Wither Quotes

“Fate, I think, is a thief.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“I always knew I was an excellent liar; I just didn't know that I had it in me to fool myself.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“Eventually I realize that I am holding on to him just as tightly as he holds on to me. And here we are: two small dying things, as the world ends around us like falling autumn leaves.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“Fall has always been my favorite season. The time when everything bursts with its last beauty, as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand finale.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“I'll tell you something about true love. There's no science to it. It's as natural as the sky.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“Did you tell freedom hello for me?”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“The trick was looking past the illusion, because the exit was never as far away as it seemed.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“There's nothing here to say good-bye to. There's no dancing girl. No mischievous smile. She's gone, off with her sisters, broken free, escaped. And if she were here now, she would say, "Go.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“who once had dreams of saving the world, now laughs at anyone who
tries.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“Tell freedom I said hello.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“The world seems so clean if you only looked up.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“You've been captive for so long that you don't even realize you want freedom anymore.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“She smiles at our husband as she moves, and he blushes, overcome by her beauty. But I know what her smile really means...Her smile is her revenge.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“So how long do you think it’ll be?” he says. “Before the next hurricane comes along to take you home.”
“Can I tell you my biggest fear?” I say.
“Yes. Tell me.”
“That it will be a very windless four years.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“As I go, I hear her screaming my name, in a brutal, bloody way, like she's being murdered, which maybe she is. But slowly. It will take her six years to die.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“Love is not enough to keep any of us alive.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“Real’ is a dirty word in this place.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“Rhine. The river that, somewhere out there, has broken free.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“I can almost see what Gabriel meant when he asked, 'What has the free world got that you can’t get here?'
Almost.

Freedom, Gabriel. That’s what you can’t get here.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“Tell freedom I said hello.'
'If I happen to see it, I will.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“Even the human race can't claim to be natural anymore. We are fake, dying things. How fitting that I would end up in this sham of a marriage.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“But instead of tears, when I press my face against the pillow, a horrible, primal scream comes out of me. It's unlike anything I thought myself capable of. Rage, unlike anything I've ever known.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“Suddenly the clouds seem high above us. They’re moving over us in an arch, circling the planet. They have seen abysmal oceans and charred, scorched islands. They have seen how we destroyed the world. If I could see everything, as the clouds do, would I swirl around this remaining continent, still so full of color and life and seasons, wanting to protect it? Or would I just laugh at the futility of it all, and meander onward, down the earth’s sloping atmosphere?”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“Times like this, when she slips her hand into mine and holds on tight, and our husband becomes just a shadow in the doorway.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“I wonder if she has figured out that I'll never love Linden, especially not in the way she does, and that he'll never love anyone the way he loves her. I wonder if she realizes, despite all her efforts to train me, that I can never take her place.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“Tell me about yourself."

"Myself?" He looks confused.

"Yes," I say, patting the mattress.

"You know all there is to know," he says, sitting beside me.

"Not true," I say. "Where were you born? What's your favourite season? Anything."

"Here. Florida," he says. "I remember a woman in a red dress with curly brown hair. Maybe she was my mother, I'm not sure. And summer. What about you?" The last part is said with a smile. He smiles so infrequently that I consider each one a trophy.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“And if I have to die trying, I will get out of here.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“And here we are: two small dying things, as the world ends around us like falling autumn leaves.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“What have you done? What have you given up?'
So many things, Cecily. More than you know.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“I can hear my brother's voice in my head. Your problem is that you're too emotional.
But how can I not be emotional, Rowan? How can I not care?”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“It's the silence I imagine in the rest of the world, the silence of an endless ocean and uninhabitable island, a silence that can be seen from space.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“I shake my head, watching snow tumble and swirl from an all-white sky. The world seems so clean if you only look up”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“There's a hazy smile on her lips that won't go away, and her hair is a mess. It's like a brushfire filled with casualties.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“You’re insane, you know that?” he says. “It’s the only thing keeping me afloat,” I say.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“On tiptoes the redhead wouldn't even reach my shoulders; she is clearly too young to be a bride. And the willowy girl is too forlorn. And I am too unwilling.
Yet here we are.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“A party in the orange grove. The pain on Linden's face is immediate. I am unwavering. He has cost me more pain than I will ever be able to repay.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“...our parents' death broke his sense of wonder. My left-brained brother, who once had dreams of saving the world, now laughs at anyone who tries.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“Poor kid,' Jenna says, and rolls her eyes toward me for a moment. Then she returns to her book. 'She doesn't even understand what kind of place this is.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“None of the wives mention the security guards by the door, who will probably tackle us to the ground if we try to leave without our husbands.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“My sisters were in that van.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“For males twenty-five is the fatal age. For women it's twenty. We are all dropping like flies.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“‎I have always been fascinated by the ocean, to dip a limb beneath its surface and know that I'm touching eternity, that it goes on forever until it begins here again.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“I open my mouth to, I don't know, apologize again maybe. But he takes my face in his hands and presses his forehead to mine. And he's so close that I can feel his little warm breaths, and all I know is that when he draws his next breath, I want to get sucked in.
Our lips touched, almost as soft as not touching at all. Then they press closer to each other, draw back uncertainly, touch again. There is warmth shooting through my broken body where there should be pain, and I put my arms around the back of his neck and I hold on to him. I hold on because you never know in this place when something good will be taken away.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“I’ll tell you something about true love. There’s no science to it. It’s as natural as the sky.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“Don't you miss it?" I say. "Being free."
He laughs.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“Before I can process what’s happening, Deirdre has opened her hands and Linden has taken the ring from her and slipped it onto my finger.
“Rhine Ashby,” he says.
“My wife.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“You want to know about true love? I'll tell you something about true love. There's no science to it. It's natural as the sky.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“In the distance I see a lighthouse. The light washes over us and continues on its rotation. This time, I don't know where the light will guide us.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“There is warmth shooting through my broken body where there should be pain, and I put my arms around the back of his neck and I hold on to him. I hold on because you never know in this place when something good will be taken away.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither