Jane Yolen Quotes

“Well,' the Goddess said, 'your heart didn't heal straight the last time it broke. So we'll break it again and reset it so it heals straight this time.”

Source: Short fiction, Dragonfield and Other Stories (1985), The Pot Child (p. 110)

“You are a name, not a number. Never forget that name, whatever they tell you here. You will always be Chaya—life—to me.”

Source: The Books of Great Alta

“Fairy Tales always have a happy ending.' That depends… on whether you are Rumpelstiltskin or the Queen.”

Source: The Devil's Arithmetic

“Time may heal wounds, but it does not erase the scars.”

Source: Briar Rose

“You can only chase a butterfly for so long.”

Source: Briar Rose (1992), Chapter 12 (p. 72)

““We are all sleeping princesses some time. But it is better to be fully awake, don’t you think?”…“Americans do not want to be awake?”
“Oh,” Becca said, “we like the truth all right. When it’s tidy.”
“Truth is never tidy. Only fairy tales.””

Source: Prince Across the Water

Jane Yolen Quotes about time

“Wars may make heroes of men, but not all the time.”

Source: Briar Rose (1992), Chapter 32 (p. 196; ellpsis represents elision of a brief narrative section)

“Fifteen years can be a long or a short time, depending upon whether one is immortal or not.”

Source: Briar Rose (1992), Chapter 25 (p. 146)

“Literature is a textually transmitted disease, normally contracted in childhood.”

Source: Short fiction, Dragonfield and Other Stories (1985), The Thirteenth Fey (p. 39)

Jane Yolen Quotes

“Exercise the writing muscle every day, even if it is only a letter, notes, a title list, a character sketch, a journal entry. Writers are like dancers, like athletes. Without that exercise, the muscles seize up.”

Source: Touch Magic: Fantasy, Faerie & Folklore in the Literature of Childhood

“A book is a wonderful present. Though it may grow worn, it will never grow old.”

“Stories," he'd said, his voice low and almost husky, "we are made up of stories. And even the ones that seem the most like lies can be our deepest hidden truths.”

Source: Girl in a Cage

“The thing I want to know is, if you tell your brain not to do stuff… and it keeps doing it anyway, does that mean your mind has a mind of its own? And if it does, then who's in charge here, anyway?”

Source: Briar Rose

Jane Yolen book Armageddon Summer

Source: Armageddon Summer

“Touch magic. Pass it on.”

“We all have such stories. It is a brutal arithmetic. But I - I am alive. You are alive. As long as we breathe, we can see and hear. As long as we can remember, all those gone before are alive inside us.”

Source: Touch Magic: Fantasy, Faerie & Folklore in the Literature of Childhood

“Part of her revolted against the insanity of the rules. Part of her was grateful. In a world of chaos, any guidelines helped. And she knew that each day she remained alive,. One plus one plus one. The Devil's arithmetic…”

Source: The Devil's Arithmetic

“Folklore is the perfect second skin. From under its hide, we can see all the shimmering, shadowy uncertainties of the world.”

“She hated to lie but she hated arguments even more.”

““I’ll drive. You navigate.” He grinned. “I judge people by how well they read maps.””

Source: Briar Rose (1992), Chapter 16 (p. 93)

“Overhead the swallows dipped down to catch bugs rising from the ground. Then they soared back up beyond the barracks. Hannah watched them for a moment, scarcely breathing. It was as if all nature ignored what went on in the camp. There were brilliant sunsets and soft breezes. Around the commandant’s house, bright flowers were teased by the wind. Once she’d seen a fox cross the meadow to disappear into the forest.”

Source: Briar Rose (1992), Chapter 12 (p. 65)

“Know, my son, that the enemy will always be with you. He will be in the shadow of your dreams and in your living flesh, for he is the other part of yourself.”

Source: The Devil's Arithmetic (1988), p. 154

“It is not crazy to want to know the past. It is only crazy to live there, like so many of the aristocracy.”

Source: The Devil's Arithmetic (1988), p. 143

““Will you write the story?”
“If there is one.”
“Happy ending or no?” He was serious.
She attempted a smile. “Fairy tales always have a happy ending.”
He leaned back in his chair. “That depends.”
“On what?”
“On whether you are Rumplestiltskin or the Queen.””

Source: Briar Rose (1992), Chapter 24 (p. 131)

“Wars do not make heroes of everyone.”

Source: Briar Rose (1992), Chapter 16 (p. 91)

“She filled the pot, got out a new filter, threw the old one onto the garbage, and counted out five tablespoons of Columbian Supreme. Then she waited while the magic of modern invention turned tap water into a hot dark-brown caffeine-powered drink. It was better than any Biblical miracle and risked no beliefs.”

Source: Briar Rose (1992), Chapter 25 (p. 146)

“There is no liar like the one who lies to himself. He has a fool indeed for an audience.”

Source: Briar Rose (1992), Chapter 8 (p. 43)

“Madness also makes folks uneasy; they fear contagion.”

Source: Short fiction, Dragonfield and Other Stories (1985), The Bull & the Crowth (p. 122)