“The general advice is always be yourself, be yourself, which only makes sense if you haven't got an attitude problem.” — Helen Oyeyemi Advice Copy Share Image
That's the ideal meeting...once upon a time, only once, unexpectedly, then never again. — Helen Oyeyemi Copy Share Image
Because things grow. Wherever there is air and light and open space, things grow. — Helen Oyeyemi Copy Share Image
“There are still days when I can only work out whether or not I'm upset by looking at my face.” — Helen Oyeyemi Copy Share Image
“And she told Monste all about it as she poured coffee into vases for them both. (It was true! It was true!)” — Helen Oyeyemi Copy Share Image
“Dark came to rest on my eyelids; strange and painful pennies.” — Helen Oyeyemi Dark Copy Share Image
“And all the while there was the theater of my hands. It was theater, in that it was the performance of something… — Helen Oyeyemi Actor Copy Share Image
“School is one long illness with symptoms that switch every five minutes so you think it's getting better or worse. But really… — Helen Oyeyemi Getting better Copy Share Image
“I was on my out and they thought they were helping me; instead they turned motion and intellible speech into a currency… — Helen Oyeyemi Communication Copy Share Image
Magic is an exercise of a pattern of thought (sometimes represented by a gesture, ritual, or the calling of a true name)… — Helen Oyeyemi Copy Share Image
The first coffee of the morning is never, ever, ready quickly enough. You die before it’s ready and then your ghost pours… — Helen Oyeyemi Coffee Copy Share Image
“Most of the people who say beauty fades say it with a smirk. Fading is more than just expected, it’s what they… — Helen Oyeyemi Beauty Copy Share Image
“She told him that she had looked after him because of the white hairs on his forehead that grew into the shape… — Helen Oyeyemi Fox Copy Share Image
“And that was what all the expressions felt like— masks. I didn’t believe them. They were too thorough, too nuanced; they were… — Helen Oyeyemi Copy Share Image
“Sometimes I say terrible things to him because I don't want him to know I'm sad; sometimes I fly off the handle… — Helen Oyeyemi Copy Share Image
“Dear Miranda Silver, This house is bigger than you know! There are extra floors, with lots of people in them. They are… — Helen Oyeyemi Ghosts Copy Share Image
“Sometimes you laughed, and then my glove puppet would weep piteously. When you took the glove puppet he alternated between flirtatious and… — Helen Oyeyemi History Copy Share Image
I think, basically, what I'm good for is reading - a lot. I think I'll always be more of a reader than… — Helen Oyeyemi Copy Share Image
“/ To you who eat a lot of rice because you are lonely To you who sleep a lot because you are… — Helen Oyeyemi Copy Share Image
“It was snowing when I got off the bus at Flax Hill. Not quite regular snowfall, not exactly a blizzard. This is… — Helen Oyeyemi Copy Share Image
“What nobody knew about the docile girl from Osogbo was that her heart was too heavy, and that almost from birth she… — Helen Oyeyemi Copy Share Image
“He looked honored, extraordinarily honored, seeming to care for that which tore his flesh than he did for the flesh itself, embracing… — Helen Oyeyemi Copy Share Image
“Finally, he smiled, and although his smile was bumpy because some of his teeth were jagged and broken, it was a warming,… — Helen Oyeyemi Copy Share Image
“[i]We were fighting so very hard and achieving so very little aside from staying alive. BUT THAT’S EVERYTHING, my father wrote to… — Helen Oyeyemi Father Copy Share Image
“After half an hour the Senora emerged, short of breath, with flushed cheeks…as uf she'd been seized and shaken like a faulty… — Helen Oyeyemi Heart Copy Share Image
“She found a mirror and turned around in front of it with her arms held out in front of her. She was… — Helen Oyeyemi Copy Share Image
I collected pictures and I drew pictures and I looked at the pictures by myself. And because no one else ever saw… — Helen Oyeyemi Alive Copy Share Image
However awful the storm of my disappointment, it's a response that belongs to me. It's my heart, after all. My territory, my… — Helen Oyeyemi Authority Copy Share Image
“Juju is not enough to protect you. Everything you have I will turn against you. I'll turn sugar bitter for you. I'll… — Helen Oyeyemi Copy Share Image
“I would like to have nothing to do with you for hours on end and then come back and find you, come… — Helen Oyeyemi Copy Share Image
“Where do you see yourself in ten years’ time?” she asked. My answer: “Not sure, but maybe on a beach reading a… — Helen Oyeyemi Time Copy Share Image
“I was learning the ways of the world; one of them being that the presence of a certain type of curly-haired man… — Helen Oyeyemi Copy Share Image
“He answered with a smile. The darkest and most malignant I had ever seen, too strong to be voluntary. The door, I… — Helen Oyeyemi Malignant Copy Share Image
“Glad you like it- I don't know what this song is called, but it's probably quite a bit older than we are.… — Helen Oyeyemi Nostalgic Copy Share Image
“I can’t explain, maybe it isn’t something that needs explaining, how the sight of a broken cage just puts you up on… — Helen Oyeyemi Cage Copy Share Image
It's true that writing can give new forms to concepts that existed previously with far less clarity, but in terms of the… — Helen Oyeyemi Audience Copy Share Image
“When something catches your attention just keep your attention on it, stick with it ’til the end, and somewhere along the line… — Helen Oyeyemi Attention Copy Share Image
“I drew a chair up beside her and sang. All I do is dream of you the whole night through . .… — Helen Oyeyemi Dreams Copy Share Image
It occurred to me that I was unhappy. And it didn’t feel so very terrible. No urgency, nothing. I could slip out… — Helen Oyeyemi Copy Share Image
Years ago a friend and fellow writer, Nick Antosca, once made a remark about it being best not to threaten, but to… — Helen Oyeyemi Copy Share Image
![“[i]We were fighting so very hard and achieving so very little aside from staying alive. BUT THAT’S EVERYTHING, my father wrote to me, when I told him that in a letter.[/i]” quote by Helen Oyeyemi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e0b/helen-oyeyemi-1658_father_i-we-were-fighting-so-very-hard-and-achi_1946371.png)
