Jeanne DuPrau > Quotes

“The trouble with anger is, it gets hold of you. And then you aren't the master of yourself anymore. Anger is. And when anger is the boss, you get unintended consequences.”
― Jeanne DuPrau, The City of Ember

“When someone has been mean to you, why would you want to be good to them?' 'You wouldn't want to. That's what makes it hard. You do it anyway. Being good is hard. Much harder than being bad.”
― Jeanne DuPrau, The People of Sparks

“There is so much darkness in Ember, Lina. It's not just outside, it's inside us, too. Everyone has some darkness inside. It's like a hungry creature. It wants and wants and wants with a terrible power. And the more you give it, the bigger and hungrier it gets.
-Clary”
― Jeanne DuPrau, The City of Ember

“The trouble with anger is, it gets hold of you. And then you aren't the master of yourself anymore. Anger is.”
― Jeanne DuPrau, The City of Ember

“She realized all at once that Doon, thin, dark eyed Doon, with his troublesome temper and his terrible brown jacket, and his good heart---- was the person she knew better than anyone now. He was her best friend.
--City of Ember--”
― Jeanne DuPrau

“The main thing to do is pay attention. Pay close attention to everything, notice what no one else notices. Then you'll know what no one else knows, and that's always useful.”
― Jeanne DuPrau, The City of Ember

“Remember the city, the city remember
Where treasure is hidden under the ground
The city, the city, always remember
That's where the treasure will be found.”
― Jeanne DuPrau, The People of Sparks

“What you need to learn, children, is the difference between right and wrong in every area of life. And once you learn the difference, you must always choose the right.”
― Jeanne DuPrau, The City of Ember

“A darkness different from Ember's, but just as frightening...”
― Jeanne DuPrau, The Diamond of Darkhold

“Now Doon seemed to care for his new friends more than he did for her. Every time she thought about him she felt a thud of pain, like a bruised place inside her.”
― Jeanne DuPrau, The People of Sparks

“His sympathy made tears spring to Lina's eyes. Doon looked startled for a moment, and then he took a step toward her and wrapped his arms around her. He gave her a squeeze so quick and tight that it made her cough, and then it made her laugh. She realized all at once that Doon--thin, dark-eyed Doon with his troublesome temper and his terrible brown jacket and his good heart--was the person that she knew better than anyone now. He was her best friend.”
― Jeanne DuPrau, The City of Ember

“A person who thought he knew everything simply didn’t understand how much there was to know.”
― Jeanne DuPrau, The Diamond of Darkhold

“Maybe there was no happily ever after [...] but there was happiness sometimes and she had it now, doing what she knew she was born for.”
― Jeanne DuPrau, The Diamond of Darkhold

“People find a way through just about anything.”
― Jeanne DuPrau, The City of Ember

“Doon was touched. Kenny looked like a tiny little wisp, but there was something strong inside him. --People of Sparks--”
― Jeanne DuPrau

“People didn't make life, so they can't destroy it. Even if we were to wipe out every bit of life in the world, we can't touch the place life comes from. Whatever made the plants and animals and people spring up in the first place will always be there, and life will spring up again.”
― Jeanne DuPrau, The People of Sparks

“I try to remind myself that we are never promised anything, and that what control we can exert is not over the events that befall us but how we address ourselves to them.”
― Jeanne DuPrau

“It would be something that another person had written down without understanding its significance; just a sentence or two that would be like a flash of light.”
― Jeanne DuPrau, The City of Ember

“It’s for my God, the god of dogs, and snakes and dust mites and albino bears and Siamese twins, the god of stars and starships and other dimensions, the god who loves everyone and makes everything marvelous.”
― Jeanne DuPrau, The Prophet of Yonwood

“He says I'm beautiful as a red tomato”
― Jeanne DuPrau, The City of Ember

“The idea seemed to be that if you prayed extremely hard--especially if a lot of people prayed at once--maybe God would change things. The trouble was, what if your enemy was praying, too? Which prayer would God listen to?”
― Jeanne DuPrau, The Prophet of Yonwood

“It wasn't because they had extraordinary powers, really, but because of how well they used the ordinary powers everyone had: the power of courage, the power of kindness, the powers of curiosity and knowledge.”
― Jeanne DuPrau, The Diamond of Darkhold

“Can't it be stopped?" said Lina. She shifted around under her blanket, trying to find a place to sit where rocks weren't digging into her.
Maybe it can be stopped at the beginning," Maddy said. "If someone sees what's happening and is brave enough to reverse the direction."
Reverse the direction?"
Yes, turn it around."
How would you do that?"
You'd do something good," said Maddy. "Or at least you'd keep yourself from doing something bad."
But how could you?" said Lina. "When people have been mean to you, why would you want to be good to them?"
You wouldn't want to," said Maddy. "That's what makes it hard. you do it anyway. Being good is hard. Much harder than being bad.”
― Jeanne DuPrau, The People of Sparks

