Quotes about witch

A collection of quotes on the topic of witch, likeness, doing, herring.

Quotes about witch

“One should hasten to put such witches to death.”

Martin Luther (1483–1546) seminal figure in Protestant Reformation

Statement of 20 August 1538; as quoted in Conversations With Martin Luther (1915), translated and edited by Preserved Smith and Herbert Percival Gallinger, p. 163

Death

“Children don't read to find their identity, to free themselves from guilt, to quench the thirst for rebellion or to get rid of alienation. They have no use for psychology… They still believe in God, the family, angels, devils, witches, goblins, logic, clarity, punctuation, and other such obsolete stuff… When a book is boring, they yawn openly. They don't expect their writer to redeem humanity, but leave to adults such childish illusions.”

Isaac Bashevis Singer (1902–1991) Polish-born Jewish-American author

Nobel lecture as quoted in The Observer (17 December 1978) Variant: "They still believe in God, the family, angels, witches, goblins, logic, clarity, punctuation, and other obsolete stuff."

God, Children, Books, Family

“Witches aren’t like that. We live in harmony with the great cycles of Nature, and do no harm to anyone, and it’s wicked of them to say we don’t. We ought to fill their bones with hot lead.”

Terry Pratchett book Wyrd Sisters

Source: Wyrd Sisters

Nature

“I’m not superstitious. I’m a witch. Witches aren’t superstitious. We are what people are superstitious of.”

Terry Pratchett book Wintersmith

Source: Wintersmith

People

“Any fool could be a witch with a runic knife, but it took skill to be one with an apple corer.”

Terry Pratchett book Carpe Jugulum

Source: Carpe Jugulum

Fools

“Witches were a bit like cats. They didn’t much like one another’s company, but they did like to know where all the other witches were, just in case they needed them.”

Terry Pratchett book A Hat Full of Sky

Source: A Hat Full of Sky

Cats

“His sister had been sent down to the village to ask Mistress Garlick the witch how you stopped spelling recommendation.”

Terry Pratchett book Guards! Guards!

Source: Guards! Guards!

Sister

“Verence would rather cut his own leg off than put a witch in prison, since it'd save trouble in the long run and probably be less painful.”

Terry Pratchett book Lords and Ladies

Source: Lords and Ladies

Pain

“Most witches don’t believe in gods. They know that the gods exist, of course. They even deal with them occasionally. But they don’t believe in them. They know them too well. It would be like believing in the postman.”

Terry Pratchett book Witches Abroad

Source: Witches Abroad

God

“Blessings be on this house," Granny said, perfunctorily. It was always a good opening remark for a witch. It concentrated people's minds on what other things might be on this house.”

Terry Pratchett book Witches Abroad

Source: Witches Abroad

People, Housing

“Everyone loves a witch hunt as long as it's someone else's witch being hunted.”

Walter Kirn (1962) American novelist

Love

“I’m a witch. It’s what we do. When it’s nobody else’s business, it’s my business.”

Terry Pratchett book I Shall Wear Midnight

Source: I Shall Wear Midnight

Business

“Ordinary fortune-tellers tell you what you want to happen; witches tell you what’s going to happen whether you want it to or not. Strangely enough, witches tend to be more accurate but less popular.”

Terry Pratchett book The Wee Free Men

Source: The Wee Free Men

“It's going to be painful."
"It's a fun tradition."
"So was witch-burning," Melody said. "Unless you were the witch.”

Brandon Sanderson (1975) American fantasy writer

Source: The Rithmatist

Pain

“If you really want to upset a witch, do her a favor which she has no means of repaying. The unfulfilled obligation will nag at her like a hangnail.”

Terry Pratchett book Lords and Ladies

Source: Lords and Ladies

“A witch ought never to be frightened in the darkest forest, Granny Weatherwax had once told her, because she should be sure in her soul that the most terrifying thing in the forest was her.”

Terry Pratchett book Wintersmith

Source: Wintersmith

Soul

“Most books on witchcraft will tell you that witches work naked. This is because most books on witchcraft are written by men.”

Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) English author

Source: Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch

Men, Books

“Tis "the witching time of night", / Orbed is the moon and bright, / And the stars they glisten, glisten, / Seeming with bright eyes to listen —”

John Keats (1795–1821) English Romantic poet

Star, Time, Night

“I'm not a lady, I'm a witch.”

Terry Pratchett book Equal Rites

Source: Equal Rites

“If you don't know when to be a human being, you don't know when to be a witch.”

