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Catherynne M. Valente

Catherynne M. Valente Quotes

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Famous Catherynne M. Valente Quotes

“What came before has dissolved from me, lost like milk teeth. But I think, rather, that it has always been as it is, and there was never a beforethis nor will there be an afternow. I am accepting. This is not a thing to be solved, or conquered, or destroyed. It is. I am. We are. We conjugate together in darkness, plotting against each other, the Labyrinth to eat me and I to eat it, each to swallow the hard, black opium of the other. We hold orange petals beneath our tongues and seethe. It has always been so. It grinds against me and I bite into its skin.”

ThinkingHardTogetherLostBlackAcceptingDarknessSkinsTongueTeethDestroyedBitesMilkOrangeGrindLabyrinthPetalsOpium
Author:Catherynne M. Valente
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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
Book:Deathless
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“You will always go into that tent. You will see her scar and wonder where she got it. You will always be amazed at how one woman can have so much black hair. You will always fall in love, and it will always be like having your throat cut, just that fast. You will always run away with her. You will always lose her. You will always be a fool. You will always be dead, in a city of ice, snow falling into your ear. You have already done all of this and will do it again.”

DoneRunningFallBlackLosesCitiesWonderCuttingHairFoolEarsFalling In LoveSnowIceThroatScarRunning AwayAmazedTentsOne WomanBlack HairSnow Falling
Author:Catherynne M. Valente
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“The goblins of the city may hold committees to divide a single potato, but the strong and the cruel still sit on the hill, and drink vodka, and wear black furs, and slurp borscht by the pail, like blood. Children may wear through their socks marching in righteous parades, but Papa never misses his wine with supper. Therefore, 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.”

WayMayChildrenStillsStatesStrongNationsBlackCitiesBloodMissingMoralityDrinkFairsWineHillsDependentStomachDividesRighteousCommitteesPotatoesSockFurParadesSupperVodkaPapaGoblinBorscht
Author:Catherynne M. Valente
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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
Book:Deathless
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“This is what it means to be a woman in this world. Every step is a bargain with pain. Make your black deals in the black wood and decide what you’ll trade for power. For the opposite of weakness, which is not strength but hardness. I am a trap, but so is everything. Pick your price. I am a huckster with a hand in your pocket. I am freedom and I will eat your heart.”

WorldHeartMeanHandsPainBlackDealsStepsThis WorldPicksWeaknessOppositesTradeWoodsPocketsTrapsBargainsEvery StepHardnessEat Your Heart
Author:Catherynne M. Valente
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“Marriage is a wrestling match where you hold on tight while your mate changes into a hundred different things. The trick is that you're changing into a hundred other things, but you can't let go. You can only try to match up and never turn into a wolf while he's a rabbit, or a mouse while he's still busy being an owl, a brawny black bull while he's a little blue crab scuttling for shelter. It's harder than it sounds.”

TryingLittlesStillsDifferentTurnsSoundBlackLetting GoHundredHarderBlueBusyTricksDifferent ThingsWrestlingMatesShelterMiceRabbitsBullsOwlCrabsCan't Let Go
Book:The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two
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