You killed more people than anybody in history." "Be the best at whatever you do, that's what my mother always told me.

The opposite of the happy ending is not actually the sad ending--the sad ending is sometimes the happy ending. The opposite of the happy ending is actually the unsatisfying ending.

We're like the wicked witch. We promise gingerbread, then eat the little brats alive.

Every person is defined by the communities she belongs to.

Being young is an 18 year prison sentence for a crime your parents committed. But you do get time off for good behavior.

I taught you everything you know. But I didn't teach you everything I know.

The future is a hundred thousand threads, but the past is a fabric that can never be rewoven.

Parents always make their worst mistakes with their oldest children. That's when parents know the least and care the most, so they're more likely to be wrong and also more likely to insist that they're right.

Knowledge is just opinion that you trust enough to act upon.

I think you don't grow up until you stop worrying about other people's purposes or lack of them and find the purposes you believe in for yourself.

One mind can think only of its own questions; it rarely surprises itself.

And then he thought: Is this how idiots rationalize their stupidity to themselves?

And enough for me that when my hand touched your shoulder, you leaned on me; and when you felt me slip away, you called my name.

We thought we were the only thinking beings in the universe, until we met you, but never did we dream that thought could arise from the lonely animals who cannot dream each other's dreams.

Soldiers can sometimes make decisions that are smarter than the orders they've been given.

You’re not a human being until you value something more than the life of your body. And the greater the thing you live and die for the greater you are.

All the stories are fictions. What matters is which fiction you believe.

At last he came to a door, with these words in glowing emeralds: THE END OF THE WORLD He did not hesitate. He opened the door and stepped through.

I'm crazy," said Ender. "But I think I'm OK.

I will never hurt you. I will always help you. If you are hungry Ill give you my food. If you are frightened I am your friend. I love you now. And love does not end.

Personal affection is a luxury you can have only after all your enemies are eliminated. Until then, everyone you love is a hostage, sapping your courage and corrupting your judgment.

For children love is a feeling; for adults, it is a decision. Children wait to learn if their love is true by seeing how long it lasts; adults make their love true by never wavering from their commitment.

Since when do you have to tell the enemy when he has won

As long as you keep getting born, it's all right to die sometimes