25 Beautiful Quotes from The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
This is a book that truly changed my life.
I can’t remember the first time that I read The Book Thief, but I know that I was in my early to mid teens. It was the first time I’d experienced writing that felt exquisitely beautiful to read, and completely broke my heart.
Markus Zusak is a brilliant writer - here are some of the best quotes from his book.
About books
‘The book thief has struck for the first time – the beginning of an illustrious career.’
‘She could smell the pages. She could almost taste the words as they stacked up around her.’
‘You cannot be afraid, Read the book. Smile at it. It's a great book-the greatest book you've ever read.’
‘You can't eat books, sweetheart.’
‘The point is, it didn’t really matter what the book was about. It was what it meant that was important.’
‘When she came to write her story, she would wonder when the books and the words started to mean not just something, but everything.’
‘The injury of words. Yes, the brutality of words.’
‘I have hated words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right.’
about family
‘Liesel observed the strangeness of her foster father's eyes. They were made of kindness, and silver.’
‘Sometimes I think my papa is an accordion. When he looks at me and smiles and breathes, I hear the notes.’
‘It's hard to not like a man who not only notices the colors, but speaks them.’
‘No matter how many times she was told that she was loved, there was no recognition that the proof was in the abandonment.’
about being human
‘***HERE IS A SMALL FACT*** ***You are going to die.’
‘Can a person steal happiness? Or is just another internal, infernal human trick.’
‘You’re a human, you should understand self-obsession.’
‘I'm always finding humans at their best and worst. I see their ugly and their beauty and I wonder how the same can be both.’
‘I guess humans like to watch a little destruction. Sandcastles, houses of cards, that’s where they begin. Their great skill is their capacity to escalate.’
‘Still, they have one thing I envy. Humans, if nothing else, have the good sense to die.’
About Antisemitism
‘You could argue that Liesel Meminger had it easy. She did have it easy compared to Max Vandenburg. Certainly, her brother had practically died in her arms. Her mother abandoned her. But anything was better than being a Jew.’
‘Forget the cold and the loneliness. He was a Jew, and if there was one place he was destined to exist, it was a basement or any other such hidden venue of survival.’
‘It’s harder to find a Jew in the dark.’
‘They were French, they were Jews, and they were you.’
about death
‘Five hundred souls. I carried them in my fingers, like suitcases. Or I'd throw them over my shoulder. It was only the the children I carried in my arms.’
‘I traveled the globe as always, handing souls to the conveyor belt of eternity.’
‘It kills me sometimes, how people die.’
What’s your favourite quote from The Book Thief? I’d love to know!
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