Quotes from Catherine, Called Birdy

Karen Cushman ·  224 pages

Rating: (34K votes)


“I watched the early morning light pass over and through the windows of colored glass, leaving streaks of red and green and yellow on the stone floor. When I was little, I used to try and capture the colored light. I thought I could hold it in my hand and carry it home. Now I know it is like happiness-- it is there or it is not, you cannot hold it or keep it.”
― Karen Cushman, quote from Catherine, Called Birdy


“Corpus Bones! I utterly loathe my life.”
― Karen Cushman, quote from Catherine, Called Birdy


“I think sometimes that people are like onions. On the outside smooth and whole and simple but inside ring upon ring, complex and deep.”
― Karen Cushman, quote from Catherine, Called Birdy


“. . . . I cannot escape my life but can only use my determination and courage to make it the best I can.”
― Karen Cushman, quote from Catherine, Called Birdy


“I have developed a rash on my body where the rough cloth rubs on my skin. I wanted to take a bath, thinking that the dirt on my skin made the rash worse, but the bathing tub has been turned upside down and is being used as an extra table in the kitchen and i cannot have it until spring, so I just spread goose grease on my rash. The dogs are following me everywhere.”
― Karen Cushman, quote from Catherine, Called Birdy



“Just as a river by night shines with the reflected light of the moon, so too do you shine with the light of your family, your people, and your God. So you are never far from home, never alone, wherever you go.”
― Karen Cushman, quote from Catherine, Called Birdy


“My mother makes the best cider in Lincolnshire. She swears it is because she always includes a number of rotten apples in the mix. I was wondering if this could be true of people - if the world needs a few rotten people to make the sweetest mix. This would explain the problem of God allowing evil in the world.”
― Karen Cushman, quote from Catherine, Called Birdy


“I cannot be a monk, nor a crusader, nor a tumbler. I must stay here and hem sheets until I die. My humors are greatly out of balance. I prescribe for myself wormwood and spiced wine and some of the custard left from supper, and I will let all of the dogs sleep in my bed.”
― Karen Cushman, quote from Catherine, Called Birdy


“More lady-lessons. It is impossible to do all and be all a lady must be and not tie oneself in a knot. A lady must walk erect with dignity, looking straight before her with eyelids low, gazing at the ground ahead, neither trotting nor running nor looking about nor laughing nor stopping to chatter. Her hands must be folded below her cloak while at the same time lifting her dress from the floor while at the same time hiding her mouth if her smile is unattractive or her teeth yellow. A lady must have six hands!”
― Karen Cushman, quote from Catherine, Called Birdy


“Corpus bones, I thought. To be wedded to this perfumed prig with his mouth in a knot and a frown always on his face!”
― Karen Cushman, quote from Catherine, Called Birdy



About the author

Karen Cushman
Born place: in Chicago, Illinois, The United States
Born date October 4, 2018
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“Everyone is asleep. They've all been asleep for years. You seemed ... awake.' Alex is whispering now. He closes his eyes, opens them again.'I'm tired of sleeping.”
― Lauren Oliver, quote from Delirium


“It is the firstborn’s burden to unravel the knots that younger brothers make.”
― Wally Lamb, quote from I Know This Much Is True


“Of course." He picked up the brown bag of candy on the table. "What's your . . ." He trailed off as he weighed the bag in his hands. "Didn't I give you three pounds of candy?"
She smiled impishly.
"You ate half the bag!"
"Was I supposed to save it?"
"I would have liked some!"
"You never told me that."
"Because I didn't expect you to consume all of it before breakfast!"
She snatched the bag from him and put it on the table. "Well, that just shows poor judgement on your part, doesn't it?”
― Sarah J. Maas, quote from Throne of Glass


“I'm rightly tired of the pain I hear and feel, boss. I'm tired of bein on the road, lonely as a robin in the rain. Not never havin no buddy to go on with or tell me where we's comin from or goin to or why. I'm tired of people bein ugly to each other. It feels like pieces of glass in my head. I'm tired of all the times I've wanted to help and couldn't. I'm tired of bein in the dark. Mostly it's the pain. There's too much. If I could end it, I would. But I can't.”
― Stephen King, quote from The Green Mile


“When you started thinking it was easy, you were forgetting what it cost.”
― Janet Fitch, quote from White Oleander


Interesting books

Secrets of a Summer Night
(40.5K)
Secrets of a Summer...
by Lisa Kleypas
Family Matters
(18.5K)
Family Matters
by Rohinton Mistry
Moonlight
(12K)
Moonlight
by Rachel Hawthorne
The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Vol 2
(75.1K)
The Complete Sherloc...
by Arthur Conan Doyle
Gates of Paradise
(12K)
Gates of Paradise
by Melissa de la Cruz
Born of Silence
(10K)
Born of Silence
by Sherrilyn Kenyon

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.