Ruta Sepetys > Quotes

“An unexamined life is not worth living.”
― Ruta Sepetys, I Must Betray You

“You think you know someone. And when you realize you're wrong, the humiliation steals something from you. Your mind becomes a thick forest of dark thoughts and you wonder; 'what else am I not seeing?”
― Ruta Sepetys, I Must Betray You

“A woman nearby fell to her knees, sobbing. 'They say I can only choose one child for the ship. How can I choose? Please don't make me choose.”
― Ruta Sepetys, Salt to the Sea

“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, Out of the Easy

“We have only died if you forget us.”
― Ruta Sepetys, The Fountains of Silence

“The soldier stared at Ingrid. His silence was elastic, slowly curling a rope around her neck.”
― Ruta Sepetys, Salt to the Sea

“There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion. —Sir Francis Bacon”
― Ruta Sepetys, Out of the Easy

“He said nothing, just pulled me down into his lap and wrapped his arms around me.”
― Ruta Sepetys, Out of the Easy

“I remembered Papa talking about Stalin confiscating peasants' land, tools, and animals. He told them what crops they would produce and how much they would be paid. I thought it was ridiculous. How could Stalin simply take something that didn't belong to him, something that a farmer and his family had worked their whole lives for? "That's communism, Lina," Papa had said.”
― Ruta Sepetys, Between Shades of Gray

“The sinking of the Gustloff is the largest maritime disaster, yet the world still knows nothing of it. I often wonder, will that ever change or will it remain just another secret swallowed by war? You”
― Ruta Sepetys, Salt to the Sea

“The sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff is the deadliest disaster in maritime history, with losses dwarfing the death tolls of the famous ships Titanic and Lusitania. Yet remarkably, most people have never heard of it. On January 30, 1945, four torpedoes waited in the belly of Soviet submarine S-13.”
― Ruta Sepetys, Salt to the Sea

“So I build my own nest and feather it with thoughts of you.”
― Ruta Sepetys, Salt to the Sea

“You stand for what is right, without the expectation of gratitude or reward.”
― Ruta Sepetys, Between Shades of Gray

“But I had learned to read very young. They could never take that away from me.”
― Ruta Sepetys, Salt to the Sea

“Guilt is a hunter.
I was its hostage.”
― Ruta Sepetys, Salt to the Sea

“Sometimes we think we know. We’re sure we know. But we know nothing. Years pass and eventually, time becomes the unveiler of truth.”
― Ruta Sepetys, I Must Betray You

“One day when I was fourteen, I told Charlie that I hated Mother. “Don’t hate her, Jo,” he told me. “Feel sorry for her. She’s not near as smart as you. She wasn’t born with your compass, so she wanders around, bumping into all sorts of walls. That’s sad.”
― Ruta Sepetys, Out of the Easy

“When the survivors are gone we must not let the truth disappear with them. Please, give them a voice.”
― Ruta Sepetys, Salt to the Sea

“And so I confess, dear Padre, that I feel confused. Fuga is gone. Taken by a bullet. I should feel guilty and full of fear. But somehow, I feel more connected to my friend and more proud of him than ever. Fuga never compromised. He never apologized for who or what he was. His difficult past was not a burden to him but an inspiration.”
― Ruta Sepetys, The Fountains of Silence

“Jesse motioned to my hair. “Looks like you’ve been in the bath yourself.” He settled into a chair on the front porch.

“I had just washed my hair, but then I had to go shoot someone. Do you want a cold drink?”
― Ruta Sepetys, Out of the Easy

“The sweet girl in Madrid... It probably wouldn't have worked. The divide was too wide. Memories are hungry, tesoro. You musn't feed them. I'd hate to think that a teenage fling might leave you alone for the rest of your life.”
― Ruta Sepetys, The Fountains of Silence

“If communism is Paradise, why do we need barriers, walls, and laws to keep people from escaping? A great question indeed. In the days ahead, let us not forget these sentiments as we reflect upon communism's aim to create a man without a memory.”
― Ruta Sepetys, I Must Betray You

“the poet Emerson said that when we have worn out our shoes, the strength of the journey has passed into our body.”
― Ruta Sepetys, Salt to the Sea

“So, you hate me?” He laughed.
How could Mother have tolerated Kretzsky? She claimed he had helped her.
“I hate me, too,” he said.”
― Ruta Sepetys, Between Shades of Gray

“Valencia. City by the sea, birthplace of her favorite painter, Sorolla. Hotel guests speak of Valencia’s tranquil beauty, fragrant orange trees, and rolling blue waters. What does a large body of water sound and smell like? Ana wonders. Landlocked, fenced by circumstance, she has never seen the sea. She sees Spain only through images on postcards that guests collect in their rooms. If she transfers to the hotel business office, perhaps one day she too will walk along the beach in Valencia.”
― Ruta Sepetys, The Fountains of Silence

“Komorov thought he was torturing us. But we were escaping into a stillness within ourselves. We found strength there.”
― Ruta Sepetys, Between Shades of Gray

“I had said too much. He was giving me the look. I hated the look. It was the “You’ve had it tough, huh, kid?” look. It made me feel pathetic.”
― Ruta Sepetys, Out of the Easy

“Be in control of your piece, Jo. The minute it takes control of you, you’re dead,” Willie would tell me.”
― Ruta Sepetys, Out of the Easy

“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

“We brought her into the house. My stomach pushed up into my throat. The Polish girl was my sister’s age. What had human beings become? Did war make us evil or just activate an evil already lurking within us?”
― Ruta Sepetys, Salt to the Sea