Catherynne M. Valente Quotes - Page 9

Quotes about:

At the snowy summit of all these things, however, is the fact that you simply cannot go about locking your siblings in towers when they misbehave. It is unseemly and betrays a sad lack of creativity.

Catherynne M. Valente

Sibling, Creativity, Towers

4 Copy quote
Magic does that. It wastes you away. Once it grips you by the ear, the real world gets quieter and quieter, until you can hardly hear it at all.

Catherynne M. Valente

Real, Magic, Doe

Catherynne M. Valente (2011). “Deathless”, p.26, Macmillan

4 Copy quote
No, not like this, when I have not seen you without your skin on, when I know nothing, when I am not safe. Not you, whose name all my nightmares know.

Catherynne M. Valente

Names, Skins, Safe

Catherynne M. Valente (2011). “Deathless”, p.56, Macmillan

4 Copy quote
We like the wrong sorts of girls, they wrote. They are usually the ones worth writing about.

Catherynne M. Valente

Girl, Girlfriend, Writing

9 Copy quote
... relationships required such vigilance, such attention. You had to hold them together by force of will, and other people took up so much space, demanded so much time. It was exhausting.

Catherynne M. Valente

Space, People, Together

4 Copy quote
The man who knelt before her would have sprung from her needles, even down the ghostly flecks of silver in his hair. She had not known before that she wanted all these things, that she preferred dark hair and a slightly cruel expression, that she wishes for tallness, or that a man kneeling might thrill her.

Catherynne M. Valente

Dark, Men, Hair

Catherynne M. Valente (2011). “Deathless”, p.57, Macmillan

4 Copy quote
You and I, being grown-up and having lost our hearts at least twice or thrice along the way, might shut our eyes and cry out: Not that way, child! But as we have said, September was Somewhat Heartless, and felt herself reasonably safe on that road. Children always do.

Catherynne M. Valente

Children, Heart, Eye

Catherynne M. Valente (2011). “The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making”, p.26, Feiwel & Friends

4 Copy quote
There's more than one way between your world and ours. There's the changeling road, and there's the Ravishing, and there's those that Stumble through a gap in the hedgerows or a mushroom ring or a tornado or a wardrobe full of winter coats.

Catherynne M. Valente

Winter, Mushrooms, World

Catherynne M. Valente (2014). “The Fairyland Series”, p.214, Macmillan

8 Copy quote
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.

Catherynne M. Valente

Grief, Might, Causes

Catherynne M. Valente (2011). “Deathless”, p.313, Macmillan

4 Copy quote
When I saw him I thought I could curl up inside him and go to sleep and never wake up." "Men are no good for that, Masha. They'll always want you working, when you're not softening their fall into bed at the end of the day.

Catherynne M. Valente

Fall, Sleep, Men

Catherynne M. Valente (2011). “Deathless”, p.242, Macmillan

7 Copy quote
Husbands lie, Masha. I should know; I've eaten my share. That's lesson one. Lesson number two: among the topics about which a husband is most likely to lie are money, drink, black eyes, political affiliation, and women who squatted on his lap before and after your sweet self.

Catherynne M. Valente

Sweet, Husband, Lying

Catherynne M. Valente (2011). “Deathless”, p.109, Macmillan

4 Copy quote
Remember this when you are queen,” he whispered hoarsely. “I moved the earth and the water for you.

Catherynne M. Valente

Queens, Water, Earth

Catherynne M. Valente (2011). “Deathless”, p.138, Macmillan

7 Copy quote
I'm sure you've heard people talk about their Heart's Desire—well that's a load of rot. Hearts are idiots. They're big and squishy and full of daft dreams. They flounce off to write poetry and moon at folk who aren't worth the mooning. Bones are the ones that have to make the journey, fight the monster, kneel before whomever is big on kneeling these days. Bones do the work for the heart's grand plans. Bones know what you need. Hearts only know want.

Catherynne M. Valente

Dream, Writing, Heart

Catherynne M. Valente (2014). “The Fairyland Series”, p.402, Feiwel & Friends

4 Copy quote
The smell of loving is a difficult one to describe, but if you think of the times when someone has held you close and made you safe, you will remember how it smells just as well as I do.

