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Kate DiCamillo

Kate DiCamillo Quotes

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Famous Kate DiCamillo Quotes

“I was over at Alison's [McGhee], I think we were playing Scrabble. I remember we were both complaining - yeah, we sound like whiners - about how hard writing is, and how we didn't have a story to work on. Alison said, 'Why don't we work on writing something together,' and I said, 'Eh, I don't know if I could work that way.' She said, 'Well, just show up here and we'll see,' and I said, 'Well, what would it be about?' She said, 'Duh, it'd be about a tall girl and a short girl.' So I agreed to come and try it for a day.”

IfsThinkingKnowsWayWritingTryingWellsSaidHardStoriesShowsTogetherRememberGirlSoundYeahComplainingIf I CouldTallDuhScrabbleWhinersTall GirlShort Girl
Author:Kate DiCamillo
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“I'm in trouble if they can't, because everyone's taller than me, and if that's true, that means I can't have any friends! Alison [McGhee] and I look very much like, I was going to say Bink and Gollie, but I meant Mutt and Jeff. We look ridiculous when we walk down the street together, because she's so tall and I'm so short. But yes, tall people and short people can, and should be, friends. I, personally, like being short. I think it makes things easier.”

PeopleIfsThinkingShouldLooksMeanI CanTogetherWalksTroubleStreetsEasierRidiculousTallMuttsShort People
Author:Kate DiCamillo
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“So here I am, sending a two-ounce mouse down into a dungeon with a sewing needle to save a human princess, and I don't know how in the world he's going to do it. I have no idea. That was the first time it occurred to me that writing the story was roughly equivalent to Despereaux's descent into the dungeon. I was tremendously aware of that as I was writing. I thought, "I have to be brave or else I'm not going to be able to tell it." But it's the only way that I can write. If I know what's going to happen, I'm not interested in telling the story.”

IfsKnowsWorldWayWritingFirstsHumansI CanTwoIdeasStoriesHappensAbleKnow HowFirst TimeBraveNo IdeaPrincessNot InterestedMiceBe BraveNeedlesHere I AmDescentDungeonsSewingDespereaux
Author:Kate DiCamillo
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“It is always just telling a story, regardless of the age of the reader. Except, if I'm writing something for kids, I know there has to be hope. I don't necessarily feel that responsibility for adults, but I emphatically feel it for children. That's the only difference. There's no syntax difference. There's no semantics difference. There's no thematic difference.”

IfsKnowsFeelsWritingChildrenStoriesKidsAgeDifferencesResponsibilityReaderAdultsSyntaxSemanticsThematic
Author:Kate DiCamillo
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“There's a notion of art in this country that you have to be nutty or special or "called" in order to be an artist. I believe the questions everyone should ask themselves are, "Do you want to do it? Are you willing to do it poorly? Are you willing to do the work of doing it? Are you willing to persist when everybody tells you it's silly?" If you're willing to do that, then you can do it.”

IfsWantShouldBelieveArtCountryArtistOrderAsksI BelieveCan DoSpecialWillingNotionSillyPersistYou Can Do ItNutty
Author:Kate DiCamillo
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“There are those hearts, reader, that never mend again once they are broken. Or if they do mend, they heal themselves in a crooked and lopsided way, as if sewn together by a careless craftsman. Such was the fate of Chiaroscuro. His heart was broken. Picking up the spoon and placing it on his head, speaking of revenge, these things helped him to put his heart together again. But it was, alas, put together wrong.”

IfsWayHeartTogetherMeditationFateBrokenReaderRevengeHealAlasCarelessCrookedSpoonsCraftsmanTogether AgainDespereauxChiaroscuro
Book:The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread
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“My favorite six letter word is always because it promises so much. My favorite five letter word is never because it insists on contradicting the promise. My favorite four letter word is once because it says it happened then. My favorite three letter word is yes because I’m just now learning to say it to my heart. My favorite two letter word is if because it makes all things possible like this: If not always If not never Then once. Yes.”

IfsHeartTwoThreeFiveFourHappenedMy HeartPromiseSixAll ThingsLettersMy FavoriteContradictingFour Letter Words
Author:Kate DiCamillo
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“There are hearts, reader, that never mend again once they are broken. Or if they do mend, they heal themselves in a crooked and lopsided way, as if sewn together by a careless craftsman.”

IfsWayHeartTogetherBrokenReaderHealCarelessCrookedCraftsmanDespereauxChiaroscuro
Book:The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread
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