Top 50 Margaret Peterson Haddix Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “I am not just what I remember. I am also what I dream.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

2. “I want to Live! Not Die, Not Hide, LIVE!”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

Featured in: Book Quotes

3. “Governments will rise, and governments will fall, and man will do evil to man, and all we can do is turn our hearts to good.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

4. “The rewards are worth far more than the risks.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

5. “It’s not whether you win or lose. It’s how you play the game.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

6. “Maybe everyone is just waiting for someone else to save them.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

7. “Sometimes you have to fight for what you want,′ Chip said, his expression set. ‘Sometimes the fight is all you get.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

8. “Sometimes you do your very best and you lose anyway.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

9. “And sometimes it takes a kid to show adults the truth.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

10. “I like to know what I’m celebrating before I put on a party hat.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

11. “Does FBI mean Federal Bureau of Idiots?”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

12. “Jen, we did it. Everyone’s free now.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

13. “It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get up.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

14. “The truth is, time travel is hard, and people are lazy.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

15. “Mother came over and gave Luke’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze before turning back to the stove. They had defied the Government once, with Luke. That had taken all the defiance they had in them. Maybe more.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

16. “Staring into the ring of candles – proud that the number of his years finally made a ring, all around the cake.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

17. “You bite off more than you can chew, ’course you’re going to choke. One bite at a time. And that goes for thinking things, too, not just food.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

18. “Nina,” Luke said finally. “Nina was the other traitor.” “Yes,” Mr. Talbot said.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

19. “Luke’s dad harrumphed, and paused in the midst of shoveling forkfuls of boiled potatoes into his mouth.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

20. “It’s a game we used to play, after we got rid of all our livestock and didn’t need our hay no more. You throw a match into the haystack, give the fire a three-second head start, and begin looking. You can find the needle every time if you work quick.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

21. “It’s like I’d been walking a tightrope with a big safety net underneath me, but I never really thought about the net until someone took it away. And then every single step scared me to death.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

22. “Maybe never again as long as I live.” He turned and walked into the.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

23. “And yet, I felt a surge of exhilaration just thinking about that night. Not just because I’d met the prince and fallen in love and started on my course toward happiness ever after, but because I’d made something happen. I’d done something everybody had told me I couldn’t. I’d changed my life all by myself. Having a fairy godmother would have ruined everything.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

24. “Thanks a lot! She went and hid somewhere else, somewhere safe- and left me to deal with Mr. Pyromaniac 1483!”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

25. “I rise up on my tiptoes. He’s already bending his head down, moving his lips toward mine. And then, well, I haven’t exactly studied this, but I’m pretty sure that ours is not the most expert kiss in Sualan history. It’s a little hard to figure out how we should tilt our heads so our noses don’t bump. But this kiss is a promise, a vow. Come to think of it, it doesn’t really matter that ours is not the most expert kiss in Sualan history. It’s still the best.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

26. “Was it still paranoia if all his fears were justified?”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

27. “They don’t have any idea I work for the Population Police.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

28. “People would rather believe in fairy godmothers and divine intervention than to think that you took charge of your own destiny.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

29. “And this is why people believe in God, isn’t it? Jonah wondered. Because we can tell there’s something bigger out there that we’re part of. Because we can tell that there’s something more to all of us, and more to all of our lives.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

30. “Tiddy”? Matthias thought. The big, fierce Population Police officer goes by “Tiddy”?”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

31. “Love is a wonderous thing. It moves mountains and stills a baby’s cries. It beats inside every human’s heart, yet is more precious than gold. It cannot be bought or sold or stolen. It keeps us alive.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

32. “He made time travel sound almost like hide-and-seek or capture the flag or some other spylike game – only with higher stakes and greater consequences.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

33. “At times like this, Eryn didn’t feel like they were just twins. They were teammates. They were partners. They were two halves of the same brain.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

34. “Ah, jeez... She really is a cheerleader.′ And it seemed suddenly that this was true- not because she was an airhead or a hottie or a nonjock, but because she could throw herself so wholeheartedly into someone else’s cause, because she could care so much and try so hard from the sidelines.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

35. “There was a law against Luke.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

36. “Death, he thought. This whole clue hunt’s been about death.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

37. “Then, why did I do this, you ask?′ He stroked his chin, like an actor trying to look deep and thoughtful. ‘The short answer is: hope.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

38. “Listen, I’ll share some of the wisdom I learned over the years. When you near the end of your life... when you’re a lonely old man... you start realizing what your accomplishments are really worth. The most brilliant clue I ever deciphered, the millions I earned – even the microwavable burrito itself – sometimes I think I’d be willing to trade all of it for a single hug of someone who truly loves me.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

39. “I was Pandora, bound and determined to open that box.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

40. “Why did everyone like that story so much when it wasn’t true? Why was everyone so eager to believe it? Was it because, in real life, ever after’s generally stink?”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

Featured in: Romance Quotes

41. “It kind of seemed like, as long as he was alive, there was still hope that he could fix things.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

42. “But really, he told himself. There are just some people who don’t seem like they ever could have been young. It’s like trying to imagine my grandparents as little kids. Or – like the guy who played Dumbledore in the Harry Potter movies. No way he was ever young.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

43. “Mark slapped him, and Trey was stunned into silence. “Hey!” Mark said. “That really does work on hysterical people. Always wanted to try that.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

44. “We haven’t changed enough,” Natalie said in a small, pained voice. “But – we’re trying.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

45. “Luke pictured himself.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

46. “It was hard having a dead hero for a best friend.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

47. “Finn and Emma are like rubber balls, he thought. The harder you knock them down, the faster they bounce back up.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

48. “Great, Trey thought. I do one brave thing in my entire life, and now it’s like, ‘Got anything dangerous to do? Send Trey. He can handle it.’ Doesn’t anyone remember that Cowardice is my middle name?”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

49. “Scientific discoveries usually aren’t good or evil just by themselves. Science is neutral. It’s what people do with their knowledge that matters.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix

50. “Being poor isn’t the only way to be in need.”

— Margaret Peterson Haddix