"Waiting. Like it or not, it's a skill all spies have to master eventually."

"Did you see Grace is back with us?'Megan did see me. She saw me jump off a cliff and crawl under an Iranian fence. Megan has seen plenty. And I can't help but hold my breath, waiting on her answer.'Hi,' Megan says, turning to me. 'Welcome home.'Home. The word hits me. I've spent all my life thinking that I didn't have one, but now that I'm back I can't deny that I've spent more my life on Embassy Row than in any other place-that maybe it just wasn't my mother's childhood home. In a way, it's mine, too."

"There are six reasons anyone does anything: Love. Faith. Greed. Boredom. Fear...' he said, ticking them off on his fingers; but he lingered on the last, drawing a deep breath before he said, 'Revenge."

"Lies aren't just the things we tell -- they're the lives we lead."

"If you ever put a student at this school in danger again-''Oh, I thought you Gallagher Girls were immune to danger.'Despite the hundred girls the filled the foyer, no one moved or gasped or tried to defend our honor. We stood silently, waiting for our headmistress to say, 'Oh, we are quite used to being underestimated, Agent Townsend. In fact, we welcome it."

"I get it, even if Jamie can't put it into words. There are some books you can never get rid of, even if you don't like the ending."

"Number of empty Ben & Jerry's containers: 3 -- two mint chocolate cookie, one plain vanilla. (Who buys plain vanilla ice cream from Ben & Jerry's, anyway? Is there a greater waste?)"

"I don't understand boys."

"I needed to see you. And touch you. And just... Know."

"How sweet is that? I know I'm no boy expert, but I have heard entire lectures on reading body language, and I have to say that assuming that a person will have forgotten your name is way high on my 'indicators of humbleness' list (not that I have one, but I totally have a starting point now)."

"No! I need to go home,' I say, but then the realization comes: My mother was my home. My mother is dead."

"Eventually, we all end up alone."

"For the first time I realize how perilous peace can be. I appreciate the tightrope that my grandfather has spent his whole life trying to walk. And now, more than ever, I grow terrified that I'm going to make us all fall down."

"There are 6 reasons that a person does anything: Love, faith, greed, boredom, fear... revenge."

"Tell me Zach. I don't know if it was the wind or the adrenaline, but I shivered. 'And don't lie to me."

"Cammie!' I'll never forget the tone of Macey's voice in that moment. 'Cam,' she said slowly, moving toward me, 'I know how it feels to be watched every second of every day. I know what it's like to trust fewer and fewer people until it seems like you are completely alone in the world. I know you think the only things that are left in your life are the bad things. I know what you're feeling, Cam.' Her hands were on my shoulders. Her blue eyes were staring into mine. 'I know."

"You know' - Hale's breath was warm against Kat's ear in the chilly ballroom- 'I don't know that both of us really have to be here....' The slide changed. While hundreds of mathematicians waited with baited breath, the boy beside Kat whispered,'I could go make some calls... check on some things...''Play some blackjack?''Well, when in Rome...''Rome is tomorrow, babe,' Kat reminded him.He nodded. 'Right."

"I've attended seven schools in ten years,' I explain. 'So you can rest assured I know you. You're the girl who thinks being cruel is the same thing as being witty. You think being loud is the same thing as being right. And, most of all, you're the girl who is very, very pretty. And also very, very...common. trust me. There's at least one of you in every school.' I watch her features shift. 'Oh. Wait. Did you think you were unique?"

"The obvious,' Noah goes on, a little out of breath, 'being that he is probably some super secret assassin or something. And I'm not as tough as I look.''That's OK,' I tell him. 'I'm way tougher than you look."

"Kat,' Hale groaned, then fell back onto the pillows.'Funny, I didn't hear a doorbell.''I let myself in; hope that's okay.'Hale smiled. 'Or the alarm.'She stepped inside, tossed a pocket-size bag of tools onto the bed. 'You're due for an upgrade.'Hale propped himself against the antique headboard and squinted up at her.'She returns.' He crossed his arms across his bare chest. 'You know, I could be naked in here."

"So I hear we get to go to town this weekend. Want to catch a movie or something?--ZP.S. That is, if Jimmy doesn't mind.Translation: This weekend might be a good chance for us to see each other outside our school in a social environment, free of competetiton. I do not view other boys as threats, and I enjoy making them seem insignificant by calling them the wrong names. (Translation by Macey McHenry)"

"I have to smile. He's such a dork. But I'm starting to realize the one good thing that's happened: he's my dork."

"It was the first time in years I didn't wonder if my father was out there, looking at it too."