Terry Pratchett book A Hat Full of Sky

Source: A Hat Full of Sky

“And all the stories had, somewhere, the witch. The wicked old witch.
And Tiffany had thought: Where's the evidence?”

Terry Pratchett book The Wee Free Men

Source: The Wee Free Men

“The trouble with witches is that they’ll never run away from things they really hate.

And the trouble with small furry animals in a corner is that, just occasionally, one of them’s a mongoose.”

Terry Pratchett book Witches Abroad

Source: Witches Abroad

Hate, Animals

“Granny was an old-fashioned witch. She didn’t do good for people, she did right by them.”

Terry Pratchett book Carpe Jugulum

Source: Carpe Jugulum

People, Fashion

“I know what you want. It is very stupid of you, but you shall have your way, and it will bring you to sorrow, my pretty princess. - The sea witch.”

Hans Christian Andersen book The Little Mermaid

Source: The Little Mermaid

Stupidity, Way, Princess, Sea

“I'm not the world's greatest expert, but I would have thought that the wizards, witches, trolls, unicorns,… broomsticks and spells would have given her a clue?' - when J. K. Rowling insisted she wasn't writing fantasy.”

Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) English author

World

“Since [in the Middle Ages] the psychic relation to woman was expressed in the collective worship of Mary, the image of woman lost a value to which human beings had a natural right. This value could find its natural expression only through individual choice, and it sank into the unconscious when the individual form of expression was replaced by a collective one. In the unconscious the image of woman received an energy charge that activated the archaic and infantile dominants. And since all unconscious contents, when activated by dissociated libido, are projected upon the external object, the devaluation of the real woman was compensated by daemonic features. She no longer appeared as an object of love, but as a persecutor or witch. The consequence of increasing Mariolatry was the witch hunt,. that indelible blot on the later Middle Ages.”

C.G. Jung book Psychological Types

Psychological Types (1921), CW 6. P.344

Love, Age, Nature, Appearance

“He carried with him the aura of a prophet, a magician, a witch doctor, a psychoanalyst, and a feared father of a Jewish home…. [H]e was the force that held the thirty-odd members of the theatre together, and made them permanent.”

Elia Kazan (1909–2003) Greek-American film and theatre director, film and theatrical producer, screenwriter, novelist

Elia Kazan: A Life (1988), p. 61 in the 1997 reprint
Quote about Lee Strasberg

Fear, Home

“Jim was most ruined for a servant, because he got stuck up on account of having seen the devil and been rode by witches.”

Mark Twain book Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Source: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), Ch. 2

“During many ages there were witches. The Bible said so. the Bible commanded that they should not be allowed to live. Therefore the Church, after eight hundred years, gathered up its halters, thumb-screws, and firebrands, and set about its holy work in earnest. She worked hard at it night and day during nine centuries and imprisoned, tortured, hanged, and burned whole hordes and armies of witches, and washed the Christian world clean with their foul blood. Then it was discovered that there was no such thing as witches, and never had been. One does not know whether to laugh or to cry. Who discovered that there was no such thing as a witch—the priest, the parson? No, these never discover anything. … There are no witches. The witch text remains; only the practice has changed. Hell fire is gone, but the text remains. Infant damnation is gone, but the text remains. More than two hundred death penalties are gone from the law books, but the texts that authorized them remain.”

Mark Twain (1835–1910) American author and humorist

Bible Teaching and Religious Practice http://books.google.com/books?id=sujuHO_fvJgC&pg=PA568&dq=twain+%22Bible+Teaching+and+Religious+Practice%22&cd=1#v=onepage&q=twain%20%22Bible%20Teaching%20and%20Religious%20Practice%22&f=false. "Bible Teaching and Religious Practice" (1923)

Death, Books, Age, World

“In an ordinary crime, how does one defend the accused? One calls up witnesses to prove his innocence. But witchcraft is ipso facto, on its face and by its nature, an invisible crime, is it not? Therefore, who may possibly be witness to it? The witch and the victim. None other. Now we cannot hope the witch will accuse herself; granted? Therefore, we must rely upon her victims — and they do testify, the children certainly do testify. As for the witches, none will deny that we are most eager for all their confessions. Therefore, what is left for a lawyer to bring out? I think I have made my point. Have I not?”

