The Selection Series Collection (The Selection #1-4)

by Kiera Cass

“Darling, what’s wrong?” Darling? The word, so tender and personal, enveloped me. In that moment, any desire I had to fight my feelings for Maxon disappeared. I wanted to be his dear, his darling. I wanted to be Maxon’s alone.

“It’s the most wonderful and terrible thing that can ever happen to you,” she said simply. “You know that you’ve found something amazing, and you want to hold on to it forever; and every second after you have it, you fear the moment you might lose it.”

It was like they carried the sun inside their souls and let it shine out on everything around them.

I obeyed, and as the dress cinched me in again, I thought of a soldier going to war. Different armor but the same idea. Tonight I was taking down a man.

The best people all have some kind of scar.”

I really was more than my caste.

“I know. But sometimes it’s about what you want to do, not what you have to.”

If you can do that, if you can keep from letting fear make you settle for second best,

I’m going to love you more than any man has ever loved a woman, more than you ever dreamed you could be loved. I promise you that.”

. . I want everything with you, America. I want the holidays and the birthdays, the busy seasons and lazy weekends. I want peanut butter fingerprints on my desk. I want inside jokes and fights and everything. I want a life with you.”

You are not the world, but you are everything that makes the world good. Without you, my life would still exist, but that’s all it would manage to do.

“Break my heart. Break it a thousand times if you like. It was only ever yours to break anyway.”

“I’ll love you until my very last breath. Every beat of my heart is yours. I don’t want to die without you knowing that.”

Didn’t the sky know the world was falling apart? How could the sun shine today?

The outfit was feminine enough to soften me but strong enough that I’d be taken seriously. It was a fine line to walk, but I did it every day.

“I think you’re mistaking comfort for joy.”

“I’m not sure anyone knows what they’re looking for until they find it.”

“the Declaration of Independence? And it said the people were allowed to pursue happiness. But no person making that document could actually hand over happiness.”

People will throw food at me, people will throw words at me, and I have to be stronger than that if I’m going to survive.”

“Don’t do that,” he said. “Don’t make it seem like it’s not important.”

You can be brave and still be feminine. You can lead and still love flowers. Most important, you can be queen and still be a bride.