7 Quotes & Sayings By Emma Bull

Emma Bull is the author of more than twenty novels, including the popular "magical realism" series Iron Council, which was a finalist for the National Book Award. Bull's first novel, The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter, was named one of the best books of 1996 by The Washington Post. Her most recent novel is Iron Council. Her short fiction has appeared in numerous publications, including The New Yorker.

1
I’ve told you that I’m a tricksy wight, and I am, my sweet. But there are those in the Seelie Court who would make me seem a very perfect knight. Emma Bull
2
Every motion she made was slow, as if she’d never before put her arms around a man, and didn’t know for certain where everything fit. When at last they were pressed close, she didn’t think she’d know how to let go when the time came. They summarized the course of passion with kisses: a chaste, half-frightened brush of the lips metamorphosed into something fierce and fast-burning, which in its turn became a more patient, more intimate touch, full of inquiry and shared pleasure. Emma Bull
3
Sex without love is like a goddamn business transaction. And sometimes both parties feel as if they got a good deal, but that doesn't make it any less so. Emma Bull
4
She lifted her head. "It's easier, " she said, slowly, "to be angry on someone else's behalf than on my own. And yet I find I have a well of anger in me, that I have been filling for years from my own hurts. If I spill it out in defense of another, I can deny it's mine. Emma Bull
5
Here's what I think I'm having trouble with: this is what happiness is. When I was a kid, I thought I'd just get happier and happier as I got older, and have more things to be happy about. I based this theory on observation of select adults. The problem with my results is that I couldn't tell the difference then between happy and fake-happy. Now I know you pretend to be just frigging ecstatic over everything, maybe because you're so glad it's not worse. Emma Bull
6
Coincidence is the word we use when we can't see the levers and pulleys. Emma Bull