Arthur Miller The Crucible

Deputy Governor Danforth
The Crucible (1953)

Children, Hope, Nature, Thinking

“Paul calleth the Galatians foolish and bewitched, comparing them to children, to whom witchcraft doth much harm. As though he should say: It happeneth to you as it doth to children, whom witches, sorcerers, and enchanters are wont to charm by their enchantments, and by the illusions of the devil. Afterwards, in the fifth chapter, he rehearseth sorcery among the works of the flesh, which is a kind of witchcraft, whereby he plainly testifieth, that indeed such witchcraft and sorcery there is, and that it may be done. Moreover, it cannot be denied but that the devil, yea, and reigneth throughout the whole world. Witchcraft and sorceru therefore are the works of the devil; whereby he doth not only hurt men, but also, by the permission of God, he sometimes destroyeth them. Furthermore, we are all subject to the devil, both in body and goods; and we be strangers in this world, whereof he is the prince and god. Therefore the bread which we eat, the drink which we drink, the garments which we wear, yea, the air, and whatsoever we live by in the flesh is under his dominion.”

Martin Luther (1483–1546) seminal figure in Protestant Reformation

A Commentary on St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians https://books.google.com/books?id=zeCWncYgGOgC&pg=PA37&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=3#v=onepage&q&f=false by Martin Luther, Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Tischer, Samuel Simon Schmucker Chapter 3, p. 286 Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians (1535)

Men, God, Children, World

“Do you believe then that the sciences would have arisen and grown up if the sorcerers, alchemists, astrologers and witches had not been their forerunners; those who, with their promisings and foreshadowings, had first to create a thirst, a hunger, and a taste for hidden and forbidden powers?”

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German philosopher, poet, composer, cultural critic, and classical philologist

Variant translation: Do you believe then that the sciences would ever have arisen and become great if there had not beforehand been magicians, alchemists, astrologers and wizards, who thirsted and hungered after abscondite and forbidden powers?
Sec. 300
The Gay Science (1882)

Hunger, Science

“August 25, 1538, the conversation fell upon witches who spoil milk, eggs, and butter in farm yards. Dr. Luther said: “I should have no compassion on these witches; I would burn all of them. We read in the old law, that the priests threw the first stone at such malefactors, `Tis said this stolen butter turns rancid, and falls to the ground when any one goes to eat it. He who attempts to counteract and chastise these witches, is himself corporally plagued and tormented by their master, the devil. Sundry schoolmasters and ministers have often experienced this. Our ordinary sins offend and anger God. What, then, must be his wrath against witchcraft, which we may justly designate high treason against divine majesty, a revolt against the infinite power of God. The jurisconsults who have so learnedly and pertinently treated of rebellion, affirm that the subject who rebels against his sovereign, is worthy of death. Does not witchcraft, then, merit death, which is a revolt of the creature against the Creator, a denial to God of the authority it accords to the demon?””

Martin Luther (1483–1546) seminal figure in Protestant Reformation

Statement of 25 August 1538, in Table-Talk, as translated by William Hazlitt (1857), DLXXVII

Death, God, Law, Reading

“Although the most acute judges of the witches and even the witches themselves, were convinced of the guilt of witchery, the guilt nevertheless was non-existent. It is thus with all guilt.”

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German philosopher, poet, composer, cultural critic, and classical philologist

As translated in The Portable Nietzsche (1954) by Walter Kaufmann, p. 96

“Getting the call to be in The Goblet of Fire was like being welcomed into the most exclusive upper circle of some elite actors' club. You sit on set with the cream of the National Theatre and the RSC, all clutching wands or wearing witches' hats.”

David Tennant (1971) Scottish actor

Radio Times (16-22 July 2011)

“Hale: Here is all the invisible world, caught, defined, and calculated. In these books the Devil stands stripped of all his brute disguises. Here are all your familiar spirits — your incubi and succubi; your witches that go by land, by air, and by sea; your wizards of the night and of the day. Have no fear now — we shall find him out if he has come among us, and I mean to crush him utterly if he has shown his face!
Rebecca: Will it hurt the child, sir?
Hale: I cannot tell. If she is truly in the Devil's grip we may have to rip and tear to get her free.”

Arthur Miller The Crucible

The Crucible (1953)

Books, World, Fear, Tear

“The hostess is our modern Sibyl. She is a witch who lays her guests under a spell.”

Virginia Woolf book Orlando: A Biography

Source: Orlando: A Biography (1928), Ch. 4
Context: The hostess is our modern Sibyl. She is a witch who lays her guests under a spell. In this house they think themselves happy; in that witty; in a third profound. It is all an illusion (which is nothing against it, for illusions are the most valuable and necessary of all things, and she who can create one is among the world's greatest benefactors), but as it is notorious that illusions are shattered by conflict with reality, so no real happiness, no real wit, no real profundity are tolerated where the illusion prevails.

