298 Quotes by Helen Oyeyemi


  • Author Helen Oyeyemi
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    I wanted to ask her if she meant to spend the night here as well, but I didn't want her to say yes. It could be that she was in some kind of mood and just wanted a nap and my question might force her to adopt a stance. She does that, I've noticed; she lashes out when she thinks she's been given a cue.

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  • Author Helen Oyeyemi
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    Last summer I spent almost an hour blowing dandelions off their stems towards him, so that he had a chance to wish for everything he wanted.

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  • Author Helen Oyeyemi
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    I was learning the ways of the world; one of them being that the presence of a certain type of curly-haired man - your type - will cause you to fidget and fidget until the only way to reach some level of calm is to touch him." pg.38

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  • Author Helen Oyeyemi
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    I often think it would be such a luxury to go mad, and not have to worry about anything. [...] There would be some sort of doctor there to tell me: "Don't worry, Mary, it's just that you're mad. Now be quiet and take this pill." And I would think, So that's all is is, and I would be glad. But aloud I would say, "What? I'm perfectly sane! You're mad...." Only mildly, though; just for show, really.

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  • Author Helen Oyeyemi
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    She told him that she had looked after him because of the white hairs on his forehead that grew into the shape of a star. Sometimes you see that someone is marked and you're helpless after that - you love.

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  • Author Helen Oyeyemi
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    Sometimes I do what I say I’m going to do, but more often I don’t. It’s a failing. The least of my failings, and the only one I feel up to admitting at the moment.

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  • Author Helen Oyeyemi
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    Her superpower was picking emotionally unavailable partners and she doubted she'd get a better offer

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  • Author Helen Oyeyemi
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    The way that people feel changes everything. Feelings are forces. They cause us to time travel. And to leave ourselves, to leave our bodies. I would be that kind of psychologist who says, 'You're absolutely right - there are monsters under the bed.'

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