Catherynne M. Valente Quotes
-
Lebedeva snapped her fingers. “It’s like lying!” she exclaimed. “Well, we understand that, of course! The bigger the lie, the happier the liar.”
-
… That’s what a map is, you know. Just a memory. Just a wish to go back home - someday, somehow. …
-
Do you know, Masha, how revelation comes? Like death. So sudden, though you knew all along it must occur. A revelation is always the end of something. It might even be cause for grief.
-
I perceive that you have a cruel heart, my child. It lies within your breast like a smoldering blade, hissing steam at me.
-
It is best in the end to let women see to their own vengeance.
-
Just remember that the only question in a house is who is to rule. The rest is only dancing around that, trying not to look it in the eye.
-
Just tell yourself a story that'll satisfy you and pretend he told it.
-
Let us hold hands instead of let us hold kitchens. To say put our heads together and not put our parlors together. But it is not as simple as replacing words anymore. Ravan is gone. My hearth is broken.
-
You always trade blood for joy. It’s always a deal struck in the wet and the dark. Al didn’t make the rules. He just dances to the song that’s playing.
-
Eternity takes forever.
-
In war you must always choose sides. One or the other. Silver or black. Human or demon. If you try to be a bridge laid down between them, they will tear you in half.
-
So much light, sweet girl, begins in the dark.
-
The thing I hate about being dead is you can’t move on. I was in love with him when I died, so I’ll be in love with him till the sun burns out.
-
I savor bitterness - it is born of experience. It is the privilege of one who has truly lived. You, too, must learn to prefer it. After all, when all else is gone, you may still have bitterness in abundance.
-
It is better to be strong and cruel than to be fair. At least, one eats better that way. And morality is more dependent on the state of one's stomach than of one's nation
-
Al kept it coming and nobody asked how and his only rule was: share. Be warm, be innocent, open your everything, speak easy. Share
-
The kind of smile that has kept a froggy, dark sort of surprise in its back pocket, and won’t spoil it too soon.
-
Punishment doesn't mean you aren't loved. On the contrary. You can only punish someone you love.
-
Human contact is a terrible drug. Sometimes, you’ll even take the hit you know is tainted. You can’t stop yourself. The need is too strong.
-
I have survived, but I have not been spared.
-
Everything living has a mouth. Mouths bite and swallow; they talk; they taste. They kiss. A mouth is the main tool for living.
-
You get the face you build your whole life, with work and loving and grieving and laughing and frowning.
-
A library is never complete. That’s the joy of it. We are always seeking one more book to add to our collection.
-
Cocky don't say anything and that's as good as love right about now.