The Memory Librarian Quotes

“Grandpapa and even Artis’s friends believed that New Dawn was the most dangerous thing in their world. But Artis knew that wasn’t true. Hope was. Having too much, having too little. Trying to work out that invisible balance so you don’t get crushed but also don’t float away was labor Artis didn’t always feel strong enough to do.”
― Janelle Monáe, The Memory Librarian and Other Stories of Dirty Computer

“How much more power will she need before she can feel safe from everyone moving in ways she doesn’t expect and cannot control, even as she loves them?”
― Janelle Monáe, The Memory Librarian and Other Stories of Dirty Computer

“Dreams aren't memories. They are memories' voices.”
― Janelle Monáe, The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer

“Return whole, my children, your eyes a constellation of stars. Full of the knowledge that I love you, that we are what we carry—the years, the nights, and the seconds, and all the spaces in between. It flows through us, flows from within us. This love cannot be stopped. It grows—and it must be free. The time to dream is a sacred thing, Trell. It heals, lifts us up. Ola, every child, not just my own, needs it. Our world demands it. You’ve got to dream a future before you can build a future. Together, let us begin this dreaming awake.”
― Janelle Monáe, The Memory Librarian and Other Stories of Dirty Computer

“Some part of you always remembers.”
― Alaya Dawn Johnson, The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer

“You don’t need to control everything.”
― Janelle Monáe, The Memory Librarian and Other Stories of Dirty Computer

“In the end, a simple happiness is better than a complex disillusion.”
― Janelle Monáe, The Memory Librarian and Other Stories of Dirty Computer

“the quotidian beauty of a sunset bleeding behind a kudzu-choked highway barrier;”
― Janelle Monáe, The Memory Librarian and Other Stories of Dirty Computer

“how every inch of life’s purpose was to find love, freedom, and your people. To embrace your own weirdness and other folks’ wildness.”
― Janelle Monáe, The Memory Librarian and Other Stories of Dirty Computer

“Dreams aren’t memories. They are memories’ voices.”
― Janelle Monáe, The Memory Librarian and Other Stories of Dirty Computer

“The social majority—those who were already so broadcasted, so commonly seen, that they felt the Dawn’s sight was the same as their own—for them, there was safety. The perception of it. The assumption that they had nothing precious, no different or unusual coding, to conceal. That they fit.”
― Janelle Monáe, The Memory Librarian and Other Stories of Dirty Computer

“Grandpapa and even Artis's friends believed that New Dawn was the most dangerous thing in their world. But Artis knew that wasn't true. Hope was. Having too much, having too little. Trying to work out that invisible balance so you don't get crushed but also don't float away was labor Artis didn't always feel strong enough to do. It hurt too much to hope sometimes. Better to just be, take whatever comes as gracefully as you can, 'cuz it's coming anyway, whether you want it or not.”
― Janelle Monáe, The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer

“Some days Artis had to remind himself that his dad actually existed, that his mother was not a phantom. Remembering the dead was hard work.”
― Janelle Monáe, The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer

“Hearing her name, she gathered herself within the span of normalcy, just barely escaping the extra beat that would have made it weird. "Hey," she said. "I'm good, good.”
― Janelle Monáe, The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer

“Then they ducked under the canopy of forest, the others following, and let the dark green radiance embrace them.”
― Sheree Renée Thomas, The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer

“Neer didn't mind at all.”
― Danny Lore, The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer

“Then she picked up her toolbox and walked heavily out of the apartment, closing the front door behind her.”
― Eve L. Ewing, The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer

“Time's up.”
― Yohanca Delgado, The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer