Pandemic (The Extinction Files, #1)

by A.G. Riddle

Life is uncertain; in the end we control only a single thing: our own thoughts.

A healthy person has a hundred wishes, but a sick person has only one.

Pretending not to hear his mother was one thing; ignoring his father’s summons was altogether different. Desmond’s mother was quite a bit more forgiving.

People who flew too high—who lived beyond their means and ability—were bound for failure. As were those who never took a chance.

Rejection eats at a person like a worm winding its way through an apple: sooner or later it reaches the core, and you become completely rotten.

To this day I believe a person’s ideal first job is the one that reveals the most about them. Knowing who I was helped me avoid a lot of dead ends in life. A lot of opportunities look good, but I’ve found that sometimes success and happiness are about knowing when to say no.

people who had a difficult childhood are more averse to having children.

Survival sometimes requires us to do things we don’t want to do.”