Caine has Drake and Orc, Panda and Chaz, and I hear Mallet has made peace with him. And maybe a half dozen other guys.Are you afraid of them? Astrid asked him.Yeah, Astrid, I am.Okay, she said. But you were scared of going into a burning building, too.You dont get this, do you? Sam demanded with enough heat that Astrid took a step back. I know what you want, okay? I know what you and a bunch of other people want. You want me to be the anti-Caine. You dont like the way hes doing things and you want me to go kick him out. Well, heres what you dont know: even if I could do all that, I wouldnt be any better than him.Youre wrong about that, Sam. YoureThat night when I first used the power? When I hurt my stepfather? How do you think I felt?Sad. Regretful. Astrid looked at his face like the answer would be written there. Scared, probably.Yeah. All that. And one more thing. He held up his hand and inches from her nose squeezed his fingers into a tight fist. I also felt a rush, Astrid. A rush. I thought, oh my God, look at the power I have. Look what I can do. A huge, crazy rush.Power corrupts, Astrid said softly.Yeah, Sam said sarcastically. Ive heard that.Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. I forget who said it.I make a lot of mistakes, Astrid. I dont want to make that mistake. I dont want to be that guy. I dont want to be Caine. I want to He spread his arms wide, a gesture of helplessness. I just want to go surfing.You wont be corrupted, Sam. You wouldnt do those things. He had moved back. She moved to close the distance.How can you be so sure?Well, two reasons. First, its not your character. Of course you felt a rush from the power. Then, you pushed it away. You didnt grab at it, you pushed it away. Thats reason number one. Youre you, youre not Caine or Drake or Orc.Sam wanted to agree, wanted to accept that, but he felt he knew better. Dont be so sure.And reason number two: you have me,
afraid astrid bullies character mistake power power-corrupts reasons sam-temple scared you-have-me
Download Image Share on X Share on Facebook

About This Quote

About Michael Grant, Gone

Michael Grant, Gone.

Themes

  • Power — The dynamics of influence, authority, and leadership

More quotes by Michael Grant, Gone

“Scared people did scary things sometimes,”
— Michael Grant, Gone
dangerous-people fear herd-mentality panic

“I had a polynomial once. My doctor removed it.”
— Michael Grant, Gone
gone-series humor mathematics

“One minute the teacher was talking about the Civil War. And the next minute he was gone. There. Gone. No 'poof.' No flash of light. No explosion.”
— Michael Grant, Gone
fantasy first-sentence gone-series survival

“I believe in free will. I think we make our own decisions and carry out or own actions. And our actions have consequences. The world is what we make it. But I think sometimes we can ask God to help...”
— Michael Grant, Gone
faith free-will self-reliance

“Caines a guy who needs to win. He needs to win before he poofs. Or he needs to win before I poof. The point is, hes not going to just accept us freeing all these kids from Coates and taking over Pe...”
— Michael Grant, Gone
astrid birthday bullies caine

“Who am I? Im the Breeze, bitch!”
— Michael Grant, Gone
funny light payback
View all quotes by Michael Grant, Gone →

Related Quotes

“Don't be afraid of being scared. To be afraid is a sign of common sense. Only complete idiots are not afraid of anything.”
— Carlos Ruiz Zafn
afraid bravery common-sense fear

“and when we speak we are afraidour words will not be heardnor welcomedbut when we are silentwe are still afraidSo it is better to speakrememberingwe were never meant to survive”
— Audre Lorde
afraid fear poem silence

“Laugh, even when you feel too sick or too worn out or tired. Smile, even when you're trying not to cry and the tears are blurring your vision. Sing, even when people stare at you and tell you your ...”
— Alysha Speer
afraid brave cry frolick

“Caines a guy who needs to win. He needs to win before he poofs. Or he needs to win before I poof. The point is, hes not going to just accept us freeing all these kids from Coates and taking over Pe...”
— Michael Grant, Gone
astrid birthday bullies caine

“This was how girls left. They packed up their suitcases and walked away in high heels. They pretended they weren't crying, that it wasn't the worst day of their lives.”
— Janet Fitch, White Oleander
astrid fitch janet oleander

“They said a lot of things to each other that night, but nothing that involved words.”
— Michael Grant
astrid kiss love night

“People who love themselves, dont hurt other people. The more we hate ourselves, the more we want others to suffer.”
— Dan Pearce, Single Dad Laughing
bullies bullying hurt love

“He couldn't have pulled back the lock, they couldn't simply have climbed over the sides of the stall in all of three seconds, because those weren't the rules of the game.Theirs was the intoxication...”
— John Ajvide Lindqvist, Let the Right One In
bullies fear

“No matter how kind you are, always expect a few imbeciles.”
— Criss Jami, Healology
bullies bully cruel-world dignity