Markus Zusak’s historical fiction book The Book Thief is set in Nazi Germany during WWII.
It tells the story of a little girl raised by foster parents who is hiding a Jew with her family.
The novel has received widespread recognition and has been made into a blockbuster film picture.
We have chosen some of the top quotes from The Book Thief novel for you to read.
Table of Contents
The Book Thief Quotes by Markus Zusak
“He does something to me, that boy. Every time. It’s his only detriment. He steps on my heart. He makes me cry.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
“It was a Monday and they walked on a tightrope to the sun.” ~ Marcus Zusak, The Book Thief.
“I have hated words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
“Like most misery, it started with apparent happiness.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
“If only she could be so oblivious again, to feel such love without knowing it, mistaking it for laughter.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
“I have to say that although it broke my heart, I was, and still am, glad I was there.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
“I’m always finding humans at their best and worst. I see their ugly and their beauty and I wonder how the same can be both.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
“They were French, they were Jews, and they were you.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
Other Books Quotes: Pimp: The Story of My Life Quotes by Iceberg Slim and The Godfather Quotes by Mario Puzo
Famous The Book Thief Quotes
“The song was born on her breathe and died at her lips.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
“Often I wish this would all be over, Liesel, but then somehow you do something like walk down the basement steps with a snowman in your hands.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
“I am constantly overestimating and underestimating the human race – that rarely do I ever simply estimate it.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
“It was a year for the ages, like 79, like 1346, to name just a few. Forget the scythe, Goddamn it, I needed a broom or a mop. And I needed a vacation. ” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
“You’re a human, you should understand self-obsession.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
“I am haunted by humans.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
“A snowball in the face is surely the perfect beginning to a lasting friendship.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
Quotes from The Book Thief
“I want words at my funeral. But I guess that means you need life in your life.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
“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 (quote from The Book Thief).
“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 (quote from The Book Thief).
“Somewhere, far down, there was an itch in his heart, but he made it a point not to scratch it. He was afraid of what might come leaking out.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
“Can a person steal happiness? Or is just another internal, infernal human trick?” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
“It’s a lot easier, she realized, to be on the verge of something than to actually be it. This would still take time.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
“A small fact:
You are going to die….does this worry you?” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
“Two weeks to change the world, fourteen days to destroy it.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
“In years to come, he would be a giver of bread, not a stealer – proof again of the contradictory human being. So much good, so much evil. Just add water.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
“One was a book thief. The other stole the sky.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
Profound The Book Thief Quotes
“A small but noteworthy note. I’ve seen so many young men over the years who think they’re running at other young men. They are not. They are running at me.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
“Together, they would watch everything that was so carefully planned collapse, and they would smile at the beauty of destruction.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
“The words were on their way, and when they arrived, she would hold them in her hands like the clouds, and she would wring them out like the rain.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
“If they killed him tonight, at least he would die alive.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
“It kills me sometimes, how people die.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
“Humans, if nothing else, have the good sense to die.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
“Sometimes I think my papa is an accordion. When he looks at me and smiles and breathes, I hear the notes.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
“You cannot be afraid, Read the book. Smile at it. It’s a great book-the greatest book you’ve ever read.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
“As always, one of her books was next to her.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
“The words. Why did they have to exist? Without them, there wouldn’t be any of this.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
Top The Book Thief Quotes
“You can’t eat books, sweetheart.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
“My heart is so tired.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
“The point is, it didn’t really matter what the book was about. It was what it meant that was important.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
“So much good, so much evil. Just add water.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
“She wanted none of those days to end, and it was always with disappointment that she watched the darkness stride forward.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
“She was saying goodbye and she didn’t even know it.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
“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.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
“Imagine smiling after a slap in the face. Then think of doing it twenty-four hours a day.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
Powerful The Book Thief Quotes
“It’s hard to not like a man who not only notices the colors, but speaks them.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
“The only thing worse than a boy who hates you: a boy that loves you.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
“When she came to write her story, she would wonder when the books and the words started to mean not just something, but everything.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
“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 (quote from The Book Thief).
“She took a step and didn’t want to take any more, but she did.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
“Even death has a heart.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
“Usually we walk around constantly believing ourselves. “I’m okay” we say. “I’m alright”. But sometimes the truth arrives on you and you can’t get it off. That’s when you realize that sometimes it isn’t even an answer–it’s a question. Even now, I wonder how much of my life is convinced.” ~ Markus Zusak (quote from The Book Thief).
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