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Helen Oyeyemi Quotes

I think, basically, what I’m good for is reading - a lot Picture Quote #1

In my family, telling stories is just a way of life Picture Quote #1

I think I started writing about identity, and I used to believe that identity is the story. But now I’m not so much subscribed to that. I mean, with ‘Mr. Fox,’ it has a feminist agenda as well. And so, as I sort of been away from writing about identity, I still feel that kind of tug of roots and, you know, cultural background Picture Quote #1

Home is where your teapots are Picture Quote #1

Magic is an exercise of a pattern of thought (sometimes represented by a gesture, ritual, or the calling of a true name) that results in manifestation/s. But these patterns of thought can have so much to do with whimsy that magic often is jokes Picture Quote #1

I always wanted to be a writer! But I wanted to do other things, too - be a psychologist, a librarian, et cetera. Now I’ve decided that reading fiction that features characters who are in those professions will do Picture Quote #1

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I take aliens very seriously and don’t appreciate light entertainment or weak approximations being made of them Picture Quote #1

I was a real mess at school. I got a bit of a reputation for being the weird girl: the girl who’d go silent randomly and just kind of write down replies to people’s questions in a book Picture Quote #1

I remember that I used to get lots of books from the library, and ‘Little Women’ was one of them. And I used to just cross out the parts of it that really upset me because it’s such a sad book in so many ways. I’d cross out the parts that upset me, and I would rewrite new endings Picture Quote #1

The way that people feel changes everything. Feelings are forces. They cause us to time travel. And to leave ourselves, to leave our bodies. I would be that kind of psychologist who says, ‘You’re absolutely right - there are monsters under the bed.’ Picture Quote #1

I love character and voice, and my favourite books have been the ones in which I’ve become completely absorbed Picture Quote #1

I’m greedy about cities - I like to form my impressions of them on my own, and on foot as far as possible, looking and listening, having conversations with bridges and streets and riverbanks, conversations I tend not to be aware of until a little later, when I find myself returning to those places to say hello again, even if only in memory Picture Quote #1

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The first book I really loved was ‘Little Women’ - I’d have given anything for Beth to have been allowed to live; I remember crying very much over her death, trying to make the words change just by staring at them. I loved ‘Anne of Green Gables,’ too; ‘What Katy Did;’ and ‘Peter Pan.’ Picture Quote #1

I don’t feel there’s a difference between the real world and the fairy-tale world. They contain psychological truths and, I guess, projections of what the culture that tells them thinks about various things: men, women, aging, dying - the most basic aspects of being human Picture Quote #1

I don’t despise ‘Don Quixote,’ but it is a book I don’t... get. I’ll have to come back it. Maybe there’ll be a gateway story that opens it up for me; that happened for me with ‘Paradise Lost’ and the ‘His Dark Materials’ trilogy Picture Quote #1

Fairy tales, because they have a very clear structure, are easier to interfere with. Also they have this really weird logic: the kind of logic that you only really experience when you’re not feeling very well, or as a child Picture Quote #1

Authors I’ve longed to write like - but realize I actually can’t even begin to - include Poe, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Kafka, Daniil Kharms, Witold Gombrowicz, Emily Dickinson, Robert Walser, Barbara Comyns, Ntozake Shange, Camille Laurens, Zbigniew Herbert, and Jose Saramago Picture Quote #1

$So her missing person’s poster features a girl with long hair and dreamy eyes that don’t see the fracture coming Picture Quote #1$

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I’ve always felt happy in my own company. It’s only when I get around other people that things get sticky Picture Quote #1

I don’t have a style. I just try to write what the story demands Picture Quote #1

I love taking things out of context and playing with them and chopping up rules Picture Quote #1

Would that be dangerous, to not look while being looked at? Picture Quote #1

Because things grow. Wherever there is air and light and open space, things grow Picture Quote #1

Imagine having a mother who worries that you read too much. The question is, what is it that’s supposed to happen to people who read too much? How can you tell when someone’s crossed the line Picture Quote #1

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Once you let people know anything about what you think, that’s it, you’re dead. Then they’ll be jumping about in your mind, taking things out, holding them up to the light and killing them, yes, killing them, because thoughts are supposed to stay and grow in quiet, dark places, like butterflies in cocoons Picture Quote #1

And she walked away, and she walked away, and that was that, and that was that Picture Quote #1

Solitary people, these book lovers. I think it’s swell that there are people you don’t have to worry about when you don’t see them for a long time, you don’t have to wonder what they do, how they’re getting along with themselves. You just know that they’re all right, and probably doing something they like Picture Quote #1

The girl was lighter without her heart. She danced barefoot on the hot roads, and her feet were not cut by the glass or stones that studded her way. She spoke to the dead whenever they visited her. She tried to be kind, but they realised that they no longer had anything in common with her, and she realised it, too. So they went their separate ways Picture Quote #1

I collected pictures and I drew pictures and I looked at the pictures by myself. And because no one else ever saw them, the pictures were perfect and true. They were alive Picture Quote #1

I know of witches who whistle at different pitches, calling things that don’t have names Picture Quote #1