"Hale.' Kat sighed. 'The headmaster's car? Really? That's not to cliched for you?'What can I say?' He shrugged. 'I'm an old-fashioned guy. Besides, it's a classic for a reason.' He leaned against the window. 'It's good to see you, Kat.'Kat didn't know what to say. It's good to see you, too? Thanks for getting me kicked out? Is it possible you've gotten even hotter? I think I might have missed you?"

"Kat looked down at her lemonade. 'Do you think he betrayed the love of his life...because of us?''She used the name Romani, Kat,' was Gabrielle's answer. 'And besides...' She let the words draw out. Her gaze went to the distance, and there was a sense of peace in the way she said, 'WE'RE the love of his life.' She raised her glass again. 'To family."

"You shouldn't judge someone until you've walk a mile through an underground tunnel in her uncomfortable shoes."

"I have never been one to fall when I can jump."

"Okay, gang,' I said, 'according to blueprints, there's an elevator access panel on the east side of the building. We may get a little dirty, but-''I thought we'd just go through the doors,' Liz said, flashing three beautifully engraved invitations and some wonderfully authentic fake IDs.The tickets were $20,000 each. The Secret Service had been vetting the guest list for weeks, so Bex and I stopped beneath a streetlamp and studied Liz.'Do I even want to know where you got those?' I asked.Liz seemed to ponder it, and then she said, 'No."

"But that's the thing about being the girl who's spent years convincing the world she's not afraid of anything: At some point, someone is going to find out you're afraid of everything."

"Grace, if you have used an iron within the last six months, I will eat that fork,' Ms. Chancellor says.'Which one?' I try to tease. 'You've got a lot of forks to choose from.''From which to choose, Grace. Do not end your sentences in prepositions, dear.''Of course, I totally see what you're getting at. I mean, at what you're getting."

"She really wants to be my friend, I realize, and suddenly I feel very sorry for her. She doesn't know what a terrible thing it is she's asking for."

"Somebody knows."

"I don't understand hate. I've seen its power. I've known its wrath. I've even felt it coursing through my veins, pushing me on. But I don't know where it comes from or why it lasts, how it can take hold in some people and grow."

"I don't want tea, I want justice!"

"On most guys, Hale's smile would have looked sheepish. On him, it was so roguishly charming that Kat's heart actually skipped a beat."

"I thought the morning would bring change. But I should have known that it doesn't take that long for change to happen - it takes a second. A moment. In a single breath, reality as you know it can simply fall away."

"A lot of people think that being a Gallagher Girl means not being afraid of anything. Actually, that couldn't be further from the truth. It's not about ignoring fear. It's about facing it, knowing the risks and the costs and sacrificing safety and security anyway."

"Time. I would have gone somewhere to buy time."

"I know. I'm sorry.' And the bizarre part is that I really am. I want to be good, to use the right fork and wear a pretty linen dress to breakfast. I want to be the girl in the pictures upstairs. But I can't be. That girl is dead."

"Its Vermeer'Kat turned to the boy who lingered in the doorway. 'It's stolen''What can I say?' Hale eased behind her and studied the painting over her shoulder. 'I met a very nice man who bet me he had the best security system in Istanbul.' His breath was warm on the back of her neck. 'He was mistaken."

"Unusual financial activity: none, unless you count the fact that someone in the family is way too into Civil War biographies. (Can this be a possible indication of Confederate insurgents still living and working in Virginia? Must research further.)"

"You cannot con an honest man."

"The whole summer lay ahead of us-time to rest, time to wait. And when the future comes-no matter what comes with it-I'll be smarter. I'll be stronger. I'll be ready."

"I knew she was right. Of course she was right. Bex was always right. She knew me better than I knew myself. But then again, isn't that a best friend's job?"

"Do you understand any of this?' he said, pointing to the lines and symbols that covered the massive screens.'Some people understand the value of an education.'Hale stretched and crossed his legs, the settled his arm around Kat's shoulders.'That's sweet, Kat. Maybe later I'll buy you a university. And an ice cream.''I'd settle for the ice cream.''Deal."

"And, of course, there are the perfect day, perfect moment, perfect life dreams that come sometimes and make a person hit the snooze button for hours, trying to go back to sleep and make the perfect moments last."

"Two days after my dad's funeral, my mom went on a mission. I never understood it until then--that sometimes a spy doesn't need a cover so much as she needs a shield."

"Keep your chin up. Eventually, you will meet someone who cares about your opinion. I'm so sorry I'm not her."

"Friends help each other when they are...you know...going up international hit men and stuff."

"What kind of plan B?' Hale asked. He was almost holding his breath when a voice answered, 'My kind.' Macey tried to read the look on his face then, but it was gone in a flash. It had been a simple moment of peace and joy and pure happiness. That voice made Hale happy. It kept him calm. It was his backup and his conscience. Macey couldn't help herself, she envied him."