John Boyne Quotes

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 sort that takes people's clothes away."

...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 him to let go.

You’re my best friend, Shmuel,’ he said. ‘My best friend for life.

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. "You're my best friend, Shmuel," he said. "My best friend for life.

What exactly was the difference? He wondered to himself. And who decided which people wore the striped pajamas and which people wore the uniforms?

There's things that happen in a person's life that are so scorched in the memory and burned into the heart that there's no forgetting them.

Bruno: We're not supposed to be friends, you and me. We're meant to be enemies. Did you know that?

I think i'm just breathing, that's all. And there's a difference between breathing and being alive.

Sitting around miserable all day won't make you any happier.

Their lost voices must continue to be heard.

Don't make it worse by thinking it's more painful than it actually is.

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 do with one: eat it, ignore it or kick it down the stairs.

(J)ust because your version of normal isn't the same as someone else's version doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with you.

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 a thing as manners after all.

The dot that became a speck that became a blob that became a figure that became a boy

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 beings and Bruno decided to make this one of those moments.

... Nine-year-old boys usually turn ten at some point. It's the nineteen-year-olds who have difficulty turning twenty.

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.

War today is such a more visible thing. We see it on television, on CNN. In 1914, war was a concept.

It reminds me of how grandmother always had the right costume for me to wear. You wear the right outfit and you feel like the person you're pretending to be.

I can't bear to be on a train without a book", she announced. " It's a form of self-defence in a way" .

There is cruelty in the world Eliza, you can see that, can't you? It surrounds us. It breathes on us. We spend our life trying to escape it.

It's not easy making a living as a writer, and for many years I worked at a Waterstones in Dublin. It was a good environment for an aspiring writer, with lots of events and authors appearing.

I was dropped by my publisher after my first two books. But I always believed in myself.

It is possible, you know, to drift off to an unknown world and find happiness there. Maybe even more happiness than you've ever known before.

Just because a man glances up at the sky at night does not make him an astronomer, you know.

We don't have the luxury of thinking ... Some people make all the decisions for us

No woman will ever take care of my children but me, she said. I will not allow it, do you understand?And after I am gone Madge Toxley, if you try to make them yours, then you will live to regret it.

There is cruelty in the world Eliza, you can see that, can't you?It surrounds us. It breathes on us. We spend our life trying to escape it.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas - too sad story. This book is very good and sad

Neither your mother nor I have any imagination at all and we certainly didn't bring you up to have one

He didn't want to play football. He wanted to be told the truth.