Ruta Sepetys > Quotes

“Some things just won’t go away, no matter how hard you scrub.”
― Ruta Sepetys, Out of the Easy

“Death, it seems, has a mind of its own.”
― Ruta Sepetys, Salt to the Sea

“Truth breaks the chains of silence." Puri puts a trembling hand to her chest. Her voice drops to a whisper.
"It sets us all free.”
― Ruta Sepetys, The Fountains of Silence

“Good luck comes at a price. Bad luck is free.”
― Ruta Sepetys, I Must Betray You

“Good men are often more practical than pretty.”
― Ruta Sepetys, Between Shades of Gray

“Shelves without books were lonely and just plain wrong.”
― Ruta Sepetys, Out of the Easy

“My war had been so long, my winter so cold. But i had made it home. And for the first time in a long time, i was not afraid.”
― Ruta Sepetys, Salt to the Sea

“An old woman is fast asleep when she hears a knock at the door.
Who is it? she whispers, terrified.
It is death, the voice answers.
Oh, good. I thought it might be the Securitate.”
― Ruta Sepetys, I Must Betray You

“Tragedy was a big social event, and everyone wanted in on it.”
― Ruta Sepetys, Out of the Easy

“Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly.”
― Ruta Sepetys, The Fountains of Silence

“But how can they just decide that we're animals? They don't even know us," I said.
"We know us," said Mother. "They're wrong. And don't ever allow them to convince you otherwise. Do you understand?”
― Ruta Sepetys, Between Shades of Gray

“There's a saying, 'Death hath a thousand doors to let out life; I shall find one.' But the children. That's what I struggle with.' He shook his head. 'Why the children?”
― Ruta Sepetys, Salt to the Sea

“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, Salt to the Sea

“Every nation has hidden history, countless stories preserved only by those who experienced them. Stories of war are often read and discussed worldwide by readers whose nations stood on opposite sides during battle. History divided us, but through reading we can be united in story, study, and remembrance. Books join us together as a global reading community, but more important, a global human community striving to learn from the past.”
― Ruta Sepetys, Salt to the Sea

“You like me, Josie Moraine. You just don't know it yet.”
― Ruta Sepetys, Out of the Easy

“Some were desperate to remember and others were desperate to forget.”
― Ruta Sepetys, The Fountains of Silence

“We cannot be too cautious, Hannelore. Just because someone knocks on the door doesn't mean you have to open it. Sometimes, sweet girl, there are wolves at the door. If we are not careful, they might eat us.”
― Ruta Sepetys, Salt to the Sea

“Tadas was sent to the principal today," announced Jonas at dinner. He wedged a huge piece of sausage into his small mouth.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because he talked about hell," sputtered Jonas, juice from the plump sausage dribbling down his chin.

"Jonas, don't speak with your mouth full. Take smaller pieces," scolded Mother.

"Sorry," said Jonas with his moth stuffed. "It's good." He finished chewing. I took a bite of sausage. It was warm and the skin was deliciously salty.

"Tadas told one of the girls that hell is the worst place ever and there's no escape for all eternity."

"Now why would Tadas be talking of hell?" asked Papa, reaching for the vegetables.

"Because his father told him that if Stalin comes to Lithuania, we'll all end up there.”
― Ruta Sepetys, Between Shades of Gray

“It is estimated that Josef Stalin killed more than twenty million people during his reign of terror. The Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia lost more than a third of their population during the Soviet genocide. The deportations reached as far as Finland. To this day, many Russians deny they ever deported a single person. But most Baltic people harbor no grudge, resentment, or ill will. They are grateful to the Soviets who showed compassion. Their freedom is precious, and they are learning to live within it. For some, the liberties we have as American citizens came at the expense of people who lie in unmarked graves in Siberia. Like Joana for Lina, our freedom cost them theirs.

Some wars are about bombing. For the people of the Baltics, this war was about believing. In 1991, after 50 years of brutal occupation, the three Baltic countries regained their independence, peacefully and with dignity. They chose hope over hate and showed the world that even through the darkest night, there is light. Please research it. Tell someone. These three tiny nations have taught us that love is the most powerful army. 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, Between Shades of Gray

“Guilt is a hunter. My conscience mocked me, picking fights like a petulant child. It’s all your fault, the voice whispered.”
― Ruta Sepetys, Salt to the Sea

“She is you, she is your mother, your father, your country. She is Poland.”
― Ruta Sepetys, Salt to the Sea

“As the saying goes, better to die standing than live kneeling.”
― Ruta Sepetys, I Must Betray You

“The books, raped and rummaged of their dignity, lay in heaps on the floor.”
― Ruta Sepetys, Salt to the Sea

“A tiny sliver of gold appeared between shades of gray on the horizon.”
― Ruta Sepetys, Between Shades of Gray

“Ships capacity: 1,463
Passengers on board: 10,573
Lifeboats: 22
But then I remembered.
Ten of the lifeboats were missing”
― Ruta Sepetys, Salt to the Sea

“She held her breath in one hand and her suitcase in the other.”
― Ruta Sepetys, Salt to the Sea

“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, Between Shades of Gray

“Mother was anchor. Mother was comfort. Mother was home. A girl who lost her mother was suddenly a tiny boat on an angry ocean. Some boats eventually floated ashore. And some boats, like me, seemed to float farther and farther from land.”
― Ruta Sepetys, Salt to the Sea

“Sometimes the truth is dangerous… But we should search for it nonetheless.”
― Ruta Sepetys, The Fountains of Silence

“You’re wrong. They steal our power by making us believe we don’t have any. They’re controlling us through our own fear.”
― Ruta Sepetys, I Must Betray You