Noughts And Crosses Quotes

Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. From forth the fatal loins of these two foes A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life; Whole misadventured piteous overthrows Do with their death bury their parents' strife. The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love, And the continuance of their parents' rage, Which, but their children's end, nought could remove, Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage; The which if you with patient ears attend, What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

Just remember, Callum when you’re floating up and up in your bubble, that bubbles have a habit of bursting. The higher you climb, the further you have to fall.

That just the way it is. Some things will never change. That's just the way it is. But don't you believe them.

The news lies all the time. They tell us what they think we would want to hear.

I used to comfort myself with the belief that it was only certain individuals and their peculiar notions that spoilt things for the rest of us. But how many individuals does it take before it's not the individuals who are prejudiced but society itself?

Dear God, please let him have heard me. Please. Please. If you're up there. Somewhere.

I hadn't fully realized just how powerful words could be before this. Whoever came up with the saying 'sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me' was talking out of his or her armpit.

I pulled him closer to me, wrapping my arms around him, kissing him just as desperately as he was kissing me. Like if we could just love long enough and hard enough and deep enough, then the world outside would never, could never hurt us.

People are people. We'll always find a way to mess up, doesn't matter who's in charge.

So why did you want to kiss me?" "We're friends aren't we?" Callum shrugged. I relaxed into a smile. "Of course we are." "And if you can't kiss your friends who can you kiss?" Callum smiled.

You're a Nought and I'm a Cross and there's nowhere for us to be, nowhere for us to go where we'd be left in peace...That's why I started crying. That's why I couldn't stop. For all the things we might've had and all the things we're never going to have.

And things go unsaid soon get forgotten

She stays lost in the middle of her own world somewhere. We can’t get in and she doesn’t come out. Not often anyway, and certainly not for any length of time. But her mind takes her to somewhere kind, I think, to judge by the peaceful, serene look on her face most of the time.

But remember this if nothing else: I love you more than there are words or stars. I love you more than there are thoughts and feelings. I love you more than there are seconds or moments gone or to come. I love you.

Because my mum and dad brought me up to believe that people are different but equal. And that I should treat everyone, no matter who, with the same respect I'd like to be shown.

He pulls the hood over my head. I try to pull back. I'm not trying to run away. I just want to see her... One last time...

Love was like an avalanche, with Sephy and I hand-in-hand racing like hell to get out of it's way-only, instead of running away from it, we kept running straight towards it.

When did we stop being people, being human?

Never, ever allow yourself to feel. Feelings kill.

Jude's rule number five: Never get to close to anyone or anything that you can't walk away at a moment's notice if you have to. When you have to.

Why was it that when noughts committed criminal acts, the fact that they were noughts was always pointed out? The banker was a Cross. The newsreader didn't even mention it.

Lynny's solution was better. Just fade out, until you were ready to fade back in.

When a chance for real happiness comes by, grab it with both hands and devour it. If it lasts five minutes or five lifetimes, it's still worth it.

Was that all love did for you? Made you give up and give in? Left you open to pain and hurt?

I suppose it doesn't occur to you that I can think the system just as unjust as you do.

If you're naive - which means immature, inexperienced, or a bit thick - you get eaten alive.

Who did it, Sephy?' She repeated. 'Who beat you up? 'Cause whoever it was, I'll kill them.

Once there was a man and a woman. When they met sparks flew, meteors collided, asteroids turned cartwheels and atoms split. He loved her from here to eternity, she loved him to the moon and back. They were two peas in a pod, heads and tails and noughts and crosses.

The higher you climb, the further you have to fall.

Jude's fourth law: Caring equals vulnerability. Never show either.

What was it about the differences in others that scared some people so much?

But the Good Book said a lot of things. Like 'love thy neighbor' and ' do unto others as you would have them do unto you'. If nothing else, wasn't the message of the Good Book to live and let live? So how could the Crosses call themselves 'God's chosen' and still treat us the way they did?

There are no such things as friends. Just acquaintances who haven't let you down yet.

It was because I was scared. Scared of standing out, scared of being invisible. Scared of seeming too big, scared of being too small.