“All the wild witches, those most noble ladies,
For all their broom-sticks and their tears,
Their angry tears, are gone.”

W.B. Yeats (1865–1939) Irish poet and playwright

Lines Written In Dejection http://poetry.poetryx.com/poems/1524/, st. 1 The Wild Swans at Coole (1919) Context: When have I last looked on The round green eyes and the long wavering bodies Of the dark leopards of the moon? All the wild witches, those most noble ladies, For all their broom-sticks and their tears, Their angry tears, are gone.

Tear

“One never learns how the witch became wicked, or whether that was the right choice for her~is it ever the right choice? Does the devil ever struggle to be good again, or if so is he not a devil?”

Gregory Maguire book Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West

Source: Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West

Learning

“Going so soon? I wouldn't hear of it. Why my little party's just beginning.
~ Wicked Witch of the West Wizard of Oz”

L. Frank Baum book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Source: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

“A werewolf tossed me against a giant packing crate while I was trying to rescue a frightened young girl who'd been kidnapped by an evil witch and a drug lord.”

Patricia Briggs book Moon Called

Source: Moon Called

Girl, Evil

“She stood slim and proud as some medieval witch princess against dawn.”

L.J. Smith (1965) American author

Source: The Passion

Princess

“At the word witch, we imagine the horrible old crones from Macbeth. But the cruel trials witches suffered teach us the opposite. Many perished precisely because they were young and beautiful.”

André Breton book Anthology of Black Humor

Source: Anthology of Black Humor

Beauty, Imagination, Suffering

“A boy got a splinter in his eye, and his heart turned cold. Only two people noticed. One was a witch, and she took him for her own. The other was his best friend. And she went after him in ill-considered shoes, brave and completely unprepared.”

Anne Ursu (1900) American writer

Source: Breadcrumbs

People, Shoe, Boy, Heart

“I know of witches who whistle at different pitches, calling things that don't have names.”

Helen Oyeyemi (1984) British author

Source: White is for Witching

“Women are impossible, witches are worse, and women who are powerful witches are going to be the death of me.”

Cate Tiernan (1961) American novelist

Source: Seeker

Death, Women

“The Oracle rose. As one, the three witches bowed.
"See?" Bran jerked his thumb at the three women. "That's how a woman should treat a man. Next time you see me, I want you to do just like them.”

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

Source: Magic Burns

Women, Jerk, Time

“You're so nice. You're not good, you're not bad, You're just nice. I'm not good, I'm not nice, I'm just right. I'm the witch. You're the world.”

Stephen Sondheim (1930) American composer and lyricist

Source: Into the Woods

World

“This is the worst problem with living history museums. They always leave the best parts out. Like typhus. And opium. And scarlet letters. Shunning. Witch-burning.”

Chuck Palahniuk book Choke

Source: Choke

History, Problem, Parting

“She was only a year old, but elves grew up fast. Not like witches, who Jenks swore were not able to be on their own until they were thirty. Ahem.”

Kim Harrison (1966) Pseudonym

Source: Ever After

“We're like the wicked witch. We promise gingerbread, then eat the little brats alive.”

Orson Scott Card book Ender's Game

Variant: We’re the wicked witch. We promise gingerbread, but we eat the little bastards alive.
Source: Ender's Game

“Witch, scholar, poet, dreamer, and the rest…”

Elizabeth Barrett Browning book Aurora Leigh

Source: Aurora Leigh

“Got your text,” he said when I climbed out. “How much did it hurt?”
“Not at all,” I said. “Apparently, I can’t get a tattoo because I’m a witch.”
“I could have told them-” He stopped. “Oh, you said witch.”
“Ha-ha.”

Kelley Armstrong The Gathering

Source: The Gathering

Tattoo, Hurt

“My world, my world… How can such a good little girl like you destroy all of my beautiful wickedness.
- Wicket Witch of the North”

L. Frank Baum book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Source: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

World, Beauty, Girl

“All the way up the river she's been holding back somehow, waiting. Now you'll both have to wait. I'm not going to disappoint her, Kit. When I take you on board the Witch, it's going to be for keeps.”

Elizabeth George Speare book The Witch of Blackbird Pond

Source: The Witch of Blackbird Pond

Disappointment, Way, Waiting

“Witch, do this for me,
Find me a moon
made of longing.
Then cut it sliver thin,
and having cut it,
hang it high
above my beloved's house,
so that she may look up
tonight
and see it,
and seeing it, sigh for me
as I sigh for her,
moon or no moon.”