Catherynne M. Valente

Thinking, Smell, Safe

Catherynne M. Valente (2014). “The Fairyland Series”, p.354, Macmillan

4 Copy quote
She felt as she often did in class when she was nearly sure she had the right answer, but could not always make herself raise her hand.

Catherynne M. Valente

Hands, Class, Answers

Catherynne M. Valente (2012). “The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There”, p.193, Macmillan

4 Copy quote
Once more September marveled that even the Dodo knew what she wanted to be when she was grown. She simply could not think what she herself might do. September expected that destinies, which is how she thought of professions, simply landed upon one like a crown, and ever after no one questioned or fretted over it, being sure of one’s own use in the world. It was only that somehow her crown had not yet appeared. She did hope it would hurry up.

Catherynne M. Valente

Thinking, Destiny, Use

4 Copy quote
September had never been betrayed before. She did not even know what to call the feeling in her chest, so bitter and sour. Poor child. There is always a first time, and it is never the last time.

Catherynne M. Valente

Children, Feelings, Lasts

Catherynne M. Valente (2014). “The Fairyland Series”, p.500, Macmillan

4 Copy quote
September did not want to feel for the Marquess. That’s how villains get you, she knew. You feel badly for them, and next thing you know, you’re tied to train tracks. But her wild, untried heart opened up another bloom inside her, a dark branch heavy with fruit.

Catherynne M. Valente

Sympathy, Heart, Dark

Catherynne M. Valente (2014). “The Fairyland Series”, p.517, Macmillan

7 Copy quote
You cannot escape where you come from, September. Some part of it remains inside you always, like the slender white heart in the center of the thickest onion.

Catherynne M. Valente

Heart, White, Onions

Catherynne M. Valente (2014). “The Fairyland Series”, p.527, Macmillan

4 Copy quote
This is what comes of having a heart, even a very small and young one. It causes no end of trouble, and that’s the truth.

Catherynne M. Valente

Heart, Causes, Trouble

Catherynne M. Valente (2012). “The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There”, p.304, Macmillan

4 Copy quote
Her father’s shadow looked sadly down at her. “You can never forget what you do in a war, September my love. No one can. You won’t forget your war either.

Catherynne M. Valente

Father, War, Shadow

Catherynne M. Valente (2014). “The Fairyland Series”, p.576, Macmillan

4 Copy quote
For though, as we have said, all children are heartless, this is not precisely true of teenagers. Teenage hearts are raw and new, fast and fierce, and they do not know their own strength. Neither do they know reason or restraint, and if you want to know the truth, a goodly number of grown-up hearts never learn it.

Catherynne M. Valente

Teenage, Children, Heart

Catherynne M. Valente (2014). “The Fairyland Series”, p.316, Macmillan

4 Copy quote
I will never be without information,' she determined. 'I will do better than my sisters. If a bird or any other beast comes out of that uncanny republic where husbands are grown, I will see him with his skin off before I agree to fall in love.' For this is how Marya Morevna surmised that love was shaped: an agreement, a treaty between two nations that one could either sign or not as they pleased.

Catherynne M. Valente

Falling In Love, Husband, Two Nations

Catherynne M. Valente (2011). “Deathless”, p.24, Macmillan

4 Copy quote
Oh, September! It is so soon for you to lose your friends to good work and strange loves and high ambitions. The sadness of that is too grown-up for you. Like whiskey and voting, it is a dangerous and heady business, as heavy as years. If I could keep your little tribe together forever, I would. I do so want to be generous. But some stories sprout bright vines that tendril off beyond our sight, carrying the folk we love best with them, and if I knew how to accept that with grace, I would share the secret.

Catherynne M. Valente

Ambition, Sadness, Sight

4 Copy quote
Her heart was bruised by the kiss, smashed and surprised and unsettled by it. September thought kisses were all nice, sweet things asked for gently and given gladly. It had happened so fast and sharp it had taken her breath. Perhaps she had done it wrong, somehow. She put the kiss away firmly to think about later. Instead, she smiled at him and pulled a carefree mask over her face.

Catherynne M. Valente

Sweet, Nice, Taken

4 Copy quote

You May Also Like:

Jeff VanderMeer

Ekaterina Sedia

Ken Liu

Catherynne M. Valente

Follow

Born: May 5, 1979
Occupation: Novelist
Cite this Page: Citation

Popular Topics