Kája

“This word, the people in it- my mother, Tantine- they sort us. Put us in crates. You are an egg. You are a potato. You are a cabbage. They tell us who we are. What we will do. What we will be."
"Because they're afraid. Afraid of what we could be." Tavi said.
"But we let them do it!" Hugo said angrily. "Why?"
"Tavi gave him a rueful smile. "Because we're afraid of what we could be, too.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, Stepsister

“Believe that you can make your way. Or don't. Either way, you are right.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, Stepsister

“Stop burdening the gods. Stop cursing the devil. They will make no path for you. They gave you their dark gifts: reason and will. Now you must make your own way.
What's done is done. Whether to you, or by you, and you cannot change it.
But what's not done is not done.
And there, both hope and hazard lie. Believe that you can make your way. Or don't. Either way you are right. Every war is different, yet each battle is the same. The enemy is only a distraction. The thing you are fighting against, always, is yourself.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, Stepsister

“They were not pretty, these women. Pretty did not begin to describe them.
They were shrewd. Powerful. Wily. Proud. Dangerous.
They were strong.
There were brave.
They were beautiful.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, Stepsister