Quotes from Theodora Goss

What good would it do for the Kates of the world to cry? They have learned that tears do not bring relief or change of circumstance. There is no one to wipe their tears, no one to assuage their grief.

This is magnificent," said Justine. "I've never seen anything like it. But I can't make out the artist's name?" "It's by a friend of mine," said Irene. "His name is not known outside of Vienna, but it will be—I think someday soon, all of Europe will be talking about Gustav Klimt. I was the model for this one. I don't know if you can see the resemblance.

No wonder men did not want women to wear bloomers. What could women accomplish if they did not have to continually mind their skirts, keep them from dragging in the mud or getting trampled on the steps of an omnibus? If they had pockets! With pockets, women could conquer the world!

It occurred to me that there have always been selkie women: women who did not seem to belong to this world, because they did not fit into prevailing notions of what women were supposed to be. And if you did not fit into those notions, in some sense you weren't a woman. Weren't even quite human. The magical animal woman is, or can be, a metaphor for those sorts of women.

For the first time, Mary understood the attraction of coffee. If you have been up all night, escaping from a burning mental asylum or fighting men who refuse to die when you shoot them in the forehead, or both, coffee is the perfect beverage.

Accept criticism. If you do not offer your work for criticism and accept that criticism, meaning give it serious thought and attention, then you will never improve.

She had longed for adventure, and now that it was happening to her, she was not sure how she felt about it.

If they had pockets! With pockets, women could conquer the world! And

I think part of my purpose in this life is to talk about magic, and to make it.

Write all the time. I believe in writing every day, at least a thousand words a day. We have a strange idea about writing: that it can be done, and done well, without a great deal of effort. Dancers practice every day, musicians practice every day, even when they are at the peak of their careers – especially then. Somehow, we don't take writing as seriously. But writing – writing wonderfully – takes just as much dedication.

If you're a writer, your first duty, a duty you owe to yourself and your readers, and to your writing itself, is to become wonderful. To become the best writer you can possibly be.

Friendship and chocolate cake—they do not heal all ills, but they certainly help.

Do not dismiss what you do not understand

Beatrice closed her eyes and dreamed whatever flowers dream. Beatrice: That's very poetic, but they don't dream anything. Flowers have no cerebral cortex.

With pockets, women could conquer the world!

Read a lot. But read as a writer, to see how other writers are doing it. And make your knowledge of literature in English as deep and broad as you can. In workshops, writers are often told to read what is being written now, but if that is all you read, you are limiting yourself. You need to get a good overall sense of English literary history, so you can write out of that knowledge.

Learn as much as you can. Take every opportunity to learn about writing, whether it's through classes, workshops, whatever is available to you. This may be difficult, because things like classes, workshops, writing programs, require time and money. But I say this honestly and somewhat harshly – if you're not willing to prioritize your writing, perhaps you should do something else?

You can't feel yourself blushing. That's lady novelist talk.

CATHERINE: I can't write from Diana's point of view. MARY: Of course you can. You're a writer; you can write anything. Just find your inner Diana. CATHERINE: I don't have an inner Diana. DIANA: Ha! You wish. Everyone has an inner Diana.

Only an idiot would bring an important letter out in the rain.

DIANA: Well, how was I supposed to know that? MARY: Maybe because we mentioned it over and over again? DIANA: You're assuming that I listen.

Fairy tales are another kind of Bible, for those who know how to read them.

What was the use of propriety when it kept one from getting things done?

She drifted, feather-like, in tenuous radiance… Her gown, it seemed a thing made out of mist, As though the dewy air Had gathered in a cloud about her form To clothe a shape so fair That nothing coarser could adorn it than A layer of atmosphere.