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Quote by Ann Dávila Cardinal

“I mean, back then I believed everything my mother told me. It was that time when you think your parents are all-powerful." 'How would I know?' But she kept that comment to herself. "It's funny, now, as a parent, I realize that it's actually the children who have all the power. If I'd have known that as a child I would have been threatening *her* with El Cuco!”

Quote by Ann Dávila Cardinal

Book:Five Midnights
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Five Midnights

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Ann Dávila Cardinal

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“You don't know, Javier, you can't know what it's like to see your baby, your only baby, slipping away. You have all these hopes when you hold this perfect swaddled creature in your arms, you imagine academic awards, nice little friends, Ivy League colleges, marriage to a girl from a good family, grandchildren. And then one day, you realize you have no control, that any control you thought yo had was an illusion. You realize you don't know how to save them as they teeter on the edge. We were all feeling that, all of the mothers. And then I found you with all those...drugs." She shuddered. "That night, we would've tried anything to get you all back. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that he came. In order to see you, I would've sold my soul to el diablo if he were there that night. I guess he was" She looked at the floor and started to cry. "We just wanted to scare you. He was a fairy-tale monster. Never, never in a million years did we expect him to come, for him to...”

LifeChildrenHorrorYoung AdultMonstersControlMothers
Book:Five Midnights
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“For a non-Korean speaker it might seem strange that Koreans refer to their own children with the derogatory term for “a child of a beast”, but there’s two meanings in how Koreans use 새끼 saekki for their child - they’re being derogatory by admitting that we’re nothing but animals, but they’re also saying that being nothing but an animal is the highest honor of all. The most sophisticated and profound emotion a human can feel is the most common and bonds us to everything that has ever lived and reproduced: love of child. People who have kids like to say there’s no way to describe what it feels like to have a child to someone who doesn’t have a child, I feel the same way but I also don’t. Having a baby is strange in that it is something you’ve never felt before, but it’s also the only thing you’ve ever felt before. Having a baby makes you feel love and fear death, but it’s not because those things are taught to you, they are reactivated in you. Having a baby isn’t learning, it’s realising you’ve already known everything all along.”

ChildrenKorean
Book:I'm Laughing Because I'm Crying
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“छुटकू गिलहरी ने देखा कि खेत में रहने वाला इंसान कागज के पुलिंदे में कुछ देख रहा था। छुटकू के मन में कई दिनों से दबी हुई जिज्ञासा उठ खड़ी हुई। वह जानना चाहती थी कि इंसान कागजों में क्या करता है। हर दिन की तरह उस दिन भी वह बहुत समय से कागज़ों में कुछ किए जा रहा था।”

ChildrenCuriosityAnimalsChildrens Books
Book:चिखुरी
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“छुटकू गिलहरी को याद आ रहा था कि मम्मी ने सजीव और निर्जीव में फ़र्क बताया था। उन्होंने कहा था कि जीवित पेड-पौधों और जानवरों में लचक होती है। जीवित होना यानी लचक होना। अकड़ जाना मौत की निशानी है। उसने पेड़ की डाल से नीचे देखा, सूखी टहनियां और पत्ते अकड़े पड़े थे जबकि जिस हरे-भरे पत्तों वाली पतली-सी टहनी पर छुटकू बैठी थी, वह पत्तों से लदी हुई लचीली डाल थी। उसे बात समझ आ गई थी कि जीवित रहने के लिए लचीला होना ज़रूरी है।”

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Book:चिखुरी
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“अधूरा ज्ञान भयानक स्थिति पैदा कर सकता है। छुटकू को मम्मी की बात याद थी और पत्तियों के सहारे लटकते हुए जीवन का लचीलापन भी समझ आ रहा था। वह नहीं जानती थी कि उसकी यही समझ मुसीबत का कारण बनने वाली है। यहाँ ज्ञान तो था मगर अनुभव नदारद था।”

ChildrenLife LessonAnimalsChildrens Books
Book:चिखुरी
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