Ender's Game Quotes

Quote 1: "And there are doubts about him. He's too malleable. Too willing to submerge himself in someone else's will." Chapter 1, pg 1

Quote 2: "It was not his fault he was a Third. It was the government's idea, they were the ones who authorized it - how else could a Third like Ender have got into school?" Chapter 1, pg 7

Quote 3: " 'I could kill you like this,' Peter whispered. 'Just press and press until you're dead.'" Chapter 2, pg 12

Quote 4: " 'And do you know why you don't mean it?' Valentine asked. 'Because you want to be in the government someday. you want to be elected. And they won't elect you if your opponents can dig up the fact that your brother and sister died in suspicious accidents... 'You're his monitor now,' said Peter. 'You better watch him day and night.'" Chapter 2, pg 13

Quote 5: "Knocking him down won the first fight. I wanted to win all the next ones, too. So they'd leave me alone." Chapter 3, pg 1

Quote 6: "[Peter] was the best we'd seen in a long time. We asked your parents to choose a daughter next - they would have anyway - hoping that Valentine would be Peter, but milder. She was too mild. And so we requisitioned you." Chapter 3, pg 24

Quote 7: " 'It was what I was born for, isn't it? If I don't go, why am I alive?' 'Not good enough,' Graff said. 'I don't want to go,' said Ender, 'but I will.'" Chapter 3, pg 26

Quote 8: "With Ender, we have to strike a delicate balance. Isolate him enough that he remains creative - otherwise he'll adopt the systems here and we'll lose him. At the same time, we need to make sure he keeps a strong ability to lead." Chapter 4, pg 27

Quote 9: " 'Anderson, think what we're going to do to him.' ... 'We're going to make him the best military commander in history.' 'And then put the fate of the world on his shoulders.'" Chapter 4, pg 36

Quote 10: "I noticed you eating all alone... I think the teachers do that on purpose. The teachers aren't very nice... Make friends. Be a leader. Kiss butts if you have to, but if the other guys despise you-you know what I mean?" Chapter 5, pg 42-3

Quote 11: "[Shen and Ender] laughed together. Ender's isolation was over." Chapter 5, pg 53

Quote 12: " 'Why weren't you ready?' asked Dap. 'you had your suits just as long as they did.'" Chapter 6, pg 61

Quote 13: "...His desk would go dark, 'Free Play Over' would march around the desk, and Ender would lie back and tremble until he could finally go to sleep." Chapter 6, pg 64

Quote 14: "I'm a murderer, even when I play. Peter would be proud of me." Chapter 6, pg 65

Quote 15: "Whatever it meant to Alai, Ender knew that it was sacred; that he had uncovered himself for Ender..." Chapter 7, pg 70

Quote 16: That was stupid... It set her apart, made her different, split the army..." Chapter 7, pg 81

Quote 17: "It's Wiggin. You know, that smartass Launchie from the game room." Chapter 7, pg 81

Quote 18: "... the adults are the enemies, not the other armies. They do not tell us the truth." Chapter 7, pg 82

Quote 19: "Bonzo's anger [was] growing hot. Hot anger was bad. Ender's anger was cold, and he could use it. Bonzo's was hot, so it used him." Chapter 7, pg 87

Quote 20: "If you want, I'll pretend you won this argument. Then tomorrow you can tell me you changed your mind." Chapter 7, pg 87

Quote 21: "Listen, Ender, commanders have just as much authority as you let them have. The more you obey, the more power they have over you." Chapter 8, pg 102

Quote 22: "I can't believe you haven't seen through all this crap yet, Ender... These other armies, they aren't the enemy. It's the teachers, they're the enemy. They get us to fight each other, to hate each other." Chapter 8, pg 108

Quote 23: "This game knows too much about me. This game tells filthy lies. I am not Peter. I don't have murder in my heart... And then a worse fear, that he was a killer, only better at it than Peter... Well, I'm the bloody bastard you wanted when you had me spawned." Chapter 8, pg 119

Quote 24: "What do you tell him, I need citizen's access so I can take over the world?" Chapter 9, pg 129

Quote 25: "I'm going to rule, Val... But I want it to be something worth ruling... A Pax Americana through the whole world." Chapter 9, pg 131-2

Quote 26: "She was one of them now." Chapter 9, pg 151

Quote 27: " 'What if I've got a soldier I just can't get along with?' 'Get along with him.' Graff closed his eyes." Chapter 10, pg 157

Quote 28: "It was the teachers who had done it... It was a strategy. Graff had deliberately set him up to be separate from the other boys, made it impossible for him to be close to them." Chapter 10, pg 167

Quote 29: "And with that anger, he decided he was strong enough to defeat them-the teachers, his enemies." Chapter 10, pg 172

Quote 30: "Most of the vids were a waste of time. Heroic music, closeups...But here and there he found useful sequences... So it was from the Buggers, not the humans, learned strategy." Chapter 11, pg 188

Quote 31: " 'Those videos were created for propaganda purposes. All the strategies have been edited out.' 'I know.' Graff and Anderson exchanged glances again." Chapter 11, pg 191

Quote 32: "You want to make me the best soldier possible. Go down and look at the standings. Look at the all-time standings. So far you're doing an excellent job with me. Congratulations. Now when are you going to put me up against a good army?" Chapter 11, pg 191

Quote 33: "The teachers got me into this-they can keep me safe." Chapter 11, pg 195

Quote 34: "Ender Wiggin must believe that no matter what happens, no adult will ever, ever step in to help him in any way... If he does not believe that, then he will never reach the peak of his abilities." Chapter 12, pg 202

Quote 35: "Don't be alone. Ever. -Dink." Chapter 12, pg 205

Quote 36: "Your father would be proud of you... Oh, what honor... You can go home and tell [him]... I only had six of my friends to help me... even though he was naked and wet and alone," Chapter 12, pg 208-9

Quote 37: "Naked and wet and alone... I can't help that I'm bigger than you. You're such a genius, you figure out how to handle me." Chapter 12, pg 209

Quote 38: I may have used Valentine... [but] it only works because what's between you, that's real, that matters." Chapter 13, pg 244

Quote 39: "We are the Third Invasion." Chapter 13, pg 250

Quote 40: "I will program your battles now, not the computer... From now on the enemy is more clever than you. From now on the enemy is stronger than you. From now on you are always about to lose... but you will win. You will learn to defeat the enemy." Chapter 14, pg 263-4

Quote 41: Strange dreams are a safety valve, Ender. I'm putting you under a little pressure for the first time in your life." Chapter 14, pg 287

Quote 42: " 'You beat them, and it's all over.' All over. Beat them. Ender didn't understand... 'Ender, you never played me... This was the Third Invasion... the battles were real and the only enemies you fought were the buggers.'" Chapter 14, pg 296

Quote 43: "And always Ender carried with him a dry white cocoon, looking for a place where the hive-queen could awaken and thrive in peace. He looked a long time." Chapter 15, pg 324