John Boyne quotes

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. (John Boyne)
I can't bear to be on a train without a book", she announced. " It's a form of self-defence in a way". View quote
John Boyne
Their lost voices Must continue to be heard. View quote
John Boyne
Don't make it worse by thinking it's more painful than it actually is. View quote
John Boyne
Bruno: We're not supposed to be friends, you and me. We're meant to be enemies. Did you know that? View quote
John Boyne
Sitting around miserable all day won't make you any happier. View quote
John Boyne
(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. View quote
John Boyne
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. View quote
John Boyne
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. View quote
John Boyne
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. View quote
John Boyne
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. (John Boyne)
I think i'm just breathing, that's all. And there's a difference between breathing and being alive. View quote
John Boyne
Just because a man glances up at the sky at night does not make him an astronomer, you know. View quote
John Boyne
... 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. View quote
John Boyne
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. View quote
John Boyne
You're my best friend, Shmuel,' he said. ‘My best friend for life. View quote
John Boyne
What exactly was the difference? He wondered to himself. And who decided which people wore the striped pajamas and which people wore the uniforms? View quote
John Boyne
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. View quote
John Boyne
... only the victims and survivors can truly comprehend the awfulness of that time and place; the rest of us live on the other side of the fence, staring through from our own comfortable place, trying in our own clumsy ways to make sense of it all. View quote
John Boyne
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. View quote
John Boyne
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. (John Boyne)
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. View quote
John Boyne
I am opposed to war, to killing people, to any kind of hatred and violence. View quote
John Boyne
Throughout my teenage years, I read 'A Christmas Carol' by Charles Dickens every December. It was a story that never failed to excite me, for as well as being a Dickens enthusiast, I have always loved ghost stories. View quote
John Boyne
People try to glorify war, particularly those who aren't actually fighting in them. People tend to make heroes of those who are fighting in them. View quote
John Boyne