“Lina couldn't sleep at first, thinking of the old songs and what they meant. Someone, long ago, had hoped that at least a few people would survive and had wanted them to remember her city and the treasure it held, the treasure that was most valuable of all - herself, her family, and all of the generations of people who had lived in that secret place, their purpose, though they didn't know it, to make sure that human beings did not vanish from the world, no matter what happened above.”
― Jeanne DuPrau, The People of Sparks

“Poppy was now almost well. She still slept more than usual, but when she wasn't sleeping she tromped around the doctor's house pulling spoons off the table and spilling cups of water and crumpling pages of books. That is, she was almost her old self.”
― Jeanne DuPrau, The People of Sparks

“You know, son, I don't think there's such a thing as an easy life. There's always going to be hard work and there will always be misfortunes we can't control, lurking out at the edges - storms, sickness, wolves. But there is such a thing as a good life and I think that we have one here.”
― Jeanne DuPrau, The Diamond of Darkhold

“Unintended consequences, he thought miserably.
He was angry at his anger, the way it surged up
and took over.”
― Jeanne DuPrau, The City of Ember

“Kept talking about how she's studying every holy book she can get her hands on, aiming to understand God's word. I quoted St. Augustine to her. 'If you understand it, it isn't God.' Gave her a cup of chamomile tea.”
― Jeanne DuPrau, The Prophet of Yonwood

“Mrs. Murdo, walkind even more briskly to keep her spirits up, was crossing Harken Square when something fell to the pavement just in front of her with a terrific thump. How extraordinary, she thought, bending to pick it up. It was sort of a bundle. She began to untie it.”
― Jeanne DuPrau

“Wouldn't it be strange, she thought, to have a blue sky? But she liked the way it looked. It would be beautiful - a blue sky.”
― Jeanne DuPrau, The City of Ember

“Why, if its going to be allright, do we see it getting worse every day?”
― Jeanne DuPrau, The City of Ember

“The main thing is to pay attention. Pay close attention to everything, notice what no one else notices. Then you’ll know what no one else knows, and that’s always useful.”
― Jeanne DuPrau, The City of Ember

“Lina loved her little sister so much that it was like an ache under her ribs.”
― Jeanne DuPrau, The City of Ember

“Think about what it would mean to fight," he said. "Say we barricade ourselves here in the hotel and refuse to leave. They come at us with their Weapon, whatever it is. Some of us are hurt, some die. We go out to meet them with whatever weapons we can find - sticks, maybe, or pieces of broken glass. We battle each other. Maybe they set fire to the hotel. Maybe we march into the village and steal food from them nad they come after us and beat us. We beat them back. In the end, maybe we damage them so badly that they're too weak to make us leave. What do we have? Friends and neighbors and families dead. A place half destroyed, and those left in it full of hatred for us. And we ourselves will have to live with the memory of the terrible things we have done.”
― Jeanne DuPrau, The People of Sparks

“She started back down the trail. If no dogs find the food, she thought, maybe squirrels will. Or that white bear. Or if no one finds it, then it can all be for God. Only not for the Prophet's God, her mean, picky God who dislikes so many things. It's for my God, the god of dogs and snakes and dust mites and albino bears and Siamese twins, the god of stars and starships and other dimensions, the god who loves everyone and who makes everything marvelous.”
― Jeanne DuPrau, The Prophet of Yonwood

“Don’t worry,” said Maddy. “People didn’t make life, so they can’t destroy it. Even if we were to wipe out every bit of life in the world, we can’t touch the place life comes from. Whatever made plants and animals and people spring up in the first place will always be there, and life will spring up again.”
― Jeanne DuPrau

“Lina had never seen anyone so disorganized as the doctor. She peeked into the medicine room once when the doctor was out and was amazed at the clutter in there-shelves and cupboards and tables piled with stuff in bottles and stuff in boxes and stuff in jars, all higgledy-piggledy. How Dr. Hester found anything she couldn't imagine.”
― Jeanne DuPrau, The People of Sparks

“Lina liked going to the market plaza. It was always alive with people and animals, and the market had things she'd never seen before-sandals made of old truck tires, hats and baskets woven of straw.”
― Jeanne DuPrau, The People of Sparks

“Goats and oxen, pulling carts in from the field, left their big, smelly plops all over. these got cleaned up eventually-someone came and scraped them into buckets and took them away-but often this didn't happen until halfway through the morning, and people had to step carefully until then and breathe in that powerful smell.”
― Jeanne DuPrau, The People of Sparks