110+ Markus Zusak Quotes (Moving, Powerful And Poetic)

Markus Zusak is an Australian writer known for his young adult fiction. He is best known for his international bestseller The Book Thief, which was adapted into a film in 2013. His other works include I Am the Messenger, The Underdog, and Bridge of Clay.

Top 10 Markus Zusak Quotes

1. A snowball in the face is surely the perfect beginning to a lasting friendship.
2. … it was raining on Himmel Street when the world ended for Liesel Meminger. The sky was dripping. Like a tap that a child has tried its hardest to turn off but hasn’t quite managed.
3. Imagine smiling after a slap in the face. Then think of doing it twenty-four hours a day.
4. Sometimes people are beautiful. Not in looks. Not in what they say. Just in what they are.
5. I have to say that although it broke my heart, I was, and still am, glad I was there.
6. Please, trust me, I most definitely can be cheerful. I can be amiable. Agreeable. Affable. And that's only the A's. Just don't ask me to be nice. Nice has nothing to do with me.
7. Sometimes I just survive. But sometimes I stand on the rooftop of my existence, arms stretched out, begging for more.
8. If only she could be so oblivious again, to feel such love without knowing it, mistaking it for laughter.
9. I have hated words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right.
10. I guess humans like to watch a little destruction. Sand castles, houses of cards, that's where they begin. Their great skills is their capacity to escalate.

Markus Zusak Short Quotes

• Humans have a talent for escalation. -Death
• The conversation of bullets.
• Not a beauty queen. Not one of those. You know the ones. She was real.
• The only thing worse than a boy who hates you: a boy that loves you.
• You can do all manner of underhanded nice things when you have a caustic reputation.
• My voice is like a rumour. I'm not sure if it came out or not, or if it is true.
• ...to swear with a ferocity that can only be described as a talent.
• ... And the boy whose hair remained the color of lemons forever.
• What do you want to kiss me for? I'm filthy.'- Liesel So am I.'- Rudy
• You don't always get what you wish for. Especially in Nazi Germany

Markus Zusak Famous Quotes And Sayings

In the basement of 33 Himmel Street, Max Vandenburg could feel the fists of an entire nation. One by one they climbed into the ring to beat him down. They made him bleed. They let him suffer. Millions of them - until one last time, when he gathered himself to his feet. — Markus Zusak

There are so many moments to remember and sometimes I think that maybe we're not really people at all. Maybe moments are what we are.... Sometimes I just survive. But sometimes I stand on the rooftop of my existence, arms stretched out, begging for more. — Markus Zusak

No matter how many times she was told that she was loved, there was no recognition that the proof was in the abandonment. — Markus Zusak

If you can't imagine it, think clumsy silence. Think bits and pieces of floating despair. And drowning in a train. — Markus Zusak

Goodbye, Papa, you saved me. You taught me to read. No one can play like you. I'll never drink champagne. No one can play like you." -Liesel — Markus Zusak

Liesel observed the strangeness of her foster father's eyes. They were made of kindness, and silver. — Markus Zusak

There were people everywhere on the city street, but the stranger could not have been more alone if it were empty. — Markus Zusak

I even move out onto the front porch and see my own limited view of the world. I want to take that world, and for the first time ever, I feel like I can do it. I’ve survived everything I’ve had to so far. I’m still standing here. — Markus Zusak

She wanted none of those days to end, and it was always with disappointment that she watched the darkness stride forward. — Markus Zusak

As she watched all of this, Liesel was certain that these were the poorest souls alive. That's what she wrote about them . . . Some looked appealingly at those who had come to observe their humiliation, this prelude to their deaths. Others pleaded for someone, anyone to step forward and catch them in their arms. No one did. — Markus Zusak

The best word shakers were the ones who understood the true power of words. They were the ones who could climb the highest. — Markus Zusak

It felt as though the whole globe was dressed in snow. Like it has pulled it on, the way you pull on a sweater. Next to the train line, footprints were sunken to their shins. Trees wore blankets of ice. As you may expect, someone has died. — Markus Zusak

That was when the world wasn't so big and I could see everywhere. It was when my father was a hero and not a human. — Markus Zusak

