Suzanne Collins

“I can feel Peeta press his forehead into my temple and he asks, 'So now that you've got me, what are you going to do with me?' I turn into him. 'Put you somewhere you can't get hurt.”

“Remember, we're madly in love, so it's all right to kiss me anytime you feel like it.”

“I am not pretty. I am not beautiful. I am as radiant as the sun.”

“What I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life can go on, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good again.”

“Fire is catching! And if we burn, you burn with us!”

“Peeta, how come I never know when you're having a nightmare?” I say. “I don't know. I don't think I cry out or thrash around or anything. I just come to, paralyzed with terror,” he says. “You should wake me,” I say, thinking about how I can interrupt his sleep two or three times on a bad night. Abou...”

“It takes ten times as long to put yourself back together as it does to fall apart.”

“You don’t forget the face of the person who was your last hope.”

“It crosses my mind that Cinna's calm and normal demeanor masks a complete madman.”

“Yes, frosting. The final defense of the dying.”

“I don't want to lose the boy with the bread.”

“Deep in the meadow, hidden far away A cloak of leaves, a moonbeam ray Forget your woes and let your troubles lay And when it's morning again, they'll wash away Here it's safe, here it's warm Here the daisies guard you from every harm Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true Here is t...”

“You'll never be able to let him go. You'll always feel wrong about being with me.”

“And then he gives me a smile that just seems so genuinely sweet with just the right touch of shyness that unexpected warmth rushes through me.”

“You here to finish me off, Sweetheart?”

“I wish I could freeze this moment, right here, right now and live in it forever.”

“My nightmares are usually about losing you. I'm okay once I realize you're here.”

“Some walks you have to take alone.”

“Stupid people are dangerous.”

“May the odds be ever in your favor!”

“You’ve got about as much charm as a dead slug.”

“I realize only one person will be damaged beyond repair if Peeta dies. Me.”

“District 12: Where you can starve to death in safety.”

“That what I need to survive is not Gale's fire, kindled with rage and hatred. I have plenty of fire myself. What I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life can go on, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good agai...”

“He’s dozed off again, but I kiss him awake, which seems to startle him. Then he smiles as if he’d be happy to lie there gazing at me forever.”

“There are much worse games to play.”

“You know, you could live a thousand lifetimes and not deserve him.”

“Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor.”

“Sometimes when I'm alone, I take the pearl from where it lives in my pocket and try to remember the boy with the bread, the strong arms that warded off nightmares on the train, the kisses in the arena.”

“Destroying things is much easier than making them.”

“I just...I just miss him. And I hate being so alone.”

“Well, don't expect us to be too impressed. We just saw Finnick Odair in his underwear.”

“Not like this. He wanted it to be real.”

“The bird, the pin, the song, the berries, the watch, the cracker, the dress that burst into flames. I am the mockingjay. The one that survived despite the Capitol's plans. The symbol of the rebellion.”

“I always channel my emotions into my work. That way, I don't hurt anyone but myself.”

“Aim higher in case you fall short.”

“Finnick and I sit for a long time in silence, watching the knots bloom and vanish, before I can ask, 'How do you bear it?' Finnick looks at me in disbelief. 'I don't, Katniss! Obviously, I don't. I drag myself out of nightmares each morning and find there's no relief in waking.' Something in my expr...”

“Because, sometimes, things happen to people and they're not equipped to deal with them.”

“Peeta,” I say lightly. “You said at the interview you’d had a crush on me forever. When did forever start?” “Oh, let’s see. I guess the first day of school. We were five. You had on a red plaid dress and your hair... it was in two braids instead of one. My father pointed you out when we were waiting...”

“To this day, I can never shake the connection between this boy, Peeta Mellark, and the bread that gave me hope, and the dandelion that reminded me that I was not doomed.”

“Katniss: 'What about you? Ive seen you in the market. You can lift hundred pound bags of flour'. I snap at him Tell him that. Thats not nothing. Peeta: Yes and Im sure the arena will be full of bags of flour for me to chuck at people.”

“Stay with me. Always.”

