Catherynne M. Valente Quotes

Out of the ash I rise with my red hair and I eat men like air.

I'm real strong, and I'm also real feminine, and I don't find a struggle having those two things under one roof.

I think women are strong, and they have never been weak.

Ash, ash —- You poke and stir. Flesh, bone, there is nothing there—— A cake of soap, A wedding ring, A gold filling. Herr God, Herr Lucifer Beware Beware. Out of the ash I rise with my red hair And I eat men like air.

A scar does not form on the dying. A scar means, I survived.

I'm not a girl anymore, I'm a woman and my heart beats like prizefighter's fists, and I have not stopped yet, I will not stop.

I'm not a victim. And the people who are victims of something, my heart is completely with them. But I'm not. I know I've been treated like a woman in this business [acting]. I mean I've got lots of stories, but they don't have any control over me.

The woman had looked into the abyss and then walked out across it.

We must see all scars as beauty. Okay? This will be our secret. Because take it from me, a scar does not form on the dying. A scar means, 'I survived'.

If men ever discovered how tough women actually are, they would be scared to death.

When I knew I couldn't suffer another moment of pain, and tears fell on my bloody bindings, my mother spoke softly into my ear, encouraging me to go one more hour, one more day, one more week, reminding me of the rewards I would have if I carried on a little longer. In this way, she taught me how to endure — not just the physical trials of footbinding and childbearing but the more torturous pain of the heart, mind, and soul.

I don't want to be a victim. I don't want to disappear into the darkness.

A scar is never ugly. That is what the scar makers want us to think. A scar does not form on the dying. A scar means, I survived.

Once she'd been a victim- helpless, used, and broken. Now, she was a warrior.

I think scars are like battle wounds - beautiful, in a way. They show what you've been through and how strong you are for coming out of it.

Sometimes you have to take the focus off of you and put it on someone else and it's funny what you can accomplish and how much strength you really have.

I think there is this steely strength beneath this beautiful veneer that a lot of women possess. I can't fathom or understand it.

This above all, to refuse to be a victim.

I want to show how strong I am from my roots.

It takes enormous strength to be a real woman.

It takes great courage to be vulnerable. It takes enormous strength to be a real woman.

We must keep both our femininity and our strength.

An injured lion still wants to roar.

Being strong can be also feminine. I don't think feminine equals being weak. Being strong is very sexy.

Freedom comes from strength and self-reliance.