Stacey Lee > Quotes

“There are some people, when you meet them, you feel as if you've known them all your life. And then there are people who live under your nose all your life, yet you don't know them at all.”
― Stacey Lee, The Downstairs Girl

“We are all ike candles, and whether we are single or joined with another does not affect how brightly we can burn. Respectfully submitted, Miss Sweetie”
― Stacey Lee, The Downstairs Girl

“One should never confuse cost with value.”
― Stacey Lee, The Downstairs Girl

“Dear Miss Sweetie,

My sisters and I wonder, why must women suffer a few days each month?

Sincerely, Bloated, Crampy, and Spotty



Dear Bloated, Cramp, and Spotty,

Because the alternative is worse, although they do get to vote.

Sincrely, Miss Sweetie”
― Stacey Lee, The Downstairs Girl

“Sometimes things fall apart so better things can come together.”
― Stacey Lee, The Downstairs Girl

“Troubles are like weeds, and the longer you avoid them, the bigger they grow.”
― Stacey Lee, The Downstairs Girl

“A community is like that shawl, and once you are a part of it, you tie your fate to the threads closest to you.”
― Stacey Lee, The Downstairs Girl

“Horses are like people. Some work better under pressure.”
― Stacey Lee, The Downstairs Girl

“You miss being a girl?" I ask her. "Not as much as I thought I would. Just feels like when I'm being a boy, I can cut a wider path."-Under A Painted Sky”
― Stacey Lee

“Being nice is like leaving your door wide-open. Eventually, someone's going to mosey in and steal your best hat.”
― Stacey Lee, The Downstairs Girl

“As long as you have a home, you have a place to plan and dream.”
― Stacey Lee, The Downstairs Girl

“A crow lands on the ground in front of us, and Noemi lunges towards it, growling. The crow flaps away with a squawk, and she continues on her way. 'But each of our personal roads got crows on them. With every crow we meet, we get better at shooing them away, the filthy flying rats. And guess what's at the end of the road?'
'Pearl gates?'
She tsks her tongue. 'Not that road, that's on a different map. Vic-to-ry.' She cuts the word into pieces and savors every syllable. 'I wasn't too keen to get on that slick-looking August at first. But now that I know how, I'm riding him to the finish line. Victory. Do you understand me?'
'No. What is this victory?'
'It is knowing your worth no matter what the crows tell you. Victory is waiting for us. We have to be bold enough to snatch it.”
― Stacey Lee, The Downstairs Girl

“The kimono eyes me from the wardrobe. She's a saucy miss, asking if I'm woman enough to put her on. I take my time eating a sticky bun and a scone with marmalade, washing them both down with good English tea.
Fortified, I slide the kimono off the hanger. It seems to slink right over my shoulders, the little minx, making herself at home around me.”
― Stacey Lee

“It is better to look out a window than into a glass; otherwise all you see is yourself and what's behind you.”
― Stacey Lee

“We can run the race as well as any man. We only need the opportunity.”
― Stacey Lee

“I don't understand the constant need to prove one's manhood, as if it is always on the verge of slipping away. We never need to prove our womanhood.”
― Stacey Lee

“Being nice is like leaving your door wide-open. Eventually, someone's going to mosey in and steal your best hat. [...] Still, boundaries must be set. Especially boundaries over one's worth.”
― Stacey Lee

“I am reminded of the proverb about the man with a single teacup to fetch water for his plants. In order to keep some alive, he had to let others die or run himself ragged. I have chosen to water this particular plant despite all its thorns, and I must simply hope my relationship with Tom can survive my absence.”
― Stacey Lee

“Trouble is, finding a girl is still a tricky situation, like choosing a hat." He flips off his hat and sweeps a finger along the edge of the brim. "Like, maybe you've had your eye on a fine-looking French number, but when it finally falls onto your head, it loses its appeal... Or maybe you've been told all your life that bison felts are the only hats worth wearing. And when something different comes along, say alligator suede, even though it's the most worthy thing you've seen in your life, you might leave it in the window"--he taps his chin--"until you realize no other hat will fit just right.”
― Stacey Lee

“Crying fish balls, I hope she loses that look soon before she gives us away as mischief makers.”
― Stacey Lee

“If you walk like you know where you're going, you can fool a lot of people, especially in a place with so many distractions.”
― Stacey Lee

“They say death aims only once and never misses, but I doubt Ty Yorkshire thought it would strike with a scrubbing brush. Now his face wears the mask of surprise that sometimes accompanies death: his eyes bulge, carp-like, and his mouth curves around a profanity. Does killing a man who tried to rape me count as murder? For me, it probably does. The law in Missouri in this year of our Lord 1849 does not sympathize with a Chinaman's daughter.”
― Stacey Lee

“Dignity can only be surrendered, and when it is gone, we are like the snail who has lost its shell. All it can do is find the nearest leaf and hope it's not parade day.”
― Stacey Lee, The Downstairs Girl

“The biggest threats are the ones we fail to acknowledge.”
― Stacey Lee, The Downstairs Girl

“A crow lands on the ground in front of us, and Noemi lunges towards it, growling. The crow flaps away with a squawk, and she continues on her way. 'But each of our personal roads got crows on them. With every crow we meet, we get better at shooing them away, the filthy flying rats. And guess what's at the end of the road?'
'Pearly gates?'
She tsks her tongue. 'Not that road, that's on a different map. Vic-to-ry.' She cuts the word into pieces and savors every syllable. 'I wasn't too keen to get on that slick-looking August at first. But now that I know how, I'm riding him to the finish line. Victory. Do you understand me?'
'No. What is this victory?'
'It is knowing your worth no matter what the crows tell you. Victory is waiting for us. We have to be bold enough to snatch it.”
― Stacey Lee, The Downstairs Girl

“What is the job of a parent but to teach a child that she has worth so that one day she can transform herself into whatever she wants.”
― Stacey Lee, The Downstairs Girl

“Most people don't know that heartache smells like blueberries.”
― Stacey Lee

“All dictators work by first sowing chaos, then offering a solution.”
― Stacey Lee, Winston Chu vs. the Wingmeisters

“Do not linger in the garden of memories, for there are many traps”
― Stacey Lee

“When I began my women's cycles, the only thing Old Gin said about it was that all meadows, after an awkward stretch as a thicket, eventually ripen into beautiful forests.”
― Stacey Lee, The Downstairs Girl