Clive Barker (1952) author, film director and visual artist

Housing

“I lost nothing I regret losing," Witch said softly. "I am what I want to be.”

Anne Bishop (1955) American fiction writer

Source: Dreams Made Flesh

“A Witch is born out of the true hungers of her time,” she said. “I was born out of New York. The things that are most wrong here summoned me. ("Drink Entire: Against The Madness Of Crowds")”

Ray Bradbury book Long After Midnight

Source: Long After Midnight

Hunger, Drink, Time, Madness

“And there the wicked witch stayed for a long long time.'
Did she ever come out?'
Not yet.”

Gregory Maguire (1954) Novelist

Time

“Loads of children read books about dinosaurs, underwater monsters, dragons, witches, aliens, and robots. Essentially, the people who read SF, fantasy and horror haven't grown out of enjoying the strange and weird.”

China Miéville (1972) English writer

Children, People, Books, Reading

“In the town live witches nine: three in worsted, three in rags, and three in velvet fine…”

Celia Rees (1949) English author

Source: Witch Child

“Rachel, my itchy witch," Al said as he tugged the lace at his cuffs. "We've talked about this. You simply must stop collecting nasty little men. How many do you really need, love?”

Kim Harrison (1966) Pseudonym

Source: Black Magic Sanction

Love, Men

“Come on, Rachel!" Jenks shrilled. "You're a badass, not a bad witch!”

Kim Harrison (1966) Pseudonym

Source: Pale Demon

“Was it weird having a witch grandma? Scary? Was she always, like, threatening to cast spells if you were bad?"
"Most of the time she just threatened to send me to my room."
"That doesn't sound so scary to me."
"That's because you haven't met her.”

Richelle Mead Shadow Kiss

Source: Shadow Kiss

Time, Grandma

“You have such interesting thoughts. No wonder witches are ephemeral. You drive yourself crazy. You should simply do what you want without the soul-searching. It will be easier in the long run, Rachel Mariana Morgan.”

Kim Harrison (1966) Pseudonym

Soul, Search

“One doesn’t become a witch to run around being harmful, or to run around being helpful either, a district visitor on a broomstick. It’s to escape all that - to have a life of one’s own, not an existence doled out to by others.”

Sylvia Townsend Warner book Lolly Willowes

Source: Lolly Willowes

Life, Help

“When she listened to songs that she loved on the radio, something stirred inside her. A liquid ache spread under her skin, and she walked out of the world like a witch.”

Arundhati Roy book The God of Small Things

Source: The God of Small Things

Love, World

“Jean-Luc glanced at the coach. "Who is that man? What is that machine?"
"It's a dunking booth."
"Ah, I understand." Jean-Luc nodded. "If he dose not drown, then he is a witch"
"No, he's just a creep. It's a game.”

Kerrelyn Sparks (1955) American writer

Source: The Undead Next Door

Game, Understanding

“Witches don’t just quit”

Joanne Harris (1964) British author

The Girl with No Shadow

“The witching hour, somebody had once whispered to her, was a special moment in the middle of the night when every child and every grown-up was in a deep deep sleep, and all the dark things came out from hiding and had the world all to themselves.”

Roald Dahl The BFG

Source: The BFG

World, Sleep, Night

“… I do have to wonder what sort of childhood the Grimm brothers endured. They are not a merry bunch of storytellers, what with their children roasted by witches, maidens poisoned by old crones, and whatnot.”

Libba Bray book Rebel Angels

Source: Rebel Angels

Children, Childhood

“I'm not witch. I'm your wife.”

William Goldman book The Princess Bride

Source: The Princess Bride

“Well then," Faye said. "Now that you've heard our story, we have just one question to ask you." She fixed Cassie with an odd half smile and said in a sweet, false voice, "Are you planning to be a good witch or a bad witch?”

L.J. Smith book The Initiation

Source: The Initiation

Smile, Question, Falseness

“Oh my God. You're a witch-hunter. I'm a witch. Hate to break it to you Daniel, but if you're a witch-hunter? You're doing it wrong."
He gave me a sidelong smile. "Maybe it's not that kind of hunting."
"Then you're definitely doing it wrong.”

