896 Quotes by Catherynne M. Valente

I reminded myself: when a book lies unopened it might contain anything in the world, anything imaginable. It therefore, in that pregnant moment before opening, contains everything. Every possibility, both perfect and putrid. Surely such mysteries are the most enticing things You grant us in this mortal mere – the fruit in the garden, too, was like this. Unknown, and therefore infinite. Eve and her mate swallowed eternity, every possible thing, and made the world between them.

I have to do it myself. That’s what a Queen does. She saves herself.

But the trick most folk are so awfully fond of learning, the absolute second they’ve got hold of a heart, is to pretend they don’t have one at all. It is the very first danger of the hearted.

You come and go, vanish and appear. You miss years that go by for us, and we miss years that go by for you. We never know when we will find you again, or if we will. You meet us out of order, and sometimes I’ll be older and sometimes you will be because that’s the kind of story we’re in. It’s all jumbled up on the outside, but it all makes sense in your head. It all flows the right way in your heart.

Music has more rules than math or magic and it’s twice as dangerous as both or either.

You can’t fix a bad man like a bad staircase.

I am certainly intrepid and splendid and sordid and strong; I can see why you’d want me! But I’m afraid I’ve left the kettle on or whatever it is people say when they’re bored.

What matters is entertainment. Eternity takes forever. The infinite expanse of time just does not know when to quit. The dead fear boredom the way mortals fear death.

She was... unhappy. It was part of her, you could not separate her from it. She was sad the way a horse is strong or a bird flies.