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In the Cities of Coin and Spice

Catherynne M. Valente

Top 10 Best Quotes

“I looked at this man and thought: Oh, how we are going to hurt each other.”

“We like the wrong sorts of girls, they wrote. They are usually the ones worth writing about.”

“All things are strange which are worth knowing.”

“There is always a moment when stories end, a moment when everything is blue and black and silent, and the teller does not want to believe it is over, and the listener does not, and so they both hold their breath and hope fervently as pilgrims that it is not over, that there are more tales to come, more and more, fitted together like a long chain coiled in the hand. They hold their breath; the trees hold theirs, the air and the ice and the wood and the Gate. But no breath can be held forever, and all tales end.”

“This is my heart—carry it with you. I will dream of you in the dark, and you will taste it in my tea, and feel it in my shoes.”

“Love rarely waits for permission.”

“Everything good in the world has feathers and wings and claws.”

“I think that one morning, the Papess woke in her tower, and her blankets were so warm, and the sun was so golden, she could not bear it. I think she woke, and dressed, and washed her face in cold water, and rubbed her shaven head. I think she walked among her sisters, and for the first time saw that they were so beautiful, and she loved them. I think she woke up one morning of all her mornings, and found that her heart was as white as a silkworm, and the sun was clear as glass on her brow, and she believed then that she could live, and hold peace in her hand like a pearl.”

“A dragon looks like a girl when it is young.”

“Did you never wonder why the old books are so full of dragons chasing after maidens? The serpents think the girls are orphans, and long to get them away in a lair so that they may grow up strong and tall.”

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Book Keywords:

knowledge, odd, tea, heroines, strange, love, attraction, bizarre, women, girls, woman, growing-up, heroine, girlfriend, dragons

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