Casey Blair > Quotes

“You have the ability to set boundaries for what you will tolerate, and you should. That’s not something to be ashamed of. But don’t fool yourself into thinking it isn’t also a kind of work.”
― Casey Blair, A Coup of Tea

“It is amazing, how much physical and emotional noise we all generate.”
― Casey Blair

“I won’t force myself where I’m not wanted.”
― Casey Blair, A Coup of Tea

“Unplanned purchases you can only questionably justify are a common experience in a bookstore, I assure you.”
― Casey Blair, A Coup of Tea

“If you let yourself focus too hard on just the craft, the art suffers.”
― Casey Blair, A Coup of Tea

“Just because something is broken or appears to have no function doesn’t mean it has no value,”
― Casey Blair, A Coup of Tea

“It’s often the people with the least who give the most,”
― Casey Blair, A Coup of Tea

“So a successful work day for me isn’t whether I’ve sold a piece; it’s whether I’ve done my work. Whether I showed up and put in time. Whether I did my best crafting a piece of pottery. Whether I presented it to customers as well as I could have. That’s what I can control, so those are the results I focus on.”
― Casey Blair, Royal Tea Service

“Then can you explain why people are like this?” Ari asks me. “Why do they have to operate on a set of rules no one says out loud?”
― Casey Blair, Tea Set and Match

“she has treated me backward, starting with the model of strength she knows and putting me into it, rather than seeing me and drawing my strength out.”
― Casey Blair, Tea Set and Match

“You have the ability to set boundaries for what you will tolerate, and you should. That’s not something to be ashamed of.”
― Casey Blair, A Coup of Tea

“Resolve is different.
Resolve is steady.
Resolve is continual.
Resolve is putting in time even when it feels unsatisfying in the moment, because it’s not about the moment.”
― Casey Blair, The Quiet Side

“Helping in the cat sense,” he confirms. “Interfering with maximum adorableness.”
― Casey Blair, Tea Set and Match

“You’re reflecting carefully, making choices, and taking action. Ultimately that’s all any of us can do.”
― Casey Blair, Tea Set and Match

“I should definitely be responsible for another person’s happiness.” “You’re not,” Risteri says. “You’re what makes happiness seem possible for him. Actually being happy is up to him, not you.”
― Casey Blair, Tea Set and Match

“Perhaps doing the work, and dedicating myself to continuing to do the work no matter what, is the path.”
― Casey Blair, Tea Set and Match

“I’m glad he can relax enough to make art with me here, that my presence doesn’t keep him from himself.”
― Casey Blair, Tea Set and Match

“Don’t discount it as a tactic. There’s a real art to threatening.”
― Casey Blair, Tea Set and Match

“Oh, well, no pressure,” Lorwyn mutters. “I should definitely be responsible for another person’s happiness.” “You’re not,” Risteri says. “You’re what makes happiness seem possible for him. Actually being happy is up to him, not you. But your happiness is also up to you.”
― Casey Blair, Tea Set and Match

“That’s how the world is,” Ari says. “Most people can’t do anything, and the ones who could, won’t.”
― Casey Blair, Tea Set and Match

“you let yourself focus too hard on just the craft, the art suffers.” “But the craft is what I can control.” His expression turns wry. “Yes. And the craft matters. But a technically perfect piece of art—or a performance—won’t be as meaningful as a heartfelt one. The craft is the skeleton that carries your art, but without spirit it’s empty. People can always tell.”
― Casey Blair, A Coup of Tea

“This is the story of a cat adventurer who solves mysteries, beginning with the tale of the vanishing fish snacks,” he announces. “May I read it to you? Talsu has heard this one before, of course, but it’s one of his favorites, so I’m sure he won’t mind the repetition.”
― Casey Blair, A Coup of Tea

“The tea pet is, however symbolic in my mind, still a piece of clay. But symbols have only as much weight as we imbue them with,”
― Casey Blair, A Coup of Tea

“real friendship is hard when there’s that much power disparity, too much potential for one side to hurt the other. Even if it’s just perception.”
― Casey Blair, A Coup of Tea

“Are you responsible for the world?” Sa Nikuran asks. “I’m responsible for my role in changing it,” I say.”
― Casey Blair, Tea Set and Match

“We choose as best we can those who will lift us up and support the people we wish to be, not the ones who smother who we would become. This, I think, is the core of what Iryasa needs from me today: the understanding that relationships are not about giving up or sharing control of ourselves. It’s about finding people whose visions of who we are and can be are in line with ours. It’s about people who want to help us grow into ourselves.”
― Casey Blair, Royal Tea Service

“being a focal point is what I use to solve problems as much as my weaponized etiquette.”
― Casey Blair, Tea Set and Match

“But the craft is what I can control.” His expression turns wry. “Yes. And the craft matters. But a technically perfect piece of art—or a performance—won’t be as meaningful as a heartfelt one. The craft is the skeleton that carries your art, but without spirit it’s empty. People can always tell.”
― Casey Blair, A Coup of Tea

“But a quiet bookshop is ideal, to discover, and in fact simply as a place to exist peacefully without needing to act.”
― Casey Blair, Royal Tea Service

“Is forward the only direction that matters?” she asks. “Is sustenance so inconsequential?”
― Casey Blair, Tea Set and Match