You have the same smile, the same shaped eyes, the same way of tilting your head to listen, the same stubborn streak, the same common sense. Lots of things about you and him are the same.

The media called us ruthless terrorists. We're not. We're just fighting for what's right. Being born a nought shouldn't automatically slam shut myriad doors before you've even drawn your first breath.

He thought astrology was a load of bosh! Didn't believe in stars and planets telling his fortune or anyone else's.

D'you ever wonder what it would be like if our positions were reversed?' I ask. At Jack's puzzled look I continue. 'If we whites were in charge instead of you Crosses?' 'Can't say it's ever crossed my mind,' Jack shrugs. 'I used to think about it a lot,' I sigh. 'Dreams of living in a world with no more discrimination, no more prejudice, a fair police force, an equal justice system, equality of education, equality of life, a level playing field...

He wrapped his arms around me. We were cuddled up like a couple of spoons in a cutlery drawer.

No-one understood. No-one. Least of all - me.

One of us... One of them... One of us... One of them... A rhythm playing like train wheels on a circular track -- never ending but going nowhere.

My rear end was blood-raw from my so called brilliant ideas rebounding on me.

And just like that, I'd been assessed and judged. Nurse Fashoda didn't know the first thing about me but she'd taken one look at my face and now she reckoned she knew my whole life story -- what had gone before and what was yet to come.

Noughts... Even the word was negative. Nothing. Nil. Zero. Nonentities. It wasn't a name we'd chosen for ourselves. It was a name we'd been given.

His eyes were a lot older than fifteen.” Persephone Hadley(,regarding Callum McGregor)

Mrs Bawden yanked me away from the table and dragged me across the food hall. I tried to twist away from her, but she had a grip like a python on steroids.

And round and round and round. Why couldn't I get past the letter? Like poison id had seeped into every image and every memory I kept of Callum, polluting them until I couldn't tell which was real and what was just wishful thinking any more. Until at last, I was forced to face the inescapable fact that, for whatever reason, Callum had written the letter.

A yawning hole deep inside me was begging to be filled up with words and thoughts and ideas and facts and fictions.” Callum McGregor

But faith is so easy to hold onto when you don't need it. And so hard to find when you do.

If you can only have one, which means more to you? Being someone or making a difference -Lynny

We were comfort kissing, that's all. We wrapped our arms around each other for solace. Bear hugging. Squeezing the life out of each other as if we were trying to merge together. When at last we loosened our grip, in a strange way we were both more calm. Physically, at least. Not mentally.

I lay on her bed with my arms wrapped around her, wondering how on earth we'd managed to end up like this. I'm not sure what'd been on my mind when I came to see her, but this wasn't it! Strange the way things turn out. When I'd come into her room I'd been burning up with desire to smash her and everything around her. And yet here she was, asleep and still holding on to my arms like I was a life-raft or something. There's not a single millimetre between her body and mine. I could move my hands and, and, anything I liked. Caress or strangle. Kill or cure. Her or me. Me or her.

Even if we had gone away together when I wanted us to, we would've been together for a year, maybe two. But sooner or later, other people would've found a way to wedge us apart.

He loved to draw. Animals pouncing mostly. And trees. Always lone trees in black landscapes.

He was constantly surprising me like that. I had thought I didn't like surprises, but I found I did when they came from him.

If only Callum and I didn’t have to sneak and creep around.

Her life was her major disappointment, her mistakes carved into every premature line in her face, but I wasn’t going to let her use my life as her second chance.

How dare you both sit there and criticize and condemn me?

That's why I started crying. That's why I couldn't stop. For all the things we might've had and all the things we're never going to have.

You have to live in a world divided into Noughts and Crosses. A world where you will be biologically both and socially neither. Mixed race. Dual heritage. Labels to be attached.

