"Bruno: There is such thing as a nice Jew, though, isn't there?
Herr Liszt: I think, Bruno, if you ever found a nice Jew, you would be the best explorer in the world. "
— John Boyne (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas)

"The thing about exploring is that you have to know whether the thing you've found is worth finding. Some things are just sitting there, minding their own business, waiting to be discovered. Like America. And other things are probably better off left alone. Like a dead mouse at the back of the cupboard."
— John Boyne (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas)

"Bruno: We're not supposed to be friends, you and me. We're meant to be enemies. Did you know that? "
— John Boyne (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas)

"''The dot that became a speck that became a blob that became a figure that became a boy''"
— 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. "
— John Boyne (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas)

"He suddenly became convinced that if he didn’t do something sensible, something to put his mind to some use, then before he knew it he would be wondering round the streets having fights with himself and inviting domestic animals to social occasions too."
— John Boyne (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas)

"''Bruno opened his eyes in wonder at the things he saw. In his imagination he had tough that all the huts were full of happy families, some of whom sat outside on rocking chairs in the evening and told stories about how things were so much better when they were children and they'd had nowadays. He thought that all the boys and girls who lived there would be in different groups, playing tennis or football, skipping and drawing out squares for hopscotch on the ground.
As it turned out, all the things he thought might be there-wern't.'' -The boy in the striped Pajamas"
— John Boyne (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas)

""Their lost voices Must continue to be heard.""
— John Boyne (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas)