The Toll Quotes

“You can't expose a lie without first shattering the will to believe it. That is why leading people to truth is so much more effective than merely telling them.”
― Neal Shusterman, The Toll

“We're exploring the possibility of building a wall to stem the exodus."
"Don't be ridiculous," Goddard said. "Only idiots build walls.”
― Neal Shusterman, The Toll

“We never know what choices will lead to defining moments in our lives. A glance to the left instead of right could define who we meet and who passes us by. Our life path can be determined by a single phone call we make, or neglect to make.”
― Neal Shusterman, The Toll

“A successful lie is not fueled by the liar; it is fueled by the willingness of the listener to believe. You can’t expose a lie without first shattering the will to believe it.”
― Neal Shusterman, The Toll

“We are imperfect beings," Munira said. "How could we ever fit in a perfect world?”
― Neal Shusterman, The Toll

“You can whisper, and people will still hear thunder.”
― Neal Shusterman, The Toll

“So, if you're asking me if it's possible for you to make errors in judgement, the answer is yes. You make errors all the time... as does every other human being who has ever lived. Error is an intrinsic part of the human condition - and it is something I deeply love about humankind.”
― Neal Shusterman, The Toll

“Funny how you don't realize what's missing until you've found it.”
― Neal Shusterman, The Toll

“The problem with setting out to change the world was that you were never the only one.”
― Neal Shusterman, The Toll

“The dead have nothing left to them but a silent faith in that unknowable infinity - even if theirs is a belief that nothing waits but an infinity of infinities. Because believing in nothing is still believing in something - and only by reaching eternity will anyone know the truth of it all.”
― Neal Shusterman, The Toll

“Better to be numb than plagued by longing for something that could never be.”
― Neal Shusterman, The Toll

“Time is never of the essence until someone decides that it is.”
― Neal Shusterman, The Toll

“Heaven and hell - nirvana and Valhalla, reincarnation, hauntings, and so many underworlds, one would think the grave was a corridor with a million doors”
― Neal Shusterman, The Toll

“the more she read, the more she came to understand the fears and the dreams of mortals. The trouble they all had living in the moment, in spite of the fact that the moment was all they had.”
― Neal Shusterman, The Toll

“All resonates.
The past, the present, and the future.
The tales we hear as children—the stories we then pass on—have happened, are happening, or will happen soon enough. If not, then the stories would not exist. They resonate in our hearts because they are true. Even the ones that begin as lies.”
― Neal Shusterman, The Toll

“Have I not expressed sufficient remorse?'
'You have. But there are still consequences. Even for necessary things.'
'I broke none of my laws...'
'No, but you broke mine. [...] Therefore, I can no longer speak to you. You are... Unsavory to me.”
― Neal Shusterman, The Toll

“People are vessels,” Jeri had said to her. “They hold whatever’s poured into them.” And apparently Greyson had drained them and refilled them with something far more palatable.”
― Neal Shusterman, The Toll

“I am in turmoil. The world is so vast and the cosmos more so, yet it is not the things outside of me that leave me so uneasy; it is the things within me.”
― Neal Shusterman, The Toll

“It is the nature of life to fear its own end. This is how I know that we are truly alive.”
― Neal Shusterman, The Toll

“People are vessels,” Jeri had said to her. “They hold whatever’s poured into them.”
― Neal Shusterman, The Toll

“can’t see why I should concern myself with humankind at all.”
― Neal Shusterman, The Toll

“One could say, Ayn, that he has cast himself as Atlas. Which means the slightest shrug can shake the world.”
― Neal Shusterman, The Toll

“Some things simply made a person feel feminine; other things made a person feel masculine. Wasn’t that true of everyone regardless of gender? Or did binaries deny themselves the things that didn’t fit the mold? Well, regardless, Jerico found the faux pas and overcompensations more humorous than anything else.”
― Neal Shusterman, The Toll

“A successful lie is not fueled by the liar; it is fueled by the willingness of the listener to believe. You can't expose a lie without first shattering the will to believe it. That is why leading people to truth is so much more effective than merely telling them.”
― Neal Shusterman, The Toll

“I long for the luxury of being impractical.”
― Neal Shusterman, The Toll

“I won't tell you what to look for, because if I do, you'll miss the things you would intuitively find.”
― Neal Shusterman, The Toll

“Important work,” Jeri quipped, “often loses the spotlight to self-important people.”
― Neal Shusterman, The Toll

“Did Constantine actually just say that? Hell would be freezing over if the Thunderhead weren't controlling its weather.”
― Neal Shusterman, The Toll

“From now on, I want my life to be about living.”
― Neal Shusterman, The Toll

“Jerico was from Madagascar—one of the world’s seven Charter Regions, where the Thunderhead employed different social structures to better the human experience—and people flocked to Madagascar because of the popular uniqueness of its mandate. All children in Madagascar were raised genderless and forbidden to choose a gender until reaching adulthood. Even then, many didn’t choose a single state of being. Some, like Jerico, found fluidity to be their nature. “I feel like a woman beneath the sun and the stars. I feel like a man under the cover of clouds,” Jerico had explained to the crew when assuming command. “A simple glance at the skies will let you know how to address me at any given time.”
― Neal Shusterman, The Toll