Avi quotes

All I can think is that when you torment a person...the soul dies. When the soul dies, I suppose mercy dies, too.

I try to write about complex issues--young people in an adult world-- full of irony and contradiction in a narrative style that relies heavily on suspense with a texture rich in emotion and imagery. I take a great deal of satisfaction in using popular forms-- the adventure, the mystery, the thriller-- so as to hold my reader with the sheer pleasure of a good story. At the same time I try to resolve my books with an ambiguity that compels engagement. In short, I want my readers to feel, to think, sometimes to laugh. But most of all I want them to enjoy a good read.

A sailor may choose the wind to ride out of seaport, but the wind has a mind of it's own.

A sailor chooses the wind that takes the ship from a safe port. Ah, yes, but once you're abroad, as you have seen, winds have a mind of their own. Be careful, Charlotte, careful of the wind you choose.

It all depends on you. If you want it to be different,it will be different. Don't look at the world with your eyes but with your heart.

I want my readers to feel, to think, sometimes to laugh. But most of all I want them to enjoy a good read.

For heaven's sake, don't write writing. Write reading!

I kept asking myself if I felt different, if I was different. The answer was always yes. I was no longer nothing… How odd, I thought; it had taken my mother’s death, Father Quinel’s murder, and the desire of others to kill me to claim a life of my own.

There is a limit to how much a seer wishes to see.

People are freer in America. But there are more tears.

The more men see of the world, the bigger their hearts

The cure for unhappiness...It's this: What a person needs is always more than they say.

Now give me a kiss, say you love me and off you go." "Sure, Aunt Lu," I said, and I gave her the kiss she wanted. Then I ran out and caught my bus. I didn't say I loved her. I guess I did. But asking someone to say they love you--and she always asked--is like buying yourself a birthday present. It's more than likely exactly what you want. But it must make you feel awfully sad to get it.

Let's agree then . . . if you're about to come to a conclusion, you'll head off in another direction. You might even find your own voice.

I think you become a writer when you stop writing for yourself or your teachers and start thinking about readers.

There are those who'd rob a blind man of his eyelashes if they could.

I took a deep breath. 'For you I've got something better than love.' What's that?' I...trust you.' Why?' You'll never hurt me.' Thank you.' But...' But, what?' I said, 'That means I'll hurt you.' Why?' 'Cause, like I said, you'll never hurt me back.

It seems to me that you won't have had a proper series of adventures, unless you've gone through thick and thin.