For once I didn't look away immediately. I forced myself to meet her contemptuous gaze. I allowed myself be swept away by it, to drown in it - the way I'd done so many times before. The way I would willingly do again. Because at least she was here to hate me. At least I had that. I watched my daughter conjure up the filthiest look in her vast arsenal before she turned away with complete disdain. I didn't mind that so much. It meant I could watch her, drink her in without her protest. Look at our daughter, Callum. Isn't she beautiful, so very beautiful? She laughs like me, but when she smiles... Oh Callum, when she smiles, it's picnics in Celebration Park and sunsets on our beach and our very first kiss all over again. When Callie Rose smiles at me, she lights up my life. When Callie Rose smiles at me.

It was because I was scared. Scared of standing out, scared of being invisible. Scared of seeming too big, scared of being too small. Scared of being with Sephy, scared of being away from her.

I can’t stop thinking about what might have been… I can’t stop imagining the two of us together. My body burns at the thought of it. Sephy and I might’ve been together for ever.” — Callum McGregor

You remind me of a boy I used to know Same Smile, same easy, laid-back style And man, could he kiss Blew my mind the very first time His lips touched mine. You remind me You remind me of a boy I used to like. Same eyes, strong arms, same open mind And man, could he dance Arms around me, lost in a trance I'd hear his heart You remind me I'm scared of you How did you find me? Turn and walk away 'Cause you remind me You remind me of a boy I used to love Same laughter and tears, shared through the years And man, how he felt Made my bones more than melt He touched my soul. You remind me I'm scared of you How did you find me? Turn and walk away 'Cause you remind me

You’re not fifteen any more. You’re not the idealistic kid who thought that, deep down, somewhere, somehow, in some way, life had to be fair.” — Callum McGregor

More and more I was beginning to feel like a spectator in my own life.

To my fellow Crosses, keep the faith.

Whoever came up with the saying ‘sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me’ was talking out of his or her armpit.

when you’re floating up and up in your bubble, that bubbles have a habit of bursting. The higher you climb, the further you have to fall.

Don't you think I'm beautiful, Callum?' Lynette whispered. 'yes' I replied truthfully 'very.

Meggie turned back to watch the children. Life was so simple for them. Their biggest worry was what they’d get for their birthdays. Their biggest grumble was the time they had to go to bed. Maybe things would be different for them…Better. Meggie forced herself to believe that things would be better for the children, otherwise what was the point of it all?” — Meggie McGregor

blankers!’ I winced at the venom in Dad’s voice. And I’d never heard him refer to noughts as blankers before. Blankers … What a horrible word! A nasty word. My friend Callum wasn’t a blanker. He wasn’t …

The story of my life doesn't exist. Does not exist. There's never any center to it. No path, no line. There are great spaces where you pretend there used to be someone, but it's not true, there was no one. The story of one small part of my youth I've already written, more or less- I mean, nought to give a glimpse of it. Of this part, I mean, the part about the crossing of the river. What I'm doing now is both different and the same. Before, I spoke of clear periods, those on which the light fell. Now I'm talking about the hidden stretches of that same youth, of certain facts, feelings, events that I buried.

Sephy told me once that I was the only one who could make her cry. I’ve never told this to her, or to anyone else for the matter, but it works the other way round as well.” — callum mcgregor/noughts&crosses

Don't hate me for wanting to change the way things are. I believe in you, Callum. You can change the world, I know you can. But not like this, I'm not trying to be magnanimous or patronizing. I genuinely want to help but...

Politics gets nastier and more vicious with each passing year. It’s not a parade of ideals or ethics any more. It’s about celebrity, false promises and image.

You wanna know the difference between a mosquito and a lawyer? One is a blood-sucking parasite and the other is an insect.

She looked up to stare at her reflection in the mirror, as if she'd never seen her face before either.

it any wonder I preferred the laughter of his house to the dignified silence of my own?

He’ll soon be as stuck-up as them.’ Jude prodded me in the same place where he’d just punched me,

Wherever you went, I’d go with you,’ I decided. ‘Though you’d soon get bored with me.

His eyes were a lot older than fifteen.

Maybe we are in different places …’ ‘No, we aren’t. Not if we don’t want to be, we aren’t.’ I willed Callum to look at me. ‘I wish it was that simple.’ ‘It is.

