--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But the thought arrived inside her like a…" description: "\"But the thought arrived inside her like a train: Marya Morevna, all in black, here and now, was a point at which all the women she had been met—the Yai..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e4/catherynne-m-valente-375_bird_but-the-thought-arrived-inside-her-like_2433435.jpg" --- # But the thought arrived inside her like a train: Marya… ![“But the thought arrived inside her like a train: Marya Morevna, all in black, here and now, was a point at which all the women she had been met—the Yaichkan and the Leningrader and the chyerti maiden; the girl who saw the birds, and the girl who never did—the woman she was and the woman she might…” quote by Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e4/catherynne-m-valente-375_bird_but-the-thought-arrived-inside-her-like_2433435.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e4/catherynne-m-valente-375_bird_but-the-thought-arrived-inside-her-like_2433435.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e4/catherynne-m-valente-375_bird_but-the-thought-arrived-inside-her-like_2433435.jpg) > “But the thought arrived inside her like a train: Marya Morevna, all in black, here and now, was a point at which all the women she had been met—the Yaichkan and the Leningrader and the chyerti maiden; the girl who saw the birds, and the girl who never did—the woman she was and the woman she might have been and the woman she would always be, forever intersecting and colliding, a thousand birds falling from a thousand oaks, over and over.” [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The protagonist reflects on her multifaceted identity, merging past selves and future possibilities like intersecting birds. **In simple terms:** Our past and future selves shape who we are. Key Takeaway Embrace all parts of yourself. Themes identity memory transformation Mood reflective poetic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing - therapy - role‑playing - life planning Key Concepts self‑integration temporal self Questions to Reflect On - Which past self influences you most? - How can you honor future aspirations? A Different Perspective Too many selves can cause indecision. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) [Fitness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fitness/) [Girl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/girl/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Here and now](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/here-and-now/) [Train](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/train/) ## Related quotes > [“Only five minutes later he noticed a dozen crocuses growing round the foot of an old tree- gold and purple and white. Then came…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/only-five-minutes-later-he-noticed-a-dozen-crocuses-growing-round-the/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“He saw the delicate blades of grass which the bodies of his comrades had fertilized; he saw the little shoots on the shell-shocked trees.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/humphrey-cobb/he-saw-the-delicate-blades-of-grass-which-the-bodies-of-his-comrades/) [Humphrey Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/humphrey-cobb/) > [A white crowned night sparrow sings as the moon sets. Thunder growls far off. Our campfire is a single light. Amongst a hundred peaks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-rexroth/a-white-crowned-night-sparrow-sings-as-the-moon-sets-thunder-growls/) [Kenneth Rexroth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-rexroth/) > [Twenty thousand birds moved away from me as one, like a ground-hugging white cloud, clucking softly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/twenty-thousand-birds-moved-away-from-me-as-one-like-a-ground-hugging/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [It's like eight thousand birds, Charles! Charles! Isn't it like eight thousand birds?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-rundell/it-s-like-eight-thousand-birds-charles-charles-isn-t-it-like-eight/) [Katherine Rundell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-rundell/) > [“She screamed like a thousand birds were picking at her flesh. She screamed like the palace was burning down around her.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marissa-meyer/she-screamed-like-a-thousand-birds-were-picking-at-her-flesh-she/) [Marissa Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marissa-meyer/) > [“But that was another Mildred so deep inside this one, and so bothered, really bothered, that the two women had never met.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/but-that-was-another-mildred-so-deep-inside-this-one-and-so-bothered/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [I was very fortunate, and have always been, that the women I met and fell in love with were exceptional, from my first girlfriend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/i-was-very-fortunate-and-have-always-been-that-the-women-i-met-and/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [“Pauline felt uncomfortable with the few black women she met. They were amused by her because she did not straighten her hair. When she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/pauline-felt-uncomfortable-with-the-few-black-women-she-met-they-were/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“He had picked up shrink talk from the women he'd met in Cambridge and understood that once a woman bares her soul there's little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/he-had-picked-up-shrink-talk-from-the-women-he-d-met-in-cambridge-and/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [The women that I met were exceptional, extraordinary - tremendous purity, tremendous gentleness, self-giving and power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/the-women-that-i-met-were-exceptional-extraordinary-tremendous-purity/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [ Using that kind of scare rhetoric is just terribly unfortunate. You \[Donald Trump\] should meet with some of the women that I have met… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/using-that-kind-of-scare-rhetoric-is-just-terribly-unfortunate-you/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [A woman / who loves a woman / is forever young.