Shtum Quotes

Cold, I was, like snow, like ivory. I thought "He will not touch me", but he did. He kissed my stone-cool lips. I lay still as though I’d died. He stayed. He thumbed my marbled eyes. He spoke - blunt endearments, what he’d do and how. His words were terrible. My ears were sculpture, stone-deaf shells. I heard the sea. I drowned him out. I heard him shout. He brought me presents, polished pebbles, little bells. I didn’t blink, was dumb. He brought me pearls and necklaces and rings. He called them girly things. He ran his clammy hands along my limbs. I didn’t shrink, played statue, shtum. He let his fingers sink into my flesh, he squeezed, he pressed. I would not bruise. He looked for marks, for purple hearts, for inky stars, for smudgy clues. His nails were claws. I showed no scratch, no scrape, no scar. He propped me up on pillows, jawed all night. My heart was ice, was glass. His voice was gravel, hoarse. He talked white black. So I changed tack, grew warm, like candle wax, kissed back, was soft, was pliable, began to moan, got hot, got wild, arched, coiled, writhed, begged for his child, and at the climax screamed my head off - all an act. And haven’t seen him since. Simple as that

Words become meaningless if you don’t tell your truth and they become weapons if you try to tell someone else theirs.

If you have one foot in the past and the other in the future, you piss on the present.

We’ve explained how this works. It has to work this way to keep the people we love safe. You have to trust that we’re doing all we can and keep shtum.

Pretending”,' she looked at the garden, 'is not the truth.' 'But you said two true things, right ? One, you hate this girl. Two, you want her to feel better. If you decide that the wanting truth's more important than the hating truth, just tell her you've forgiven her, even if you haven't. At least she'd feel better. Maybe that'd make you feel better too.' Madame Crommelynck studied her hands, moodily, both sides. 'Sophistry', she pronounced. I'm not sure what 'sophistry' means so I kept shtum.

He looked at her and smiled. ‘You know, one of the things I’ve thought about in here is the fact that during your life, I may have influenced your decision-making process far too much. Because I’m too sure of my own advice, and . . . because I love you so very much.’ He reached out his hand to her, tears forming in his eyes. ‘Therefore, on this occasion, I’m going to keep shtum. You must do what you think is right. And that’s all I can say.