โฆeverything has a narrative, really, and if you canโt understand a story and relate to it, figure out how you fit inside it, youโre not really alive at all.
Catherynne M. ValenteKoschei, Koschei,โ she whispered. โWhat would I have been if I had never seen the birds? I am no one; I am nothing. I am a blank paper on which you and your magic wrote a girl. Just the kind of girl you wanted, all hungry and hurt and needing. A machine for loving you. Nothing in me was not made by you.
Catherynne M. ValenteThe goblins of the city may hold committees to divide a single potato, but the strong and the cruel still sit on the hill, and drink vodka, and wear black furs, and slurp borscht by the pail, like blood. Children may wear through their socks marching in righteous parades, but Papa never misses his wine with supper. Therefore, it is better to be strong and cruel than to be fair. At least, one eats better that way. And morality is more dependent on the state of oneโs stomach than of oneโs nation.
Catherynne M. Valente