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/a-woman-who-loves-a-woman-is-forever-young/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [“You are my woman. We are one, forever with no horizon.” “Oh, Hunter, it isn’t that easy. I’m leaving,” she whispered in a quavery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-anderson/you-are-my-woman-we-are-one-forever-with-no-horizon-oh-hunter-it-isn/) [Catherine Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-anderson/) > [“I love you the way a man loves only one woman- only one woman...forever.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcia-lynn-mcclure/i-love-you-the-way-a-man-loves-only-one-woman-only-one-woman-forever/) [Marcia Lynn McClure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcia-lynn-mcclure/) ## More by Catherynne M. Valente > [When I saw him I thought I could curl up inside him and go to sleep and never wake up." "Men are no good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/when-i-saw-him-i-thought-i-could-curl-up-inside-him-and-go-to-sleep/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [We all just keep moving, September. We keep moving until we stop.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/we-all-just-keep-moving-september-we-keep-moving-until-we-stop/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [“You couldn't ever really fix a sad story. You could only make another. And another. And another, until you found the right one at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/you-couldn-t-ever-really-fix-a-sad-story-you-could-only-make-another/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [“He considers it for a moment and spits out the seeds, which sprout, quickly, into tiny junkblossoms sizzling with recursive algorithms. The algorithms wriggle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/he-considers-it-for-a-moment-and-spits-out-the-seeds-which-sprout/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [“Truly, Mallow yearned to know everything. Curiosity was part of her, like her short blond hair and bitten fingernails.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/truly-mallow-yearned-to-know-everything-curiosity-was-part-of-her/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [“The cicada lies in the earth for seventeen years. It is warm and dark there, it is soft and wet. Its little legs curl…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/the-cicada-lies-in-the-earth-for-seventeen-years-it-is-warm-and-dark/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [We all live inside the terrible engine of authority, and it grinds and shrieks and burns so that no one will say: lines on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/we-all-live-inside-the-terrible-engine-of-authority-and-it-grinds-and/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [Her heart was bruised by the kiss, smashed and surprised and unsettled by it. September thought kisses were all nice, sweet things asked for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/her-heart-was-bruised-by-the-kiss-smashed-and-surprised-and-unsettled/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [“September put her hand on the grip of the Rivet Gun. She’d only just gotten it, and she’d promised to take copious notes for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/september-put-her-hand-on-the-grip-of-the-rivet-gun-she-d-only-just/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [Just tell yourself a story that'll satisfy you and pretend he told it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/just-tell-yourself-a-story-that-ll-satisfy-you-and-pretend-he-told-it/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [“You see, the future is a kind of stew, a soup, a vichyssoise of the present and the past. That's how you get the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/you-see-the-future-is-a-kind-of-stew-a-soup-a-vichyssoise-of-the/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [Fairy tales have always been about getting through the worst of everything, the darkest and the deepest and the bloodiest of events. They are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/fairy-tales-have-always-been-about-getting-through-the-worst-of/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [“There is a place, September, oh, very far from Pandemonium. A place where it is always autumn, where there is always cider and pumpkin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/there-is-a-place-september-oh-very-far-from-pandemonium-a-place-where/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [“I was happy, the sun was high. I had enough.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/i-was-happy-the-sun-was-high-i-had-enough/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [Who are you?" "I am Death," said the creature. "I thought that was obvious." "But you're so small!" "Only because you are small. