The men in the nearby village fear us, thinking we are witches. Women who live without men—especially old women who grow herbs, heal the sick, and befriend wild animals—are always suspect.
In those days, I still thoroughly enjoyed the romance I called "by myself"; I didn't know yet how it gets lonely, picks up a sharp edge later on that ruins a day now and then-- ruins more than that, if you're not careful.
Swan: You recognize them? Fox: Orphans. So far down they're not even on the map. Real low class. Swan: Numbers? Fox: Full strength: maybe 30? Vermin: Thirty. A lot more than eight. Ajax: Not if they're wimps!... and I'm sick of this running crap.
Erica: You'll probably get to dance the Pas de Quatre again. That's such a wonderful part. Or maybe he'll make you a big swan. Either way, you'll shine. Nina: I know. Erica: Everything will be better in the morning. It always is. [whispers] Erica: Sw...
Teachers're always using that "in your own words." I hate that. Authors knit their sentences tight. It's their job. Why make us unpick them, just to put it back together more shonkily? How're you s'posed to say Kapellmeister if you can't say Kapellme...
Secrets affect you more than you’d think. You lie to keep them hidden. You steer talk away from them. You worry someone’ll discover yours and tell the world. You think you are in charge of the secret, but isn’t it the secret who’s actually us...
Read books are far less valuable than unread ones. The library should contain as much of what you do not know as your financial means, mortgage rates, and the currently tight real-estate market alow you to put there.
Lily: I don't think we ever officially met. I'm Lily. Nina: Hi, Nina. Lily: Yes, our new swan queen! You must be so excited. Are you freaking out? Nina: [chuckles] Yeah. Lily: Yeah, it's okay. I would be losing my mind.
. . . the world in which we live has an increasing number of feedback loops, causing events to be the cause of more events (say, people buy a book because other people bought it), thus generating snowballs and arbitrary and unpredictable planet-wide ...
It's a shame for a woman's history to be all about men-first boys, then other boys, then men, men, men. It reminds me of the way our school history textbooks were all about wars and elections, one war after another, with the dull periods of peace ski...
Vermin: Where's the rest of them? Rembrandt: Where's everybody, else? Snow: Cops got Ajax. We don't know about, Swan. Rembrandt: Oh, Jesus. Cochise: Are you sure about Ajax? Snow: Real sure. Vermin: Bet he went out swinging. Snow: We better go look f...
Thomas Leroy: Thank you, Nina! It's very nice. It's very nice, but I knew the white swan wouldn't be your problem. The real work would be your metamorphosis into her evil twin. I know I saw a flash of her yesterday, so get ready to give me more of th...
Lily: A rough start, huh? Must have been pretty humiliating. Nina: Get out of my room! Lily: See, I'm just worried about the next act. I'm not sure you're feeling up to it. Nina: Stop. Please stop! Lily: How about I dance the black swan for you?
It has been more profitable for us to bind together in the wrong direction than to be alone in the right one. Those who have followed the assertive idiot rather than the introspective wise person have passed us some of their genes. This is apparent f...
Though now we think of fairy tales as stories intended for very young children, this is a relatively modern idea. In the oral tradition, magical stories were enjoyed by listeners young and old alike, while literary fairy tales (including most of the ...
Ah—now you think I have been lying to you, that this is only a story. It has a king in it. And while a story with Death might be true, a story with a king in it is always a fairy tale. But remember, this comes from a time when kings were as common ...
Hester, meanwhile, says we should live all of life back to front. We should be born old and age younger. Our baptism should be a ritual of our funeral. We should die as infants, content in our mothers' arms, having lost all our learning and all sense...
In the story of Ugly Duckling, when did the Ugly Duckling stop feeling Ugly? When he realized that he was a Swan. Each of us has something Special, a swan of some sort, hidden inside somewhere. But until we recognize that it's there, what can we do b...
Tony Wendice: [on the phone] I don't see why we can't settle this whole thing here and now, provided you drop the price. C.A. Swan: [on the phone] I'm afraid that's quite out of the question. Tony Wendice: [on the phone] Well, we'll see what a couple...
When turkeys mate they think of swans.
Boyd 'Bible' Swan: On the way!
