Catherynne M. Valente

“Surely you didn't think deathless meant dickless.”

— Catherynne M. Valente

“She did not want Fairyland to be full of older girls who wanted to be stars.”

— Catherynne M. Valente

“She was a vengeful goddess and her will was absolute.”

— Catherynne M. Valente

“Autumn has a hungry heart - September is the beginning of death.”

— Catherynne M. Valente

...snow is the beginning and the end of everything...

— Catherynne M. Valente

I am selfish. I am cruel. My mate cannot be less than I.

— Catherynne M. Valente

“they climbed their ladders to wheedle and prune the trees into holiness”

— Catherynne M. Valente

An equation is a prophecy that always comes true.

— Catherynne M. Valente

“All money is imaginary," answered the Calcatrix simply. "Money is magic everyone agrees to pretend is not magic.”

— Catherynne M. Valente

Well, very splendid and very frightening. But splendid things are often frightening. Sometimes, it's the fright that makes them splendid at all.

— Catherynne M. Valente

“The hinterlands . Where the criminals and the carnivals and the concatenating counterfeiters of no morals to speak of make a home.”

— Catherynne M. Valente

You know how we can be about things which sparkle and shine. We imagine they will put back something of what has…

— Catherynne M. Valente

Temperament, you'll find, is highly dependent on time of day, weather, frequency of naps, and whether one has had enough to eat.

— Catherynne M. Valente

Death is not a checkmate…it is more like a carnival trick. You cannot win, no matter how you move your Queen.

— Catherynne M. Valente

“Just you wait. Papa Koschei is coming, coming, coming, over the hills on his red horse and he's got bells on his…

— Catherynne M. Valente

“I thought: this is how you make a human being. A human being is beautiful and sick. A human being glitters and…

— Catherynne M. Valente

You will live as you live anywhere. With difficulty, and grief. Yes, you are dead. And I and my family and everyone,…

— Catherynne M. Valente

“She is…” Death turned her head, considering. “She is like a party dress I wear when I want to impress visiting dignitaries.…

— Catherynne M. Valente

I will not let her speak because I love her, and when you love someone, you do not make them tell war…

— Catherynne M. Valente

“He'll burn you down like wax if you let him. You'll think it's love, while he dines on your heart. And maybe…

— Catherynne M. Valente

“No good thing can last forever, because people are terrible and we have this feeling, we all have this feeling , that…

— Catherynne M. Valente

Oh, but Masha, can’t you see? You are. An Ivan has come. That is like saying, Midnight has struck. It is time…

— Catherynne M. Valente

I want to keep on living forever and watching heroes and fools and knights go up and down, into the world and…

— Catherynne M. Valente

“I want to skip this part. I want to pull on the arm of my slot machine and let the rolls flip…

— Catherynne M. Valente

She liked anything orange: leaves; some moons; marigolds; chrysanthemums; cheese; pumpkin, both in pie and out; orange juice; marmalade. Orange is bright…

— Catherynne M. Valente

Oh, I will be cruel to you, Marya Morevna. It will stop your breath, how cruel I can be. But you understand,…

— Catherynne M. Valente

I will never be without information,' she determined. 'I will do better than my sisters. If a bird or any other beast…

— Catherynne M. Valente

Hats change everything. September knew this with all her being, deep in the place where she knew her own name, and that…

— Catherynne M. Valente

“You think I am so wicked, don't you? A monster. Unnatural. How cruel of me to keep you here and rattle on…

— Catherynne M. Valente

“I am a Magyr. I could crush your skull with my hands and drink this rat town under the table afterwards. And…

— Catherynne M. Valente

“Lebedeva’s eyes shone. “Masha, listen to me. Cosmetics are an extension of the will. Why do you think all men paint themselves…

— Catherynne M. Valente

Marriage is a wrestling match where you hold on tight while your mate changes into a hundred different things. The trick is…

— Catherynne M. Valente

“How long your hair has grown. You could strangle a man in it.”

— Catherynne M. Valente

When the world changes, it stashes us away where we can't make it run the other way again.

— Catherynne M. Valente

She is so stubborn, her heart has an argument with her head every time it wants to beat.

— Catherynne M. Valente

“We are a Body of contradiction, flesh-full and fleshless.”

— Catherynne M. Valente

“However unlikely it may seem, it is the truth and, therefore, one hundred percent likely.”

— Catherynne M. Valente

And it's the wonders I'm after, even if I have to bleed for them.

— Catherynne M. Valente

“So a half-breed goatsnake, a Yith, and a Ghast walk into a bar.”

— Catherynne M. Valente

Close up your head; your brain is getting loose.

— Catherynne M. Valente