Quotes by Catherynne M. Valente

“You will always fall in love, and it will always be like having your throat cut, just that fast.”

“She was not filled up with the sight of him, the way she had seen her sisters fill up, like silk balloons, like wineskins. Instead, he seemed to land heavily within her, like a black stone falling.”

“Flowers are always more serious than they appear.”

“Being Necessary is food no less than cabbages and strawberry pies.”

“I am sustained by Being Necessary.”

“Don't be superior. Everyone drinks blood. Blood is a word that means alive. You can do without almost anything: arms, legs, teeth, hope. But you can't do without blood. Lose even a little and you g...”

“I tell them: dont depend on a woodsman in the third act. I tell them: look for sets of three, or seven. I tell them: theres always a way to survive. I tell them: you cant force fidelity. I tell the...”

“But she never could keep it straight. All the letters, the acronyms, the codes, the colors, changing like musical chairs, every week, every month. Games demons play. It meant nothing to her, except...”

“In Russian fairy tales, the narrative flows a little differently. In those stories, you wont find a tale for Cinderella, one for Snow White, one for Rapunzel. Instead, a peculiar cast of characters...”

“Fairy tales have always been about getting through the worst of everything, the darkest and the deepest and the bloodiest of events. They are about surviving, and what you look like when you emerge...”

“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 Septembers hand in ...”

“I looked at this man and thought: Oh, how we are going to hurt each other.”

“Why should I care about you first kiss,' he said. 'You can kiss anyone you like. But sometimes if you wanted to kiss me, that would be all right, too.”

“I have missed you so much I could kiss you, he whispered.Septembers face fell. Oh, but Saturday! Ive had my First Kiss and I didnt mean to, I didnt want to, but your shadow is very rude and impulsi...”

“Time is no one's friend--time has no social niceties and holds the door for nobody nowhere. But I hold the door for time, with my one good paw.”

“Histories are instruments of oppression.”

“RULES OF FAIRYLAND-BELOWBEWARE OF DOGANYTHING IMPORTANT COMES IN THREES AND SIXESDO NOT STEAL QUEENSA GIRL IN THE WILD IS WORTH TWO IN CHAINSNECESSITY IS THE MOTHER OF TEMPTATIONEVERYTHING MUST BE ...”

“We treat our stone wives with much more care than they treat their warm ones, anyway. I personally dust mine once a week, and I know Khaamil gives them presents when I am not looking. These are you...”

“You only had to choose which me to talk to, for, you know, we all change our manners, depending on who has come to chat. One doesnt behave at all the same way to a grandfather as to a bosom friend,...”

“He didn't even know how to talk about it. He had practiced not talking about the things he knew until no man could be called his equal.”