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Friendship Quotes

Motivational Quotes

Inspirational Quotes

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Text Quotes

I think, basically, what I’m good for is reading - a lot (Helen Oyeyemi Quotes) In my family, telling stories is just a way of life (Helen Oyeyemi Quotes) I think I started writing about identity, and I used to believe that identity is the story. But now I’m not so much subscribed to that. I mean, with ‘Mr. Fox,’ it has a feminist agenda as well. And so, as I sort of been away from writing about identity, I still feel that kind of tug of roots and, you know, cultural background. (Helen Oyeyemi Quotes) Home is where your teapots are (Helen Oyeyemi Quotes) Magic is an exercise of a pattern of thought (sometimes represented by a gesture, ritual, or the calling of a true name) that results in manifestation/s. But these patterns of thought can have so much to do with whimsy that magic often is jokes (Helen Oyeyemi Quotes) I always wanted to be a writer! But I wanted to do other things, too - be a psychologist, a librarian, et cetera. Now I’ve decided that reading fiction that features characters who are in those professions will do (Helen Oyeyemi Quotes) I take aliens very seriously and don’t appreciate light entertainment or weak approximations being made of them. (Helen Oyeyemi Quotes) I was a real mess at school. I got a bit of a reputation for being the weird girl: the girl who’d go silent randomly and just kind of write down replies to people’s questions in a book. (Helen Oyeyemi Quotes) I remember that I used to get lots of books from the library, and ‘Little Women’ was one of them. And I used to just cross out the parts of it that really upset me because it’s such a sad book in so many ways. I’d cross out the parts that upset me, and I would rewrite new endings. (Helen Oyeyemi Quotes) The way that people feel changes everything. Feelings are forces. They cause us to time travel. And to leave ourselves, to leave our bodies. I would be that kind of psychologist who says, ‘You’re absolutely right - there are monsters under the bed.’ (Helen Oyeyemi Quotes) I love character and voice, and my favourite books have been the ones in which I’ve become completely absorbed. (Helen Oyeyemi Quotes) I’m greedy about cities - I like to form my impressions of them on my own, and on foot as far as possible, looking and listening, having conversations with bridges and streets and riverbanks, conversations I tend not to be aware of until a little later, when I find myself returning to those places to say hello again, even if only in memory. (Helen Oyeyemi Quotes) The first book I really loved was ‘Little Women’ - I’d have given anything for Beth to have been allowed to live; I remember crying very much over her death, trying to make the words change just by staring at them. I loved ‘Anne of Green Gables,’ too; ‘What Katy Did;’ and ‘Peter Pan.’ (Helen Oyeyemi Quotes) I don’t feel there’s a difference between the real world and the fairy-tale world. They contain psychological truths and, I guess, projections of what the culture that tells them thinks about various things: men, women, aging, dying - the most basic aspects of being human. (Helen Oyeyemi Quotes) I don’t despise ‘Don Quixote,’ but it is a book I don’t... get. I’ll have to come back it. Maybe there’ll be a gateway story that opens it up for me; that happened for me with ‘Paradise Lost’ and the ‘His Dark Materials’ trilogy. (Helen Oyeyemi Quotes) Fairy tales, because they have a very clear structure, are easier to interfere with. Also they have this really weird logic: the kind of logic that you only really experience when you’re not feeling very well, or as a child. (Helen Oyeyemi Quotes) Authors I’ve longed to write like - but realize I actually can’t even begin to - include Poe, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Kafka, Daniil Kharms, Witold Gombrowicz, Emily Dickinson, Robert Walser, Barbara Comyns, Ntozake Shange, Camille Laurens, Zbigniew Herbert, and Jose Saramago. (Helen Oyeyemi Quotes) So her missing person’s poster features a girl with long hair and dreamy eyes that don’t see the fracture coming. (Helen Oyeyemi Quotes) I’ve always felt happy in my own company. It’s only when I get around other people that things get sticky. (Helen Oyeyemi Quotes) I don’t have a style. I just try to write what the story demands (Helen Oyeyemi Quotes) I love taking things out of context and playing with them and chopping up rules (Helen Oyeyemi Quotes) Would that be dangerous, to not look while being looked at? (Helen Oyeyemi Quotes) Because things grow. Wherever there is air and light and open space, things grow (Helen Oyeyemi Quotes) Imagine having a mother who worries that you read too much. The question is, what is it that’s supposed to happen to people who read too much? How can you tell when someone’s crossed the line (Helen Oyeyemi Quotes) Once you let people know anything about what you think, that’s it, you’re dead. Then they’ll be jumping about in your mind, taking things out, holding them up to the light and killing them, yes, killing them, because thoughts are supposed to stay and grow in quiet, dark places, like butterflies in cocoons (Helen Oyeyemi Quotes) And she walked away, and she walked away, and that was that, and that was that (Helen Oyeyemi Quotes) Solitary people, these book lovers. I think it’s swell that there are people you don’t have to worry about when you don’t see them for a long time, you don’t have to wonder what they do, how they’re getting along with themselves. You just know that they’re all right, and probably doing something they like (Helen Oyeyemi Quotes) The girl was lighter without her heart. She danced barefoot on the hot roads, and her feet were not cut by the glass or stones that studded her way. She spoke to the dead whenever they visited her. She tried to be kind, but they realised that they no longer had anything in common with her, and she realised it, too. So they went their separate ways (Helen Oyeyemi Quotes) I collected pictures and I drew pictures and I looked at the pictures by myself. And because no one else ever saw them, the pictures were perfect and true. They were alive (Helen Oyeyemi Quotes) I know of witches who whistle at different pitches, calling things that don’t have names (Helen Oyeyemi Quotes)

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