich people with shelves of expensive books they've never read.

~ Ruta Sepetys

New Orleans is unlike any city in America. Its cultural diversity is woven into the food, the music, the architecture - even the local superstitions. It's a sensory experience on all levels and there's a story lurking around every corner.

~ Ruta Sepetys