Catherine Gilbert Murdock Quotes

• When you don't talk, there's a lot of stuff that ends up not getting said.

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock

  Relationship, Stuff, Said

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock (2007). “Dairy Queen”, p.3, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

  46 Copy quote

• You can’t think about how much you have left to do because that’s just one thought, one sad thought, that’ll make you bummed out all day long. Instead you’ve got to think about how much you’ve already done.

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock

  Thinking, Long, Done

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock (2007). “Dairy Queen”, p.19, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

  14 Copy quote

• How could I pretend to be someone else when I was already failing at being the person I already was?

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock

  Failing, Persons

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock (2009). “Front and Center”, p.160, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

  9 Copy quote

• Everyone I looked at, their whole lives, did exactly what they were supposed to do without even questioning it, without even wondering if they could do something different.

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock

  Different, Wonder, Questioning

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock (2007). “Dairy Queen”, p.132, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

  4 Copy quote

• And I have to tell you, as tough as farming is, the idea of farming when you’re losing money year after year... that’s not life even, that’s like death. That’s eternal damnation.

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock

  Years, Ideas, Damnation

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock (2008). “The Off Season”, p.75, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

  5 Copy quote

• But it turns out that even if I don’t talk a lot, when it’s something that matters I still have a lot to say.

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock

  Matter, Turns, Stills

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock (2007). “Dairy Queen”, p.275, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

  4 Copy quote

• What is a staircase, but a corridor improved by elevation?

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock

  Staircases, Elevation, Corridors

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock (2009). “Princess Ben”, p.86, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

  7 Copy quote

• And if I didn’t, I’d spend the rest of my life wondering who I could have turned into if only I’d had the guts to try.

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock

  Trying, Wonder, Guts

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock (2009). “Front and Center”, p.215, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

  6 Copy quote

• She says you're not truly human until you've had your heart broken and you've broken someone's heart.

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock

  Heart, Broken, Humans

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock (2009). “Front and Center”, p.210, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

  6 Copy quote

• Today exists between yesterday and tomorrow.

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock

  Yesterday, Today, Yesterday And Tomorrow

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock (2013). “Heaven Is Paved with Oreos”, p.41, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

  7 Copy quote

• It was like he was in a contest to see who could do the least work, only he was the only contestant.

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock

  Contests, Contestants

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock (2007). “Dairy Queen”, p.25, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

  4 Copy quote

• Oh. Listen, this is really hard for me . . . " "What is?" "You know. Being liked." I started to cry. I couldn't help it.

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock

  Helping, Cry, Knows

  6 Copy quote

• I milked, of course, and did some work around the barn, and tried not to think about Brian, which was like trying not to breathe.

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock

  Thinking, Trying, Barns

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock (2007). “Dairy Queen”, p.164, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

  4 Copy quote

• I hate it when people make fun of me and it turns out they're right.

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock

  Fun, Hate, People

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock (2007). “Dairy Queen”, p.36, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

  4 Copy quote

• That which is priceless has no cost.

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock

  Cost, Priceless

  4 Copy quote

• So what if Brian made me feel like fireworks were going off inside me. He could also make me feel like a big fat clod of heartsick dirt. It was like he could take any emotion I had and make it ten times stronger. Which is great when it's happiness but pretty darn awful if it's anything sad.

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock

  What If, Stronger, Awful

  6 Copy quote

• Every fairy tale, it seems, concludes with the bland phrase "happily ever after." Yet every couple I have ever known would agree that nothing about marriage is forever happy. There are moments of bliss, to be sure, and lengthy spans of satisfied companionship. Yet these come at no small effort, and the girl who reads such fiction dreaming her troubles will end ere she departs the altar is well advised to seek at once a rational women to set her straight.

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock

  Girl, Dream, Couple

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock (2009). “Princess Ben”, p.338, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

  7 Copy quote

• I could not but wonder at the queen's unprecedented civility, until I realized with a flush of shame that it was my own improved behavior that motivated hers. So it is that we in life determine our own treatment.

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock

  Queens, Wonder, Shame

  4 Copy quote

• Sometimes,well,all the time,I can't think of what to say because I'm so dumb and stuff,and then maybe I think of it like five days later.

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock

  Thinking, Dumb, Stuff

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock (2007). “Dairy Queen”, p.9, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

  8 Copy quote

• And that's where our conversation went from there, than God, both of us laughing our butts off at the thought of a hoops game between two teams on intravenous fluids. Which makes absolutely no sense at all; I know that. But that's why it cheered me up, because it was so absolutely stupid. It cheered me up more than I'd ever thought I'd be cheered up again.

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock

  Team, Stupid, Games

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock (2009). “Front and Center”, p.205, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

  4 Copy quote

• I’d promised myself that I’d really work on talking more, talking about uncomfortable things, because I could see from Brian how well things could work out if you did.

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock

  Talking, Work Out, Brian

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock (2008). “The Off Season”, p.128, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

  4 Copy quote

• I ultimately decided to hold my tongue and settle instead for the comfort of ignorance. Not knowing the truth, I retained hope, and that hope I held like a smooth warm stone against my heart.

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock

  Heart, Ignorance, Knowing

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock (2009). “Princess Ben”, p.125, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

  4 Copy quote

• Everyone's scared. So scared they can't sleep sometimes. Or eat. Or keep their weight on." "Then why bother playing?" I asked. It was a whisper, this question. "Because. You love the game. You love the people you play with. You love winning, maybe. You love that one moment when you get it right . . . I dunno. Why do you play?" "Because," I whispered, "it's who I am." Sounds like a good reason to me.

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock

  Sleep, Winning, Who I Am

  4 Copy quote

• Why was it that jam always coated me so?

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock

  Jam

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock (2009). “Princess Ben”, p.133, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

  4 Copy quote

• Despite all my public misconduct, in the past year, I had learned the Elemental spells, the Doppelschläferin, and the preparation and flying of a magic broom; I had survived two months as prisoner of war, saving the life of captain Johanne in the process; I had escaped the dungeons of Fortress Drachensbett, and after an arduous journey successfully reunited with my double, so preserving her, and all Montagne, from Prince Flonian's rapacity, I would somehow master the despicable art of being a princess.

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock

  Art, War, Princess

  5 Copy quote

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