Quotes from Alice Hoffman

Isn't that what love makes you do? Go on trying even when you're through. Go on even when you're made of ash, when there's nothing left inside you but the past?

Women here in Massachusetts had been drowned and beaten and hanged, especially if they were found to have access to books other than the Bible, for the Puritans had been convinced that they alone had the ear of God.

History is personal . . . All that you are seeing is what's before you, the rest is guesswork.

Is there more to the story?" Vincent asked. "There's more to every story," his aunt told him.

I had never felt so alive as when reading.

I thought about how it was impossible to forget, no matter how hard anyone might try.

To want someone so much could be a terrible thing, or it could be the best hope a man could have.

It helped to write things down. It ordered your thoughts and if you were lucky revealed feelings you didn't know you had.

I take responsibility for the man I used to be, for I carry him with me. As strong as I am, he's a heavy burden

This was the way love walked in, barely dressed, confused, panic-stricken, overcome, not caring what anyone thought or what they believed.

Each morning when I arrive, the doves know me; their song rises and falls with pleasure and acceptance. It is always there, a river of sound.

I had heard it said that Malachi wrote so beautifully the angels came to watch, for words were the first thing God created out of the silence and were still the most beautiful of His creations.

Witches are made, not born.

She wondered if dreamers knew they were in a dream while it was happening, or if they had no idea that everything around them was purely imagined until the dream had gone.

We came like doves across the desert. In a time when there was nothing but death, we were grateful for anything, and most grateful of all when we awoke to another day.

What makes a dangerous woman, however, was not always so apparent, for what is unnoticeable to the human eye is often the most deadly attribute.

Love had to happen without any certainty, the ultimate leap of faith.

She read the color-coded series of Andrew Lang's fairy tales to her mother. They became lost in an enchanted cottage with vines growing over the window. It was dark and it was quiet and they could hear each other softly breathing. Every story had the same message: what was deep inside could only be deciphered by someone who understood how easily a heart could be broken.

Lust was a story I knew. There were many women I took to bed for the night. I yearned for them in the moment, but in the morning, any lover I'd had was already claimed by the past, even if she was still calling my name.

From the very start, Sally has been lying to herself, telling herself she can handle anything, and she doesn't want to lie anymore. One more lie and she'll be truly lost. One more and she'll never find her way back through the woods.

I wondered if all creatures were drawn to what was dangerous or if we merely wanted light at any cost and were willing to burn for our desires.

When a star reaches for you, it is difficult to look away.

Who but a fool would stay in one place and butt her head against the same window time and again?

I hope you're happy, she said to Mrs. James. Happiness is for fools. Helena James shrugged. So I wish that for you.