Darren Shan

Humans elect leaders on the basis of the promises they make. We [vampires] try to elect ours based solely on the strength of their character.

Yes?" she asked, eyeing me guardedly.I struck out a hand and said "Shake."Arra stared at the hand, then into my unfocused eyes. "One good fight doesn't make you a warrior," she said."Shake!" I repeated angrily."And if I don't?" she asked."I'll get back up on the bars and fight you till you do," I growled.Arra studied me at length, then nodded and took my hand. "Power to you, Darren Shan," she said gruffly."Power," I repeated weakly, then fainted into her arms and knew no more till I came to in my hammock the next night.

But you're like me,_ he says. __n outsider. Different. A freak. We're both weird, which is why we get along.

Her fear was infectious, and though I was too young to truly know terror, I felt it in my heart and trembled.

You can't hang around waiting for somebody else to pull your strings. Destiny's what you make of it. You have to face whatever life throws at you. And if it throws more than you'd like, more than you think you can handle? Well then you just have to find the heroism within yourself and play out the hand you've been dealt. The universe never sets a challenge that can't be met. You just need to believe in yourself in order to find the strength to face it.

Students never appreciate their teachers while they are learning. It is only later, when they know more of the world, that they understand how indebted they are to those who instructed them. Good teachers expect no praise or love from the young. They wait for it, and in time, it comes.

I know that no matter how lonely I get, I'll never be truly alone again. Our loved ones don't leave us. They just move out of sight for a while, and wait...in the shades.

Then we still have time!_ I gasp. __t__ not too late. We know what he__ going to do. We__l return to the cave and figh

I've never met a politician who didn't deserve to be tossed into a pit full of Kallin," Beranabus grunts.

I stop reading after half an hour. I__e had enough. Humanity has hit a brick wall. We__e facing our end, like the dinosaurs millions of years before us. The only difference is we__e got journalists on hand to document every blow and setback, cataloguing our rapid, painful downfall in vibrant, vicious detail. Personally, I think the dinosaurs had the better deal. When it comes to impending, unavoidable extinction, ignorance is bliss.

We cannot help where we are born or how we are raised," Tel Hesani said. "But we can reject the twisted beliefs of those around us if we need to. Our loved ones and elders don't always know what is best. A man should listen to his heart and make his own decisions about what is wrong and what is right.

The world might be going up in flames, but we have to carry on as normal

The demons were scary, but girls - Well, girls are really terrifying

Embrace death, dance with it a while, and finally fall prey to it.

The hunger inside us must be fed to be controlled.

I don't like it, but my hands are tied. I just want you to know this: if I ever get the chance to betray you, I will. If the opportunity arises to pay you back, I'll take it. You'll never be able to trust me.

I can give you two words," I tell him. "The second is off. Can you guess the first?

The pair smiled desperately at one another. And for the first time ever, despite the fact that everyone he knew - even the gods themselves - would condemn him for it, Jebel didn't think of Tel Hesani as a slave, but as an equal.