Top 200 Ruta Sepetys Quotes (2025 Update)
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151. “Like the character of Daniel, I wanted to understand. I wanted to reciprocate the affection, comprehension, and compassion that the people in Spain had shown toward me and the history within my books. As my research progressed, I realized that the refrains were accurate. Not only is it difficult for an outsider to understand, I often found myself asking, “What right do we have to history other than our own?”

— Ruta Sepetys

152. “She must have been a nurse. She looked a few years older than me. Pretty. Naturally pretty, the type that’s still attractive, even more so, when she’s filthy.”

— Ruta Sepetys

153. “My biggest fear was that the old Charlie was in there somewhere trying to communicate, but a synaptic disconnect made his behavior erratic.”

— Ruta Sepetys

154. “More than ten thousand people had been on board the Gustloff. The gruesome details of the sinking would be reported in every world newspaper. The tragedy would be studied for years, become legendary.”

— Ruta Sepetys

155. “This never knowing, it weakens us,” Bunu would say. “It’s a form of control. They know exactly what they’re doing.”

— Ruta Sepetys

156. “Through my own struggles I’ve learned that knowing is something that evolves. What we think we know can be quite far from the truth. If we continue to seek and ask questions, we may one day find our way into the answers, but sometimes the answers only lead t more questions.”

— Ruta Sepetys

157. “Ana emerges from the shack with Fuga. His face is clean. His hair, the color of black crude oil, is parted on the side and slicked expertly back from his strong, architectural face. The turquoise suit of lights throws sparkles with each small movement. The man who looked like a murderer now looks like a matador.”

— Ruta Sepetys

158. “We have only died if you forget us.”

— Ruta Sepetys

159. “How could we expect others to feel our pain or hear our cries for help when all we could do was whisper?”

— Ruta Sepetys

160. “Don’t get on your high horse, Jo. What, you think you’re gonna be Cinderella?” She tipped her head back and laughed. Ugly. “You think your life is going to be some fairy tale, hon, like in one of your books?” The waitress brought Mother her iced tea. I knew what to do. I should have ended the conversation there. I should have left. Instead, I sat in the booth staring at her, wishing that she could be like other mothers, wishing that she were different. Mother would never square up. I knew that.”

— Ruta Sepetys

161. “Of course I am. Life’s a fight. Speaking of, I’m sure you read about Shep and the New York campaign scandal. What a doozy. But somehow the guy always lands on his feet.” Daniel thinks of the letters he wrote to the embassy and the State Department about Shep Van Dorn. Nothing came of them. Nick is right. Guys like Shep always seem to land on their feet. He should have decked him when he had the chance.”

— Ruta Sepetys

162. “I’m a binge writer. I work in the music business fulltime, in artist management and developing songwriters and recording artists, and so juggling my job I carve out as much time as I can on the weekends.”

— Ruta Sepetys

163. “And there Emilia rests. She is safe. She is loved. Affectionately, Clara Christensen.”

— Ruta Sepetys

164. “This is your time, Dan. Grab it and run. Do the stuff you see in the movies. It’s the stuff no one gets to do. But you can do it, Matheson. I don’t want you calling me in ten years whining that you should have done this and should have done that. As the saying goes, it’s later than you think.”

— Ruta Sepetys

165. “How would she know the truths from the untruths?”

— Ruta Sepetys

166. “The cemetery is full of bones. At first Rafa was afraid of them. Most are sealed in coffins, but there are mass pits with the poor and the older pits with the Protestants. The cemetery and slaughterhouse require Rafa to face his fear of death. That’s why he endures them. “You see, by facing fear, I am cleansing myself, straining my past of the horror that infects me,” he tells Fuga.”

— Ruta Sepetys

167. “There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion. – Sir Francis Bacon.”

— Ruta Sepetys

168. “And Mother. I couldn’t erase the vision of her ghoulish face, the blood. I worried that something had happened to her on the road. I wished she’d write and then I wondered why. Things would be simpler without Mother in New Orleans, simpler without me wrapped in the shadows of her black heart and childish mind. But I wished I’d hear from her anyway.”

— Ruta Sepetys

169. “At home in Dallas, his mother’s interaction with their household staff is more relaxed. The people on their estate aren’t employees, they’re family. In Texas, his mother is often described as “elegant Spanish.” But here in Spain, her demeanor suddenly feels brash next to Ana’s gentle sincerity.”

— Ruta Sepetys

170. “You know what, Cristian? Dante was wrong. Hell isn’t hot. It’s cold.”

— Ruta Sepetys

171. “But wasn’t there some sort of rule that said parents had to be smarter than their kids? It didn’t seem fair.”

— Ruta Sepetys

172. “And so I confess, dear Padre, that I feel confused. Fuga is gone. Taken by a bullet. I should feel guilty and full of fear. But somehow, I feel more connected to my friend and more proud of him than ever. Fuga never compromised. He never apologized for who or what he was. His difficult past was not a burden to him but an inspiration.”

