Catherynne M. Valente Quotes

United States, Writer
May 5, 1979

Catherynne M. Valente is an American fiction writer, poet, and literary critic. For her speculative fiction novels she has won the annual James Tiptree, Andre Norton, and Mythopoeic Fantasy Awards. Her short fiction has appeared in Clarkesworld Magazine, the World Fantasy Award–winning anthologies Salon Fantastique and Paper Cities, along with numerous Year's Best volumes. Her critical work has appeared in the International Journal of the Humanities as well as in numerous essay collections.

Also known as Poet

I abandoned her. It's the one capital crime of fatherhood. Mothers can fail a thousand different ways. A father's only job is: do not abandon this child.

Catherynne M. Valente
- Job
- Father
- Child
Ivan said, If only we could eat violin music.

Catherynne M. Valente
- Music
- Eat
- VIolin

But lost children always find each other, in the dark, in the cold. It is as though they are magnetized, and can only attract their like.

Catherynne M. Valente
- Children
- Lost
- Find
Magic is just a word for what’s left to the powerless once everyone else has eaten their fill.

Catherynne M. Valente
- Magic
- Word
- Left
That is what happens when a person lives alone for so long - no one else can change their ways.

Catherynne M. Valente
- Alone
- Person
- Happens
I perceive that you have a cruel heart, my child. It lies within your breast like a smoldering blade, hissing steam at me.

Catherynne M. Valente
- Heart
- You
- Cruel
There are no tigers for us, just a city, waiting, and it loves us, in whatever ways a city can love.

Catherynne M. Valente
- City
- Waiting
- Loves
The Heart of Fairyland is a story

Catherynne M. Valente
- Heart
- Story
- Fairyland

Eternity takes forever.

Catherynne M. Valente
- Forever
- Eternity
When the world changes, it stashes us away where we can't make it run the other way again.

Catherynne M. Valente
The point's not what it costs; it's what it costs you. Everything you have. That's my price, that's my prize, that's my ransom, and that's my rune. The only price in the world that matters is the one that hurts to pay.

Catherynne M. Valente
- World
- Pay
- Price
Funny how "question" contains the word "quest" inside it, as though any small question asked is a journey through briars.

Catherynne M. Valente
- Question
- Journey
- Word
The only price in the world that matters is the one that hurts to pay.

Catherynne M. Valente
- Pay
- Price
- Matters
How wonderful is ritual, what comfort in dark times!

Catherynne M. Valente
- Dark
- Times
- Comfort