The Fountains of Silence Quotes

“I clung to books and words because, unlike people, they’d never abandon me.”
― Ruta Sepetys, The Fountains of Silence

“Silence has a voice of its own.”
― Ruta Sepetys, The Fountains of Silence

“Truth breaks the chains of silence." Puri puts a trembling hand to her chest. Her voice drops to a whisper.
"It sets us all free.”
― Ruta Sepetys, The Fountains of Silence

“Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly.”
― Ruta Sepetys, The Fountains of Silence

“Some were desperate to remember and others were desperate to forget.”
― Ruta Sepetys, The Fountains of Silence

“Sometimes the truth is dangerous… But we should search for it nonetheless.”
― Ruta Sepetys, The Fountains of Silence

“We have only died if you forget us. —anonymous epitaph SPANISH CIVIL WAR MASS GRAVE”
― Ruta Sepetys, The Fountains of Silence

“He doesn’t carry the disease of fear.” “It’s easy to be fearless when you have nothing to lose,” says Julia.”
― Ruta Sepetys, The Fountains of Silence

“... I’m not running around blaming anybody. I’m doing the work.

Which is what, exactly?

Letting it hurt.”
― Ruta Sepetys, The Fountains of Silence

“Without fear we will never meet courage.”
― Ruta Sepetys, The Fountains of Silence

“Some friendships are born of commonality. Others of proximity. And some friendships, often the unlikely ones, are born of survival. Rafa and his friend are comrades of hardship. They refuse to speak of the boys’ home in Barcelona. It was not a “home.” It was a hellhole, a slaughterhouse of souls. The “brothers” and “matrons” who ran the institution took pleasure in the humiliation of children. The mere memory is poison.”
― Ruta Sepetys, The Fountains of Silence

“You must be brave,” says Rafa. “One Texano against three Vallecanos.” “Bravery and stupidity are sometimes interchangeable.” Rafa lights up. “Yes! But fear brings dimension to our lives. Without fear we will never meet courage”
― Ruta Sepetys, The Fountains of Silence

“Through my own struggles I’ve learned that knowing is something that evolves. What we think we know can be quite far from the truth.”
― Ruta Sepetys, The Fountains of Silence

“Thousands of babies were stolen from their parents during the Franco dictatorship in Spain, but the story was suppressed for decades. Now, the first stolen-baby case has gone to court. The trial is expected to last months. As Lucía Benavides reports from Spain, it’s a dark part of Spanish history that is finally getting more recognition. Between 1939 and the late 1980s, it is alleged that over 300,000 babies were stolen from their birth mothers and sold into adoption. —LUCÍA BENAVIDES”
― Ruta Sepetys, The Fountains of Silence

“There is a tension that exists between history and memory, señor. Some of us are desperate to preserve and remember, while others are desperate to forget.”
― Ruta Sepetys, The Fountains of Silence

“We have only died if you forget us.”
― Ruta Sepetys, The Fountains of Silence

“The perfect word is like the perfect camera angle. It expresses the true nature of the situation. Change the camera position slightly, and the picture tells tales.”
― Ruta Sepetys, The Fountains of Silence

“And so I confess, dear Padre, that I feel confused. Fuga is gone. Taken by a bullet. I should feel guilty and full of fear. But somehow, I feel more connected to my friend and more proud of him than ever. Fuga never compromised. He never apologized for who or what he was. His difficult past was not a burden to him but an inspiration.”
― Ruta Sepetys, The Fountains of Silence

“The sweet girl in Madrid... It probably wouldn't have worked. The divide was too wide. Memories are hungry, tesoro. You musn't feed them. I'd hate to think that a teenage fling might leave you alone for the rest of your life.”
― Ruta Sepetys, The Fountains of Silence

“No money, no cradle. Earnings pay rent on their mother's grave. If payment is not made, her body will be dug up and thrown in a common trench.”
― Ruta Sepetys, The Fountains of Silence

“Look at you two. That- is the truth.”
― Ruta Sepetys, The Fountains of Silence

“Like the character of Daniel, I wanted to understand. I wanted to reciprocate the affection, comprehension, and compassion that the people in Spain had shown toward me and the history within my books. As my research progressed, I realized that the refrains were accurate. Not only is it difficult for an outsider to understand, I often found myself asking, “What right do we have to history other than our own?”
― Ruta Sepetys, The Fountains of Silence

“Rafa blinks, blocking the painful memories, hiding his collapsed heart beneath a smile. “Buenos días, señora. How may I help you?” he asks the customer. “Blood.” “Sí, señora.” Give them their blood. For more than twenty years, Spain has given blood. And sometimes Rafa wonders—what is left to give?”
― Ruta Sepetys, The Fountains of Silence

“Yes, most are very happy. But they have no parents.” Sister exhales her annoyance. “It is better to have no parents than the wrong parents.”
― Ruta Sepetys, The Fountains of Silence

“Doll. Dame. Kitten. Baby. American men have many terms for women. Just when Ana thinks she has learned them all, a new one appears. In her English class at the hotel, these words are called terms of endearment.”
― Ruta Sepetys, The Fountains of Silence

“Through my own struggles I’ve learned that knowing is something that evolves. What we think we know can be quite far from the truth. If we continue to seek and ask questions, we may one day find our way into the answers, but sometimes the answers only lead t more questions.”
― Ruta Sepetys, The Fountains of Silence

“Valencia. City by the sea, birthplace of her favorite painter, Sorolla. Hotel guests speak of Valencia’s tranquil beauty, fragrant orange trees, and rolling blue waters. What does a large body of water sound and smell like? Ana wonders. Landlocked, fenced by circumstance, she has never seen the sea. She sees Spain only through images on postcards that guests collect in their rooms. If she transfers to the hotel business office, perhaps one day she too will walk along the beach in Valencia.”
― Ruta Sepetys, The Fountains of Silence

“Ana remembers the teachings of the Sección Femenina: “Do not pretend to be equal to men.” They also teach that purity is absolute. Women’s bathing suits must reach the knees. If a girl is discovered in a movie theater with a boy but no chaperone, her family is sent a yellow card of prostitution.”
― Ruta Sepetys, The Fountains of Silence

“The platform is clogged with passengers, but orderly. With such well-ordered society, are so many police and guards on the street really necessary?”
― Ruta Sepetys, The Fountains of Silence

“Daniel looks at a photo of Ben, alone on the dance floor. He moves to a beat entirely his own, life pouring in and out of him. He lived hard and played harder. He did the work.”
― Ruta Sepetys, The Fountains of Silence