— Ruta Sepetys

173. “They were happy to help someone, to succeed at something, even if they weren’t to benefit.”

— Ruta Sepetys

174. “A woman nearby fell to her knees, sobbing. ‘They say I can only choose one child for the ship. How can I choose? Please don’t make me choose.”

— Ruta Sepetys

175. “Daniel looks at a photo of Ben, alone on the dance floor. He moves to a beat entirely his own, life pouring in and out of him. He lived hard and played harder. He did the work.”

— Ruta Sepetys

176. “Mistrust is a form of terror. The regime pits us against one another.”

— Ruta Sepetys

177. “Papa said scientists speculated that from the moon, the earth looked blue. That night I believed it. I would draw it blue and heavy with tears.”

— Ruta Sepetys

178. “The lie came out so easily it frightened me. I used to feel sick to my stomach when I heard Mother tell a lie. How can you do it? How do you live with yourself? I used to wonder. But here I was, lying to Miss Paulsen and smiling while doing it.”

— Ruta Sepetys

179. “The recruit was screaming. Veins bulged in his neck. His mouth contorted as he summoned all of his strength to roar one, single word. Joana.”

— Ruta Sepetys

180. “The sinking of the Gustloff is the largest maritime disaster, yet the world still knows nothing of it. I often wonder, will that ever change or will it remain just another secret swallowed by war? You.”

— Ruta Sepetys

181. “The State controls the amount of food we eat, our electricity, our transportation, the information we receive.”

— Ruta Sepetys

182. “Kan geschiedenis verdwijnen als die in bloed wordt geschreven?”

— Ruta Sepetys

183. “The platform is clogged with passengers, but orderly. With such well-ordered society, are so many police and guards on the street really necessary?”

— Ruta Sepetys

184. “Can it really be so hard to die?”

— Ruta Sepetys

185. “He had stolen us from ourselves, for himself. He had broken the soul of Romania and parched a beautiful country into an apocalyptic landscape of the lost.”

— Ruta Sepetys

186. “A revolution eats its heroes.”

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187. “We pushed to the edge of recklessness, yet I felt safe.”

— Ruta Sepetys

188. “Look at you two. That- is the truth.”

— Ruta Sepetys

189. “Not at all,” I agreed. “For example, Patrick asked if I would rather marry Gatsby or Mr. Darcy.” “No, he didn’t! Who in the world would choose Gatsby over Darcy?” Charlotte caught on and turned to me. “Josephine – Ethan Frome or Gilbert Blythe from Anne of Green Gables?” “Oh, Ethan Frome,” I said quickly. “Out of pity,” said Charlotte, with an understanding nod. “A bit,” I agreed. “But Ethan Frome had a hidden depth, something waiting to be discovered.”

— Ruta Sepetys

190. “Without fear we will never meet courage.”

— Ruta Sepetys

191. “And you be careful of that Richard Lockwell,” said Cokie. “He’s a kitten killer.” “He’s a ladies’ man?” Patrick laughed. “Aw, no, that ain’t what I mean. When he was young, he hung four kittens in the Quarter. Lord, you should have seen people chase him. He’s not right in the head.”

— Ruta Sepetys

192. “Miguel clears his throat. “You’re very talented. But remember, Spain is not your country. Be careful, amigo.” The Guardia Civil delivered a similar message. Daniel knows the words of caution are meant to dissuade him. They should.”

— Ruta Sepetys

193. “Sorrow. Anger. An expanse of emptiness that takes form as a separate entity living inside of you. It digs, takes root, and dwells there. And somehow, you know that even if it worms its way out, there will be no relief. If it leaves, there will be nothing left but charred remains, like the inside of a house torched by fire.”

— Ruta Sepetys

194. “Per aspera ad astra, Papa,” I whispered. Through hardship to the stars. It was a Latin phrase he used whenever I complained that something was difficult. Where was my father now?”

— Ruta Sepetys

195. “It’s difficult navigating two cultures,” she once told him. “I feel like a bookmark wedged between chapters. I live in America, but I am not born of it. I’m Spanish.”

— Ruta Sepetys

196. “Sometimes we think we know. We’re sure we know. But we know nothing. Years pass and eventually, time becomes the unveiler of truth.”

— Ruta Sepetys

197. “Death hath a thousand doors to let out life; I shall find one.’ We all have a door that waits.”

— Ruta Sepetys

198. “I will find you.”

— Ruta Sepetys

199. “His difficult past was not a burden to him but an inspiration.”

— Ruta Sepetys

200. “He denied them food, electricty, truth and freedom. The citizens of Romania were stoic and resilient, but they suffered a terror of tyranny.”

— Ruta Sepetys