Delia Sherman Quotes & Sayings

The fact that I seem to prefer seals over any other animal brides is something I hadn't actually realized until this moment. Perhaps it's because there's a lot of very cool folklore about it. — Delia Sherman

Many fairy tales and ballads present us with animals who are nobler, truer, and kinder than the greedy human beings who desire to possess them. I guess I tend to read these stories as very early (and possibly unconscious) feminist texts. — Delia Sherman

His mama beat him with an ugly stick so hard, it gone straight on till his soul. — Delia Sherman

I think happy, companionate marriages between men and women who respect each other (as far as is consistent with being actual human beings) should be every bit as poetry-worthy as angst, bitterness, and shame. — Delia Sherman

Mam said I was growing up. I felt that I was dying. — Delia Sherman

Poetry, for me, conveys the essence of narrative rather than its particulars. — Delia Sherman

What was the good of dreaming of adventure if you turned your back on the first one that came your way? — Delia Sherman

Aren't we most aware of our animal natures when love or hunger or hatred burns through reason and encourages us to do exactly what we desire to do, with frequently tragic results? — Delia Sherman

Not all animal brides are doomed. Not all men are greedy or violent or possessive. — Delia Sherman

All my life I have written letters - to our mother, our relatives, a wide circle of friends and acquaintance, to my husband, to you. Correspondence has always been as necessary to my happiness as a well-cooked dinner, and I've found it more sustaining for its generosity: an act of charity that returned to me a hundredfold ... — Delia Sherman

I can't rhyme for little green apples. What I can do is scan and make patterns. — Delia Sherman

For me, creative energy is like an old-fashioned ground-water well. When the well is dry, it's dry. I can dig all I like, and all I'll get for my pains is sore hands, some very bad prose, and maybe (if I'm lucky) a few odd droplets of notes I can actually use. Or not. It's usually not worth it. After many years, I've discovered that it's better to wait until some ground water seeps back into the well rather than to try and lick up every drop as it emerges. — Delia Sherman

I've always loved stories of animals and birds that can appear to be human, just by taking off their skins or their feathers. — Delia Sherman

I love the idea of species fluidity, I guess, the sense of the maiden inherent in the swan or seal, the youth inherent in the bear or deer. After all, human beings are animals. — Delia Sherman