Winning wasn't natural for me. It had to be fought for, in the echoes and trodden footprints of my mind. — Markus Zusak

Liesel shrugged away entirely from the crowd and entered the tide of Jews, weaving through them till she grabbed hold of his arm with her left hand. His face fell on her. It reached down as she tripped, and the Jew,the nasty Jew, helped her up. It took all of his strength. — Markus Zusak

People observe the colors of a day only at its beginnings and ends, but to me it's quite clear that a day merges through a multitude of shades and intonations with each passing moment. A single hour can consist of thousands of different colors. Waxy yellows, cloud-spot blues. Murky darkness. In my line of work, I make it a point to notice them. — Markus Zusak

There was the gate next, which she(Liesel)clung to. A gang of tears trudged from her eyes as she held on and refused to go inside. People started to gather on the street, until Rosa Hubermann swore at them, after which they reversed back whence they came. ~A TRANSLATION OF ROSA HUBERMANN’S ANNOUNCEMENT~ ‘What are you arseholes looking at? — Markus Zusak

I had many boxing matches with my brother in the backyard when we were younger, and I guess while other people abhor boxing for its brutality, I also have to admire anyone who climbs into the ring to face up to what could be the ultimate defeat. — Markus Zusak

The Germans in basements were pitiable, surely, but at least they had a chance. That basement was not a washroom. They were not sent there for a shower. For those people, life was still achievable. — Markus Zusak

She was a Jew feeder without a question in the world on that man's first night in Molching. She was an arm reacher, deep into a mattress, to deliver a sketchbook to a teenage girl. (84.25) — Markus Zusak

The water crumbles on it's way down as my hands and feet push me forward. The world is lightening, taking shape, and turning to color. It feels like it's being painted around me. — Markus Zusak

A DEFINITION NOT FOUND IN THE DICTIONARY Not leaving: an act of trust and love, often deciphered by children — Markus Zusak

So I saw that there was only me. There was only me who could worry about what was happening here, inside these walls of my life. Other people had their own worlds to worry about, and in the end, they had to fend for themselves, just like us. — Markus Zusak

You'll have days of complete lack of faith in your abilities. But you have to keep coming back. That's when you know you're a writer - when you take the failures and appear at the desk again, over and over again. — Markus Zusak

Sometimes I think my papa is an accordion. When he looks at me and smiles and breathes, I hear the notes. — Markus Zusak

Our footsteps run, and I don't want them to end. I want to run and laugh and feel like this forever. I want to avoid any awkward moment when the realness of reality sticks its fork into our flesh, leaving us standing there, together. I want to stay here, in this moment, and never go to other places, where we don't know what to say or what to do. — Markus Zusak

The question is what color will everything be at that moment when I come for you? What will the sky be saying? — Markus Zusak

There are moments when you can only stand and stare, watching the world forget you as you remove yourself from it - when you overcome it and cease to exist as the person you were. — Markus Zusak

It is early, early morning. It's that time when it's still dark but you know the day is coming. Blue is bleeding through black. Stars are dying. — Markus Zusak

I certainly wasn't born with creative writing. Maybe there's a certain amount of learning and then it's up to the person. I think in the end it's your favourite books that are the best teachers. That's the way I've learned the most, by far. — Markus Zusak

Liesel crossed the bridge over the Amper River. The water was glorious and emerald and rich. She could see the stones at the bottom and hear the familiar song of water. The world did not deserve such a river. — Markus Zusak

I had to decide what I was going to do, and what I was going to be. I was standing there, waiting for someone to do something , till I realised the person I was waiting for was myself. — Markus Zusak

She took a step and didn't want to take any more, but she did. — Markus Zusak

Yes, the sky was now a devastating, home-cooked red. The small German town had been flung apart one more time. Snowflakes of ash fell so lovelily you were tempted to stretch out your tongue to catch them, taste them. Only, they would have scorched your lips. They would have cooked your mouth. — Markus Zusak

Please believe me when I tell you that I picked up each soul that day as if it were newly born. I even kissed a few weary, poisoned cheeks. I listened to their last, gasping cries. Their vanishing words. I watched their love visions and freed them from their fear. — Markus Zusak

