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Deathless

Book by Catherynne M. Valente · 50 quotes · Deathless, Knows, Black

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Deathless Quotes

“Marya Morevna! Don't you know anything? Girls must be very, very careful to care only for ribbons and magazines and wedding rings. They must sweep their hearts clean of anything but kisses and theater and dancing. They must never read Pushkin; they must never say clever things; they must never have sly eyes or wear their hair loose and wander around barefoot, or they will draw his attention!”

KnowsHeartEyeCareGirlAttentionHairKissingDrawsTheaterDancingCleanCarefulRingsCleverMagazinesWanderRibbonsSlyBarefootWedding RingPushkin
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“The rapt pupil will be forgiven for assuming the Tsar of Death to be wicked and the Tsar of Life to be virtuous. Let the truth be told: There is no virtue anywhere. Life is sly and unscrupulous, a blackguard, wolfish, severe. In service to itself, it will commit any offense. So, too, is Death possessed of infinite strategies and a gaunt nature- but also mercy, also grace and tenderness. In his own country, Death can be kind.”

KindCountryLife IsVirtueGraceTruth IsMercyInfiniteStrategyAssumingCommitWickedBe KindPossessedVirtuousTendernessOffenseSevereForgivenPupilsSlyTruth Be Told
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“But the thought arrived inside her like a train: Marya Morevna, all in black, here and now, was a point at which all the women she had been met—the Yaichkan and the Leningrader and the chyerti maiden; the girl who saw the birds, and the girl who never did—the woman she was and the woman she might have been and the woman she would always be, forever intersecting and colliding, a thousand birds falling from a thousand oaks, over and over.”

Has BeensMightFallGirlBlackForeverSawsMetsThousandBirdTrainMight Have BeenHere And NowOaksMaidens
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“Oh, I will be cruel to you, Marya Morevna. It will stop your breath, how cruel I can be. But you understand, don’t you? You are clever enough. I am a demanding creature. I am selfish and cruel and extremely unreasonable. But I am your servant. When you starve I will feed you; when you are sick I will tend you. I crawl at your feet; for before your love, your kisses, I am debased. For you alone I will be weak.”

I CanEnoughFeetCreaturesKissingWeakSickBreathsSelfishCleverServantUnreasonableI Am Selfish
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“Do you think I am a fool, Masha? All this time, and you speak to me as though I were a flighty pinprick of a girl. I am a magician! Did you never think, even once, that I loved lipstick and rouge for more than their color alone? I am a student of their lore, and it is arcane and hermetic beyond the dreams of alchemists. Did you never wonder why I gave you so many pots, so many creams, so much perfume?”

ThinkingDreamGirlSpeakWonderStudentsColorFoolPotCreamPerfumeMagicianLipstickAlchemistRougeArcane
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“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.”

IfsTwoFallNationsInformationHusbandBirdSkinsAgreeFalling In LoveDeterminedBeastAgreementRepublicMy SisterTreatiesUncannyTwo Nations
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“When I say forever,' Koschei whispered, 'I mean until the black death of the world. An Ivan means just the present moment, the flickering light of it, in a green field, his mouth on yours. He means the stretching of that moment. But forever isn't bright; it isn't like that. Forever is cold and hard and final.”

WorldMeanHardMomentsLightBlackForeverFieldsColdMouthsGreenFinalsPresent MomentThat MomentStretchingGreen FieldsBlack DeathFlickering Light
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