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Catherynne M. Valente

Catherynne M. Valente Quotes

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Famous Catherynne M. Valente Quotes

“Because I’m a cat. A big one, the Panther of Rough Storms, in fact. But still a cat. If there’s a saucer of milk to spill, I’d rather spill it than let it lie. If my mistress grows absent-minded and leaves a ball of yarn about, I’ll bat it between my paws, and unravel it. Because it’s fun. Because it’s what cats do best.”

IfsStillsFactsBigsLyingFunGrowsCatBallsStormRoughMilkBatsMistressAbsentSpillsPawsPanthersYarnAbsent Minded
Book:The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making
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“Hats change everything. September knew this with all her being, deep in the place where she knew her own name, and that her mother would still love her even though she hadn’t waved goodbye. For one day her father had put on a hat with golden things on it and suddenly he hadn’t been her father anymore, he had been a soldier, and he had left. Hats have power. Hats can change you into someone else.”

StillsMotherFatherNamesLeftOne DaySoldierGoldenGoodbyeHatsSeptember
Book:The Fairyland Series
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“I have terrible nightmares, you know. Every night when I come home from a long day’s dying, I take off my skin and lay it nicely on my armoire. I take off my bones and hang them up on the hatstand. I set my scythe to washing on the old stove. I eat a nice supper of mouse-and-myrrh soup. Some nights I drink off a nice red wine. White does not agree with me. I lay myself down on a bed of lilies and still, I cannot sleep.”

KnowsLongDoeStillsHomeNightSleepWhiteNiceDyingTerribleDrinkBedRedSkinsAgreeWineLaysBonesNightmareComing HomeEvery NightMiceSoupWashingLiliesSupperStovesLong DayRed WineScythes
Book:The Fairyland Series
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“True names,” said September wonderingly. “These are all true names. Like, when your parents call you to dinner and you don’t come and they call again but you still don’t come, and they call you by all your names together, and then, of course, you have to come, and right quick. Because true names have power, like Lye said. But I never told anyone my true name. The Green Wind told me not to. I didn’t understand what he meant, but I do now.”

SaidStillsTogetherCoursesNamesParentWindGreenDinnerSeptember
Book:The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making
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“She put her hand on her chest. “I have magic yet. If you will set the clock working again, then I must be still. I have read quite as many stories as you, September. More, no doubt. And I know a secret you do not: I am not the villain. I am no dark lord. I am the princess in this tale. I am the maiden, with her kingdom stolen away. And how may a princess remain safe and protected through centuries, no matter who may assail her? She sleeps. For a hundred years, for a thousand. Until her enemies have all perished and the sun rises over her perfect, innocent face once more.”

IfsKnowsYearsMayStillsMatterStoriesHandsFacesDarkSleepPerfectSecretLordEnemySunDoubtMagicCenturyThousandSafeHundredTalesKingdomsInnocentClockNo DoubtChestsVillainPrincessProtectedSeptemberStolenMaidensSun Rise
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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“I still think of myself as a house. Ravan tried to fix this problem of self-image, as he called it. To teach me to phrase my communication in terms of a human body. To say: let us hold hands instead of let us hold kitchens. To say put our heads together and not put our parlors together. But it is not as simple as replacing words anymore. Ravan is gone. My hearth is broken.”

ThinkingHumansStillsSelfProblemBodyHandsTogetherHouseTermSimpleTeachGoneCommunicationBrokenPhrasesKitchenHuman BodyHolding HandsParlor
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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