Rosa Hubermann was sitting on the edge of the bed with her husband's accordion tied to her chest. Her fingers hovered above the keys. She did not move. She didn't ever appear to be breathing. — Markus Zusak

Personally, I like a chocolate-colored sky, dark, dark chocolate. — Markus Zusak

Yes, I know it. In the darkness of my dark beating heart, I know. He'd have loved it alright. You see? Even Death Has A Heart. — Markus Zusak

How about a kiss, Saumensch? — Markus Zusak

If they killed him tonight, at least he would die alive. — Markus Zusak

Can a wolfe be beautiful? — Markus Zusak

Don't be afraid to fail. I fail every day. I failed thousands of times writing The Book Thief, and that book now means everything to me. I had many doubts and fears about that book, but some of what I feel are the best ideas in it came to me when I was working away for apparently no result. Failure has been my best friend as a writer. It tests you, to see if you have what it takes to see it through. — Markus Zusak

People die of broken hearts. They have heart attacks. And it's the heart that hurts most when things go wrong and fall apart. — Markus Zusak

You can kill a man with those words. No gun. No bullets. Just words and a girl. — Markus Zusak

My arms are killing me. I didn't know words could be so heavy. — Markus Zusak

It's insane to be a writer and not be a reader. When I'm writing I'm more likely to be reading four or five books at once, just in bits and pieces rather than subjecting myself to a really brilliant book and thinking, "Well what's the point of me writing anything?" I'm more likely to read a book through when I take a break from writing. — Markus Zusak

I want to talk to him. I want to ask him about that girl and if he loved her and still misses her. — Markus Zusak

It’s a small story really, about, among other things: * A girl * Some words * An accordionist * Some fanatical Germans * A Jewish fist fighter * And quite a lot of thievery — Markus Zusak

It was the beginning of the greatest Christmas ever. Little food. No presents. But there was a snowman in their basement. — Markus Zusak

I'm not one of these 'the characters write themselves; the story just fell out of me' kind of writers. Wish it was like that. — Markus Zusak

I feel the fear, but I walk fast toward it. — Markus Zusak

I try hard and aim big. People can hate or love my books but they can never accuse me of not trying. — Markus Zusak

A REASSURING ANNOUNCEMENT Please, be calm, despite that previous threat. I am all bluster - I am not violent. I am not malicious. I am a result. — Markus Zusak

The happening that happened was that I met this girl. — Markus Zusak

Around us I can sniff out a savagery in the noisy southern air. It knifes it's way into my nose, but I do not bleed blood. It's fear I bleed, and it gushes out over my lip. I wipe it away, in a hurry. — Markus Zusak

It’s all very well for such a person to whine and moan and criticize other family members, but they won’t let anyone else do it. That’s when you get your back up and show loyalty. — Markus Zusak

You can't eat books, sweetheart. — Markus Zusak

I guess if editing doesn't hurt, you're probably not doing it properly. I find it quite difficult. The hardest part is believing that it's actually working and getting rid of the doubt that always creeps in. — Markus Zusak

A happening was looming. It was out there somewhere beyond the regular enclosed life that I had been living. It was out there, not waiting, but existing. Being. Perhaps it was only slightly wondering if I would come to it. — Markus Zusak

And I stop listening to me, because to put it bluntly, I tire me. — Markus Zusak

Make no mistake, the woman had a heart. She had a bigger one that people would think. There was a lot in it, stored up, high in miles of hidden shelving. Remember that she was the woman with the instrument strapped to her body in the long, moon-slit night. — Markus Zusak

I wanted to tell the book thief many things, about beauty and brutality. But what could I tell her about those things that she didn't already know? I wanted to explain that I am constantly overestimating and underestimating the human race - that rarely do I ever simply estimate it. I wanted to ask her how the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious, and its words and stories so damning and brilliant. — Markus Zusak

You see, to me, for just a moment, despite all of the colors that touch and grapple with what I see in this world, I will often catch an eclipse when a human dies. I've seen millions of them. I've seen more eclipses than I care to remember — Markus Zusak

