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Catherynne M. Valente

Catherynne M. Valente Quotes

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Famous Catherynne M. Valente Quotes

“At the bottom of philosophy something very true and very desperate whispers: Everyone is hungry all the time. Everyone is starving. Everyone wants so much, much more than they can stomach, but the appetite doesn't converse much with the stomach. Everyone is hungry and not only for food - for comfort and love and excitement and the opposite of being alone. Almost everything awful anyone does is to get those things and keep them.”

WantDoePhilosophyComfortOppositesAnd LoveBottomHungryAwfulExcitementDesperateStomachAppetiteStarvingConversesVery True
Author:Catherynne M. Valente
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“Do you know, we're right underneath Springtime Parish? This place is the opposite of springtime. Everything past prime, boarded up for the season. Just above us, the light shines golden on daffodils full of rainwine and heartgrass and a terrible, wicked, sad girl I can't get back to. I don't even know if I want to. Do I want to be her again? Or do I want to be free? I come here to think about that. To be near her and consider it. I think I shall never be free. I think I traded my freedom for a better story. It was a better story, even if the ending needed work.”

IfsThinkingKnowsWantI CanStoriesLightPastGirlNeededTerribleOppositesSeasonsShiningGoldenWickedGet BackPrimeDo You KnowSpringtimeParishDaffodil
Author:Catherynne M. Valente
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“The old order, it is good for the old. A farmer wants his son to be afraid of beautiful women, so that he will not leave home too soon, so he tells a story about how one drowned his brother’s cousin’s friend in a lake, not because he was a pig who deserved to be drowned, but because beautiful women are bad, and also witches. And it doesn’t matter that she didn’t ask to be beautiful, or to be born in a lake, or to live forever, or to not know how men breathe until they stop doing it.”

KnowsMenWantMatterStoriesHomeBeautifulOrderAsksBornKnow HowForeverSonBrotherBreatheLakesWitchFarmersPigsCousinBeautiful WomenLive ForeverDeathless
Author:Catherynne M. Valente
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“Everyone is afraid of you and when folk are afraid of a person it usually means the person is cruel in some way, and I think you are cruel, Miss Marquess, but please don’t punish me for saying it. I think you know you’re cruel. I think you like being cruel. I think calling you cruel is the same as calling someone else kind. And I don’t want to run errands for someone cruel.”

ThinkingKnowsWayWantKindMeanPersonsRunningMissingPleaseCallingFolksErrandsCalling Someone
Book:The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making
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“I have made calculations that would beggar your soul. What is it that villains always say at the end of stories? You and I are more alike than you think? Well,” the Marquess took September’s hand in hers and very gently kissed it. “We are. Oh, how alike we are! I feel very warmly towards you, and I only want to protect you, as I wish someone had protected me. Come, September, look out the window with me. It’s not a difficult thing. A show of faith, let’s call it.”

ThinkingWantFeelsWellsLooksMadeSoulEndsStoriesShowsHandsWishDifficultProtectWindowYour SoulVillainProtectedSeptemberBeggarDifficult ThingsCalculationsProtect You
Book:The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making
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“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.”

PeopleKnowsWantNeedsWritingWellsHeartDreamBigsDesireFightingPlansHeardJourneyMoonFolksBonesMonstersIdiotThese DaysLoadKneelingDaft
Book:The Fairyland Series
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“I don’t want to be a Princess,” she said finally. “You can’t make me be one.” She knew very well what became of Princesses, as Princesses often get books written about them. Either terrible things happened to them, such as kidnappings and curses and pricking fingers and getting poisoned and locked up in towers, or else they just waited around till the Prince finished with the story and got around to marrying her. Either way, September wanted nothing to do with Princessing.”

WayWantWellsSaidBookStoriesWantedWrittenHappenedTerribleFingersFinishedCursePrincessLockedTowersSeptemberTerrible ThingsMarryingLocked UpKidnappingMarrying Her
Book:The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There
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“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.”

IfsWantYearsLittlesStoriesTogetherLosesSecretAcceptingForeverGraceSadnessShareDangerousStrangeAmbitionSightFolksHeavyGenerousIf I CouldVotingGood WorkSeptemberTribesWhiskeyVinesSproutsTogether ForeverHigh Ambition
Author:Catherynne M. Valente
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“It's saying no. That's your first hint that something's alive. It says no. That's how you know a baby is starting to turn into a person. They run around saying no all day, throwing their aliveness at everything to see what it'll stick to. You can't say no if you don't have desires and opinions and wants of your own. You wouldn't even want to. No is the heart of thinking.”

IfsThinkingKnowsWantFirstsHeartPersonsRunningDesireTurnsOpinionAliveBabySticksStartingThrowingHintsSaying No
Author:Catherynne M. Valente
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