Dust Quotes

“That's the problem with the truth," Darcy said. "Liars and honest men both claim to have it.”
― Hugh Howey, Dust

“Elise asked what nostalgic meant, and Jewel said, “It’s where you think the past was better than it really was, only because the present sucks so bad.”
― Hugh Howey, Dust

“Sleep was a vehicle for passing the time, for avoiding the present. It was a trolley for the depressed, the impatient, and the dying.”
― Hugh Howey, Dust

“My only wish is that we leave room for hope. There is good and bad in all things. We find what we expect to find. We see what we expect to see. I have learned that if I tilt my head just right and squint, the world outside is beautiful. The future is bright. There are good things to come.”
― Hugh Howey, Dust

“It doesn’t bother me that I won’t be around one day,” Lukas said after a while. “I don’t stress about the fact that I wasn’t here a hundred years ago. I think death will be a lot like that. A hundred years from now my life will be just like it was a hundred years ago.”
― Hugh Howey, Dust

“Heroes didn't win. The heroes were whoever happened to win. History told their story -- the dead didn't say a word. All of it was bullshit.”
― Hugh Howey, Dust

“There was no going back. Apologies weren't welds; they were just an admission that something had been broken. Often between two people.”
― Hugh Howey, Dust

“Maybe the kinds of people who try to shape the world feel like they’re smarter than chaos itself.”
― Hugh Howey, Dust

“The idea of saving anything was folly, a life especially. No life had been truly saved, not in the history of mankind. They were merely prolonged. Everything comes to an end.”
― Hugh Howey, Dust

“Our actions, you know? They last forever. Whatever we do, it’ll always be what we did. There’s no taking them back.”
― Hugh Howey, Dust

“And every mistake. But every good thing we do as well. They are immortal, every single touch we leave behind. Even if nobody sees them or remembers them, that doesn’t matter. That trail will always be what happened, what we did, every choice. The past lives on forever. There’s no changing it.”
― Hugh Howey, Dust

“...Everything we do is left in...like a trail out there, a big ring of decisions. Every action we take-"
"And mistake."
"And every mistake. But every good thing we do as well. They are immortal, every single touch we leave behind. Even if nobody sees them or remembers them, that doesn't matter. That trail will always be what happened, what we did, every choice. The past lives on forever. There's no changing it.”
― Hugh Howey, Dust

“Gravity is a bitch until she's on your side.”
― Hugh Howey, Dust

“No life had ever been truly saved, not in the history of mankind. They were merely prolonged. Everything comes to an end.”
― Hugh Howey, Dust

“There is good and bad in all things. We find what we expect to find. We see what we expect to see. I have learned that if I tilt my head just right and squint, the world outside is beautiful.”
― Hugh Howey, Dust

“It was what to replace injustice with that very few gave thought to.”
― Hugh Howey, Dust

“The world out there was the way it was no matter how much doubt or hope or hate a person breathed into it.”
― Hugh Howey, Dust

“Where a story ends is nothing more than a snapshot in time, a brief flash of emotion, a pause. How and if it continues is up to us.”
― Hugh Howey, Dust

“This was how it worked. You lived. You did your best. You got out of the way. You let those who come after you choose. You let them decide for themselves, live their own lives. This was the way.”
― Hugh Howey, Dust

“The idea of saving anything was folly, a life especially. No life had ever been truly saved, not in the history of mankind. They were merely prolonged. Everything comes to an end.”
― Hugh Howey, Dust

“And the stains would never wash out. That's what Lukas was saying. She would always have hurt her father. Was that the way to phrase it? Always have had. It was immortal tense. A new rule of grammar.”
― Hugh Howey, Dust

“The dust is in the air,” Donald said. He leaned against the counter, his knees weak. The nanos eating away at mankind, they were loosed on the world with every cleaning, little puffs like clockwork, tick-tock with each exile. The headphones sat there quietly. “I am an ancient,” Donald said, using her words. He grabbed the headphones from the desk and repeated into the microphone, loudly, “I am an ancient! I did this!” He sagged once more against the desk, catching himself before he fell. “I’m sorry,” he muttered. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Louder, yelling it: “I’m sorry!” But nobody was listening.”
― Hugh Howey, Dust

“They arrived in a trickle, and then in clumps, and then in crowds. They marveled at the steady lights in the hallways and explored the offices. None of these people had ever seen the inside of IT. Few of them had spent much time in the Up Top, except on pilgrimages after a cleaning. Families wandered from room to room; kids clutched reams of paper; many came to Juliette or the others with the notes Raph had folded and dropped, asking about the food. In just a few days, they looked different. Coveralls were stained and torn, faces stubbled and gaunt, eyes ringed with dark circles. In just a few days. Juliette saw that they had only a few days more before things grew desperate. Everyone saw that.”
― Hugh Howey, Dust

“This is not the end, of course. Every story we read, every film we watch, continues in our imagination if we allow it.”
― Hugh Howey, Dust

“He nodded and dabbed at his forehead with his sleeve. “And every mistake. But every good thing we do as well. They are immortal, every single touch we leave behind. Even if nobody sees them or remembers them, that doesn’t matter. That trail will always be what happened, what we did, every choice. The past lives on forever. There’s no changing it.”
― Hugh Howey, Dust

“There were those who wanted to live right there, who were reticent to venture any further.”
― Hugh Howey, Dust

“That’s the problem with the truth,” Darcy said. “Liars and honest men both claim to have it.”
― Hugh Howey, Dust

“As Juliette entered the deputy station on one-twenty, she wondered if stopping was a mistake, if she should just press on. But that was her young self afraid of seeing her father, her young self who buried her head in projects in order to avoid the world. She could no longer be that person. She had a responsibility to the silo and its people. Seeing Hank was the right thing to do. She scratched a scar on the back of her hand and bravely strode into his deputy station. She reminded herself that she was the mayor, not a prisoner being sent to clean. Hank glanced up from his desk as she entered. The deputy’s eyes widened as he recognized her – they had not spoken nor seen each other since she got back.”
― Hugh Howey, Dust

“The past lives on forever. There’s no changing it.”
― Hugh Howey, Dust

“Being cooped up was not new. Living in the middle of a desert wasteland where it wasn’t safe to go out was not new. Being surrounded by men she ought to fear was not new. Stationed in Iraq during the Second Iranian War, Charlotte had grown accustomed to these things, to not leaving base, to not wanting to leave her bunk or a bathroom stall. She was used to this struggle to keep sane. It was mental as much as physical exercise that was required.”
― Hugh Howey, Dust