***A Last note from your narrator*** I am haunted by humans. — Markus Zusak

I'm sorry. I shouldn't be asking such things...' She let the sentence die its own death — Markus Zusak

A SMALL PIECE OF TRUTH I do not carry a sickle or scythe. I only wear a hooded black robe when it's cold. And I don't have those skull-like facial features you seem to enjoy pinning on me from a distance. You want to know what I truly look like? I'll help you out. Find yourself a mirror while I continue. — Markus Zusak

We both laugh and run and the moment is so thick around me that i feel like dropping into it to let it carry me. — Markus Zusak

I'm just another stupid human. — Markus Zusak

How'd it feel?" Rube asked himself. "I don't know exactly, but it made me want to howl. — Markus Zusak

I also fear that nothing really ends at the end. Things just keep going as long as memory can wield its ax, always finding a soft part in your mind to cut through and enter. — Markus Zusak

The dilemma, of course, is that such people save their most important words for after, when the surrounding humans are unlucky enough to find them. — Markus Zusak

The last time I saw her was red. The sky was like soup, boiling and stirring. In some places, it was burned. There were black crumbs, and pepper, streaked across the redness. — Markus Zusak

Living in Sydney, I've taken the chance to start surfing again. One of my best memories of growing up is catching my first proper wave and surfing across it and my brother cheering at me from the shore. — Markus Zusak

Death waits for no man - and if he does, he doesn't usually wait for very long. — Markus Zusak

Do we spend most of our days trying to remember or to forget? Do we spend most of our time running towards or away from our lives? — Markus Zusak

Max lifted his head, with great sorrow and great astonishment. 'There were stars,' He said. 'They burned my eyes.’ ...from a Himmel street window, he wrote, the stars set fire to my eyes. — Markus Zusak

...they watched the humans disappear. They watched them dissolve, like moving tablets in the humid air. — Markus Zusak

She was battered and beaten up, and not smiling this time. Liesel could see it on her face. Blood leaked from her nose and licked at her lips. Her eyes had blackened. Cuts had opened up and a series of wounds were rising to the surface of her skin. All from the words. From Liesel's words. — Markus Zusak

Could she smell my breath? Could she hear my cursed circular heart beat revolving like the crime it is in my deathly chest? — Markus Zusak

Handfuls of frosty water can make almost anyone smile, but it cannot make them forget. — Markus Zusak

He killed himself for wanting to live. — Markus Zusak

Everything was good. But it was awful, too. — Markus Zusak

All my friends seem to be smart arses. Don't ask me why. Like many things, it is what it is. — Markus Zusak

How do you tell if something's alive? You check for breathing. — Markus Zusak

His soul sat up. It met me. Those kinds of souls always do - the best ones. The ones who rise up and say "I know who you are and I am ready. Not that I want to go, of course, but I will come." Those souls are always light because more of them have been put out. More of them have already found their way to other places. — Markus Zusak

At first, she could not talk. Perhaps it was the sudden bumpiness of love she felt for him. Or had she always loved him? — Markus Zusak

She let herself love me for three minutes. Can three minutes last forever? I ask myself, but already know the answer. Probably not, I reply. But maybe they last long enough. — Markus Zusak

See, Cameron. The only things I care about in this life are me, you, Mum, Dad, Steve and Sarah. And maybe Miffy. The rest of the world means nothing to me. The rest of the world can rot.' Am I like that too?' You? No way.' There's a slight gap in his words. 'And that's your problem. You care about everything.' He's right. I do. — Markus Zusak

Only hearts... They're in the inside of the inside of me. — Markus Zusak

At first, all is black and white. Black on white. That's where I'm walking, through pages. These pages. Sometimes it gets so that I have one foot in the pages and the words, and the other in what they speak of. — Markus Zusak

Life Lessons by Markus Zusak

1. Markus Zusak's work emphasizes the importance of empathy and understanding, as seen in his novel The Book Thief which tells the story of a young girl's experience during the Holocaust.
2. Zusak's work also highlights the power of storytelling, as he uses the narrative to explore themes of love, loss, and resilience.
3. By reading his work, we can learn to appreciate the beauty of life, even in the darkest of times.