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/who-are-you-i-am-death-said-the-creature-i-thought-that-was-obvious/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) [Explore all 621 Catherynne M. Valente quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) ## More Bird quotes > [And I have been very blessed, having coached some of the greatest that have ever played the game. But if I had to start…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/red-auerbach/and-i-have-been-very-blessed-having-coached-some-of-the-greatest-that/) [Red Auerbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/red-auerbach/) > [Some minds corrode and grow inactive under the loss of personal liberty; others grow morbid and irritable; but it is the nature of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/some-minds-corrode-and-grow-inactive-under-the-loss-of-personal/) [Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/) > [Set the bird's wings with gold and it will never again soar in thesky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/set-the-bird-s-wings-with-gold-and-it-will-never-again-soar-in-thesky/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [“He unfixes the metal notch and slips his hand around the body of the bird. Feels its heat, its small heart beating. He stares…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-schuyler/he-unfixes-the-metal-notch-and-slips-his-hand-around-the-body-of-the/) Nina Schuyler > [I would rather learn from one bird how to sing than to teach 10,000 stars how not to dance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/i-would-rather-learn-from-one-bird-how-to-sing-than-to-teach-10-000/) [e. e. cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings/) > [Can you imagine any better example of divine creative accomplishment that the consummate flying machine that is a bird? The skeleton, very flexible and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-murchie/can-you-imagine-any-better-example-of-divine-creative-accomplishment/) [Guy Murchie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-murchie/) > [Surely, God could have caused birds to fly with their bones made of solid gold, with their veins full of quicksilver, with their flesh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/surely-god-could-have-caused-birds-to-fly-with-their-bones-made-of/) [Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/) > [And wheresoever, in his rich creation, Sweet music breathes--in wave, or bird, or soul-- 'Tis but the faint and far reverberation Of that great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-sargent-osgood/and-wheresoever-in-his-rich-creation-sweet-music-breathes-in-wave-or/) [Frances Sargent Osgood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-sargent-osgood/) > [A clock struck out the hour of twelve, and the bird in the hedgerow was still singing as we marched out to the roadway,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-macgill/a-clock-struck-out-the-hour-of-twelve-and-the-bird-in-the-hedgerow/) [Patrick MacGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-macgill/) > [Every wife ought to answer for her man. If the husband be engaged in a seditious club, or drinks mysterious healths, or be frugal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/every-wife-ought-to-answer-for-her-man-if-the-husband-be-engaged-in-a/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Meanwhile, the trees were just as green as before; the birds sang and the sun shone as clearly now as ever. The familiar surroundings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/meanwhile-the-trees-were-just-as-green-as-before-the-birds-sang-and/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [When they started to drain a swamp where birds and fish had lived, for a new housing development down the road from his apartment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maile-meloy/when-they-started-to-drain-a-swamp-where-birds-and-fish-had-lived-for/) [Maile Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maile-meloy/) > [The bird with the thorn in its breast, it follows an immutable law; it is driven by it knows not what to impale itself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-mccullough/the-bird-with-the-thorn-in-its-breast-it-follows-an-immutable-law-it/) [Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/) > [Real like sucks the life out of losers. if you want to fuck with the eagles, you must learn how to fly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/real-like-sucks-the-life-out-of-losers-if-you-want-to-fuck-with-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“If we studied birds ,maybe we could learn to be free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-alire-s-enz/if-we-studied-birds-maybe-we-could-learn-to-be-free/) [Benjamin Alire Sáenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-alire-s-enz/) [Browse all 4,802 Bird quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "But the thought arrived inside her like a train: Marya Morevna, all in black, here and now, was a point at which all the women she had been met—the Yaichkan and the Leningrader and the chyerti maiden; the girl who saw the birds, and the girl who never did—the woman she was and the woman she might have been and the woman she would always be, forever intersecting and colliding, a thousand birds falling from a thousand oaks, over and over.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Catherynne M. Valente" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/but-the-thought-arrived-inside-her-like-a-train-marya-morevna-all-in/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bird" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/but-the-thought-arrived-inside-her-like-a-train-marya-morevna-all-in/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e4/catherynne-m-valente-375_bird_but-the-thought-arrived-inside-her-like_2433435.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e4/catherynne-m-valente-375_bird_but-the-thought-arrived-inside-her-like_2433435.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e4/catherynne-m-valente-375_bird_but-the-thought-arrived-inside-her-like_2433435.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“But the thought arrived inside her like a train: Marya Morevna, all in black, here and now, was a point at…” — Catherynne M. Valente", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Catherynne M. Valente", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "But the thought arrived inside her...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/but-the-thought-arrived-inside-her-like-a-train-marya-morevna-all-in/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/but-the-thought-arrived-inside-her-like-a-train-marya-morevna-all-in/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```