Sephy, d’you ever dream of just … escaping? Hopping on the first boat or plane you come across and just letting it take you away.’ There

NLM is a peaceful protest group made up of Noughts, Crosses and all right-minded citizens worldwide who despise bigotry and injustice. We

Except that the teachers had totally ignored us, and the Crosses had used any excuse to bump into us and knock our books on the floor, and even the noughts serving in the food hall had made sure they served everyone else in the queue before

This world is full of sheeple, not people, all longing to be told what to do, how to think. Sheeple who are lost without someone to follow. And you know the best part? Even when most of them know they're being led over a cliff, they'll still follow because it's less effort than thinking for themselves. It's the human condition.

Silence sits like a voyeur with popcorn, watching both of us.

If you'd slapped me or punched me or even stabbed me, sooner or later it would have stopped hurting.

That's just the way it is. Some things will never change. That's just the way it is. But you don't believe them.

Sometimes I wish there was just you and me and no one else in the whole world" - Callum

Sometimes I wish there was just you and me and no one else in the whole world

Colin’s dropped out and Shania’s been expelled for no reason and

Only one person cared if I lived or died. He’d done so much for me in the past and now it was my turn to do something for him.

She treated me like a real person. She didn’t see me as just a colour

Contrary to what you obviously believe, I don’t spend my hours thinking up ways to annoy you,’ Troy snaps. ‘Actually, I don’t think of you at all, so could you miss me with your bullshit, please?

myself. I’d felt ashamed of myself a lot recently, and, if I’m honest, part of me resented Callum for it. I didn’t want to feel guilty for just being, but that’s how he was beginning to make me feel.

I didn’t want to blame her for the way the police treated me and every other nought I knew. I didn’t want to hold her responsible for the way security guards and store detectives followed me around every time I entered a department store.

Can anyone tell me what all these scientists and pioneers really had in common?’ Mr Jason asked. A few more hands went up at that. Mr Jason wasn’t the only one who was relieved – not that I was going to answer any more questions anyway. ‘Yes, Harriet?’ said Mr Jason. ‘They’re all men?’ Harriet replied. ‘Our examples are, but there have been plenty of women pioneers and scientists and achievers as well,’ Mr Jason smiled. ‘So can anyone tell me what else all the people mentioned have in common?

Senseless people name evil good, call good evil. As you are doing. You accuse Us of passing false judgement: you do Us injustice. We shall prove this to you. You ask who We are: We are God’s handle, Master Death, a truly effective reaper. Our scythe works its way. It cuts down white, black, red, brown, green, blue, grey, yellow, and all kinds of lustrous flowers in its path, irrespective of their splendour, their strength, their virtue. And the violet’s beautiful colour, rich perfume, and palatable sap, avail it nought. See: that is justice. Our justification was acknowledged by the Romans and the poets, for they knew Us better than you do. You ask what We are: We are nothing, and yet something. Nothing, because We have neither life, nor being, nor form, and We are no spirit, not visible, not tangible; something, because We are the end of life, the end of existence, the beginning of nullity, a cross between the two. We are a happening that fells all people. Huge giants must fall before Us; all living beings must be transformed by Us. You ask where We are: We are not ascertainable. But Our form was found in a temple in Rome*, painted on a wall, as a hoodwinked man sitting on an ox; this man wielded a hatchet in his right hand and a shovel in his left hand, with which he was beating the ox. A great crowd of all kinds of people was hitting him, fighting him, and making casts at him, each one with the tools of his trade: even the nun with her psalter was there. They struck and made casts at the man on the ox, he who signified Us; yet Death contested and buried them all. Pythagoras likens Us to a man’s form with the eyes of a basilisk: they wandered to the ends of the Earth, and every living creature had to die at their glance. You ask where We are: We are from the Earthly Paradise. God created Us there and gave Us Our true name, when he said: «The day that ye bite of this fruit, ye shall die the death.» And for that reason We call ourself: «We, Death, mighty ruler and master on Earth, in the air, and in the rivers of the sea.» You ask what good We do: you have already heard that We bring the world more advantage than harm. Now cease, rest content, and thank Us for the kindness we have done you!