“Katniss: I’m coming back into focus when Caesar asks him if he has a girlfriend back home. Peeta: (Gives an unconvincing shake of head.) Caesar: Handsome lad like you. There must be some special girl. Come on, what’s her name? Peeta: Well, there is this one girl. I’ve had a crush on her ever since I...”

“I really can't think about kissing when I've got a rebellion to incite.”

“The idea of being strong for someone else having never entered their heads, I find myself in the position of having to console them. Since I'm the person going in to be slaughtered, this is somewhat annoying.”

“It made me realize how I needed to stop punishing her for something she couldn't help [...] because sometimes things happen to people and they're not equipped to deal with them.”

“Isn't it strange that I know you'd risk your life to save mine, but I don't even know what your favorite color is?”

“In high school for a couple years we did archery.”

“You're a painter. You're a baker. You like to sleep with the windows open. You never take sugar in your tea. And you always double-knot your shoelaces.”

“My father was career military. He was a veteran, he was a doctor of political science, he taught at West Point and Air Command Staff and lectured at the War College.”

“A need for revenge can burn long and hot. Especially if every glance in a mirror reinforces it.”

“Finnik?” I say. “Maybe some pants?” He looks down at his legs as if noticing them for the first time. Then he whips of his hospital gown, leaving him in just is underwear. “Why? Do you find this”-he strikes a ridiculously proactive pose-“distracting?” I can’t help laughing because it’s funny, and it...”

“I no longer feel allegiance to these monsters called human beings, despise being one myself. I think that Peeta was onto something about us destroying one another and letting some decent species take over. Because something is significantly wrong with a creature that sacrifices its children’s lives...”

“When I was young, I was trained in stage fighting and rapier and dagger for several years.”

“Whenever I write a story, I hope it appeals to both boys and girls.”

“The cast, led by the extraordinary Jennifer Lawrence, is absolutely wonderful across the board. It's such a pleasure to see how they've embodied the characters and brought them to life.”

“If I have to pick one story that most influenced 'The Hunger Games,' it would be the Greek myth of Theseus, which I read when I was about 8 years old. In punishment for past deeds, Athens periodically had to send seven youths and seven maidens to a labyrinth. In the maze was this Minotaur, and it wo...”

“One of the reasons it's important for me to write about war is I really think that the concept of war, the specifics of war, the nature of war, the ethical ambiguities of war, are introduced too late to children. I think they can hear them, understand them, know about them, at a much younger age wit...”

“I'm not a very fancy person. I've been a writer a long time, and right now 'The Hunger Games' is getting a lot of focus. It'll pass. The focus will be on something else. It'll shift. It always does. And that seems just fine.”

“When I got out of undergrad, I had a degree in theater and telecommunications. My first job, I was a news reporter for the local stories for NPR. Then I was a country-western DJ. I did data entry for a yearbook company. In my mid-20s I went back to grad school at NYU, and I specialized in playwritin...”

“The film opens up the world beyond Katniss' point of view, allowing the audience access to the happenings of places like the Hunger Games control room and President Snow's rose garden, thereby adding a new dimension to the story.”

“Katniss Everdeen owes her last name to Bathsheba Everdene, the lead character in 'Far From the Madding Crowd.' The two are very different, but both struggle with knowing their hearts.”

“Having an eye for beauty isn't the same thing as a weakness...except possibly when it comes to you.”

“Because...because...she came here with me.”

“An ability to look into the confusing mess of life and see things for what they are.”

“Slowly, with many lost days, I come back to life.”

“Knowing it and seeing it are two different things.”

“Technically, I am unarmed. But no one should ever underestimate the harm that fingernails can do. Especially if the target is unprepared.”

“Look, if you wanted to be babied you should have asked Peeta.”

“No. Now, shut up and eat your pears.”

“Do you find this...distracting?”

“There's a meeting in Command. Disregard your current schedule,' he says. 'Done,' I say. 'Did you follow it at all today?' he asks in exasperation. 'Who knows? I'm mentally disoriented.' I hold up my wrist to show my medical bracelet and realize it's gone. 'See? I can't even remember they took my bra...”