# Spinning Silver

- Author: [Naomi Novik](https://www.leafyquotes.com/naomi-novik.md)
- Quotes: 10
- Book page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/naomi-novik/spinning-silver

## Quotes

> But I had not known that I was strong enough to do any of those things until they were over and I had done them. I had to do the work first, not knowing.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/naomi-novik/spinning-silver/but-i-had.md)

> The only thing that had ever done me any good in my father’s house was thinking: no one had cared what I wanted, or whether I was happy. I’d had to find my own way to anything I wanted. I’d never been grateful for that before now, when what I wanted was my life.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/naomi-novik/spinning-silver/the-only-thing.md)

> A power claimed and challenged and thrice carried out is true

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/naomi-novik/spinning-silver/a-power-claimed.md)

> A robber who steals a knife and cuts himself cannot cry out against the woman who kept it sharp.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/naomi-novik/spinning-silver/a-robber-who.md)

> But the world I wanted wasn't the world I lived in, and if I would do nothing until I could repair every terrible thing at once, I would do nothing forever.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/naomi-novik/spinning-silver/but-the-world.md)

> A crowd of women around me doing the ocean of women’s work that never subsided and never changed and always swallowed whatever time you gave it and wanted more, another hungry body of water. I submerged into it like a ritual bath and let it close over my head gladly.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/naomi-novik/spinning-silver/a-crowd-of-women.md)

> She was safe for another moment, one more moment, and all of life was only moments, after all.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/naomi-novik/spinning-silver/she-was-safe.md)

> Thrice, mortal maiden,” in a rhyme almost like a song, “Thrice you shall turn silver to gold for me, or be changed to ice yourself.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/naomi-novik/spinning-silver/thrice-mortal-maiden.md)

> Of course I was afraid. But I had learned to fear other things more: being despised, whittled down one small piece of myself at a time, smirked at and taken advantage of. I put my chin up and said, as cold as I could be in answer, “And what will you give me in return?

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/naomi-novik/spinning-silver/of-course-i-was.md)

> I am not your subject or your servant, and if you want a cowering mouse for a wife, go find someone else who can turn silver to gold for you.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/naomi-novik/spinning-silver/i-am-not.md)