Kelly Barnhill Quotes

“There's no such thing as complete when it comes to stories. Stories are infinite. They are as infinite as worlds.”
― Kelly Barnhill, Iron Hearted Violet

“There is, at its center, something immutably miraculous about the substance and process of reading stories. We read because we hunger to know, to empathize, to feel, to connect, to laugh, to fear, to wonder, and to become, with each page, more than ourselves. To become creatures with souls. We read because it allows us, through force of mind, to hold hands, touch lives, speak as another speaks, listen as another listens, and feel as another feels. We read because we wish to journey forth together. There is, despite everything, a place for empathy and compassion and rumination, and just knowing that fact, for me, is an occasion for joy. That we still, in this frenetic and bombastic and self-centered age, have legions of people who can and do return to the quietness of the page, opening their minds and hearts, again and again, to the wild world and the stuff of life, pinned into scenes and characters and sharp images and pretty sentences--well. It sure feels like a miracle, doesn't it?”
― Kelly Barnhill, Dreadful Young Ladies and Other Stories

“Father,” it said on the side facing up…“The sea!” the note said. “The sea!” It was not signed, and said nothing of where he was going or when he would be back or why he must leave. Still, Ned’s father knew all the same. The sea meant I love you. The sea meant I will one day return. The sea meant I must find the world and hold the world and live in the world. And I must love the world….As much as I love you.”
― Kelly Barnhill, The Witch's Boy

“Once again, the past and the present wind together: they loop, they twist, they pull in tight. Tension and response, filament and friction and time. A knot.”
― Kelly Barnhill, When Women Were Dragons

“Who benefits when you force yourself to not feel angry? Clearly not you.”
― Kelly Barnhill, When Women Were Dragons

“I certainly didn’t have any boyfriends. Who has that kind of time?”
― Kelly Barnhill, When Women Were Dragons