"“One or the other of us said 'I can't,' and if it was me I don't know why because I wanted to. Maybe I'm just remembering it wrongly to help me get over the rejection.”"

"“I examined the portraits nearest to me but couldn't get past the sensation that here was the same man over and over, crouched in old boxes, readying himself to spit on my plate.”"

"“His heavy eyebrows lowered and he made some small, involuntary gesture with his hand that was recognisably superstitious, as if the words 'God forbid' had flowed into his body.”"

"“She had had such a strong feeling that she needed to talk to someone who would tell her some secret that would make everything alright. She had been unable to think who it was.”"

"'But what will I do for a whole year?'"

"I also love books of people learning to do this like going to ballet school, or how to ride horses. There's just something about the process and setback's it's very interesting."

"“And other times—too often, maybe—I don't dare have an opinion in case it upsets anyone.”"

"“Her heart's breaking. It breaks three times a week on account of people treating her so badly, and she knows that all you can do is laugh it off.”"

"“A song called 'Earth Angel' played in her head all morning—also three trumpets and a piano.”"

"“She won't forget or recover, she is inconsolable.”"

"“Easy to see the solution when you're not in the story, isn't it.”"

"“Maybe she was not really like that. It's just that I would prefer you to think that what happened to her was justified.”"

"“She is a double danger—there is the danger of meeting her, and the danger of becoming her. Does the nightmare of her belong to everyone, or just to me?”"

"“As always, the soucouyant seemed more lonely than bad. Maybe that was her trick, her ability to make it so you couldn't decide if she was a monster.”"

"“I love sleeping. Waking is more and more hateful the older I get. I say this as if I've lived too long. I'm twenty-two.”"

"“I was so jealous it burned, and I knew I had to let it alone or I'd break something inside me.”"

"The only way to try and interrogate or possibly persuade stories to reveal something about themselves is to make all these provocations and assaults on them, and try and unpack them and unpick their seams and see if they react."

"“The whole thing was so intense, so full of hurt that when I look back at it I squint. I want it forgotten.”"

"“Love. I'm not capable of it, can't even approach it from the side, let alone head-on. Nor am I alone in this—everyone is like this, the liars. Singing songs and painting pictures and telling each other stories about love and its mysteries and marvelous properties, myths to keep morale up—maybe one day it'll materialize. But I can say it ten times a day, a hundred times, 'I love you,' to anyone and anything, to a woman, to a pair of pruning shears. I've said it without meaning it at all, taken love's name in vain and gone dismally unpunished. Love will never be real, or if it is, it has no power. No power. There's only covetousness, and if what we covet can't be won with gentle words—and often it can't—then there is force.”"

"What is the meaning of it? Three creaks, three weeks? If she comes back for her shoes in three days, then I only need to empty them another three times. If it really is three weeks that were meant, what then. If three months, what then. Three years. That's why I had to write it down now. By then I may no longer believe I heard anything in Miri's room.”"

"“It was like dancing with a mask that was attached to a stick—she dared not lower it, no matter how tiring it was to hold the mask up. She was the ugly girl at the ball.”"

"“She thought I hadn't seen her, but she's no good at hiding her intentions. She can't help tiptoeing around with a finger to her lips at key moments.”"

"The water was so cold on her skin that it felt dry.”"

""You don’t return people’s smiles—it’s perfectly clear to you that people can smile and smile and still be villains." Boy, Snow, Bird (2014) p 8"

""Her heart was heavy because it was open, and so things filled it, and so things rushed out of it, but still the heart kept beating, tough and frighteningly powerful and meaning to shrug off the rest of her and continue on its own”. Mr Fox (2011) p 171"

""Please tell me a story about a girl who gets away." I would, even if I had to adapt one, even if I had to make one up just for her. "Gets away from what, though?" "From her fairy godmother. From the happy ending that isn't really happy at all. Please have her get out and run off of the page altogether, to somewhere secret where words like 'happy' and 'good' will never find her." "You don't want her to be happy and good?" "I'm not sure what's really meant by happy and good. I would like her to be free. Now. Please begin." White for Witching (2010) p 165"

"“...a place can live in you without letting you know about it for the longest time.” Parasol Against the Axe (2024)"

"”Jess shrank, her arms raised protectively over her head in anticipation of another blow. Her dad spoke tentatively from behind her: ‘Sarah, I was handling that ...’" (Page 326)"

"I laugh again not in humour at the seeming punishment of the staffs who participated in the padding of our 2016 budget."

"Please do not push your luck in challenging the status quo or seeking to insist on your high ground, it is a proven means of soliciting for your middle name."

"What we fail to realize as humans is that our world may be large, but we’re all just in a small cup,” she said. “What affects one person affects every single one of us."

"What got me really enraged was the fact our government hadn’t said a word because they didn’t believe the girls were taken,” she said. “They didn’t say anything until about 19 days after."

"They’re not girls who have social status. Their parents are not economically well off, she said. “But I can tell you, if any one of those girls belonged to a government official, they’d be found."

"As a religious person, you are subject to the commandment of God and as a Nigerian, you are subject to the laws of the land whether you like it."

"I’m disgusted when I hear some of our current public officials excuse their non-performance on Sabotage."

"All these terrorist groups are walking around with the same agenda. They may believe differently, but it’s the same agenda. They’re anti-all of us."

"I would want to see women go actively into politics, and by politics, I do not mean by appointment alone. I will like to see women run for office so that they can be in a better position to effect more change as against just being appointed into political offices, which is good in itself."

"Children who learnt bullying from home and their peers will eventually be shielded by their parents and where they cannot justify the actions of their wards, they will ferry them to safety."

"My doctor would laugh at me and would assure me there was no issue with us. I lost hope in IUI and I was ready for IVF, then my miraculous conception came."

"People judge me base on the roles although I have some atom of it because I don’t take a shit. I won’t deny it on air because I’m trying to look good and I am too blunt which is why people have problems with me."

"Really, I’m a blunt person and I have a low tolerance. I don’t like negativity and that is part of me so while I’m growing, I’m growing to start being accommodating more, I’m growing to start loving more so."

"You can see the way I’m talking now, it seems as if we are fighting but that is how my voice is and the roles I play in movies don’t help the situation at all because people judge me by the roles I play."

"“I don’t drag maturity, I am that immature happy soul”"

"I wanted to rest after marriage before conception and boom “my supposed rest “finished, no conception."

"I am not doing again! This “diplomatic” thing is sometimes draining."

"“I wish I could explain the anger and the sadness through those little times of waiting but just one day, I forgot all."

"For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to be a "Broadway actress." I think I came out of the womb singing and dancing, and performing was the one thing I always had my heart set on."

"I don't think light-skinned actresses are favored because they are light-skinned. I feel like you have to possess talent. You need to have the drive and you need to have God on your side. You need to earn that and not really about you being light-skinned or any complexion."

"I'm light-skinned and it is obvious. I get asked a lot of times if I feel being light-skinned contributed to the success of me being an established actress. No! It is wrong and I will tell you why; because I feel like you get to a certain place obviously because God permitted it. He put you there and because you are determined and because you have the talent."