Kelley Armstrong The Gathering

Source: The Gathering

God, Hate, Smile

“No' is golden. 'No' is the kind of power the good witch wields. It's the way whole, healthy, emotionally evolved people manage to have relationships with jackasses while limiting the amount of jackass in their lives.”

Cheryl Strayed book Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar

Source: Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar

People, Way

“Women. You tell me they're not all witches, and I'll tell you you haven't been paying attention.”

Charlie Huston book Joe Pitt Casebooks

Every Last Drop, Character: Joe Pitt (narration)
Joe Pitt Casebooks

Women

“Al was standing a bare three feet away, his mood almost jovial as he took the paper and it vanished in a wash of black sparkles.

“Thank you, Rachel,” he said, carefully reaching for my hand as Trent stiffened.

“Welcome back, my itchy witch.”

Kim Harrison (1966) Pseudonym

Source: A Perfect Blood

Mood

“Pulling heads off Barbies, sticking them on the TV antenna and ruining the reception. But thats how witch babies are.”

Francesca Lia Block (1962) American children's writer

Baby

“Fuckhead:
The name’s MariKETA.
Go to hell,
The WITCH, doing a creepy spell somewhere right now.”

Kresley Cole American writer

Source: Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night

Hell

“It would ha' been a good deal easier, if ye'd only been a witch.”

Diana Gabaldon (1952) American author

Variant: Aye, I believe ye, Sassenach. But it would ha’ been a good deal easier if you’d only been a witch.
Source: The Exile: An Outlander Graphic Novel

“Sir Beldevere: What makes you think she's a witch?
Peasant 3: Well, she turned me into a newt!
Sir Beldevere: A newt?
Peasant 3: [meekly after a long pause]… I got better.
Crowd: [shouts] Burn her anyway!”

Graham Chapman (1941–1989) English comedian, writer and actor

Source: Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Book): Mønti Pythøn Ik Den Hølie Gräilen

Thinking

“How long have you been a Wiccan?'
'A what?'
'A pagan. A witch.'
'I'm not a witch,' I said, glancing out the door. 'I'm a wizard.'
Sanya frowned. 'What is the difference?'
'Wizard has a Z'
He looked at me blankly.
'No one appreciates me.' I muttered.”

Jim Butcher book Death Masks

Source: Death Masks

“Oh, for Thor's sake…" said Hiccup. "I thought that was just a story…"
"Stories come from somewhere," said the witch. "The past haunts the present in more ways than we realise.”

Cressida Cowell book How to Break a Dragon's Heart

Source: How to Break a Dragon's Heart

Way, Past

“The first time I called myself a 'Witch' was the most magical moment of my life.”

Margot Adler (1946–2014) author, Neopagan, and National Public Radio reporter

Source: Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America

Life, Time

“I hate witches. Humans had the right idea, burning them at the stake.”

Charlaine Harris book Dead to the World

Source: Dead to the World

Hate, Idea

“We are all subject to the fates. But we must all act as if we are not,” said the witch, “or die of despair.”

Philip Pullman book Northern Lights

Source: His Dark Materials, The Golden Compass (1995), Ch. 18 : Fog and Ice

Fate, Despair

“So you were going to rescue the Prince! Why did you pretend to run away? To deceive the Witch?"

"Not likely! I'm a coward. Only way I can do something this frightening is to tell myself I'm not doing it!”

Diana Wynne Jones book Howl's Moving Castle

Source: Howl's Moving Castle

Way

“You two. You can do a cleaning spell."
One slurred, "But Nixie, I'm really pre-hung-over."
Nix's eyes went wide. "Do it, or the photos go live!"
The witch shook her fist to the sky, crying, "Damn you, Valkyrie! Damn you and your digital ways!”

Kresley Cole American writer

Source: Kiss of a Demon King

Way, Photo, Cry

“I inhabit the wax image of myself, a doll's body. Sickness begins here; I am a dartboard for witches.”

Sylvia Plath (1932–1963) American poet, novelist and short story writer

“And she would not hold back his limbs when his heart was gone to the woods, for it is ever the way of witches with any two things to care for the more mysterious of the two.”

Lord Dunsany book The King of Elfland's Daughter

Source: The King of Elfland's Daughter

Way, Heart

“nix: "Do it, or the pictures go live!"

Witch shakes her fist at the sky, crying, "Damn you, Valkyrie! Damn you and your digital ways!”

Kresley Cole American writer

Source: Kiss of a Demon King

Way, Cry

“Perhaps I am the only person who, asked whether she were a witch or not, could truthfully say, "I do not know. I do know some very strange things have happened to me, or through me."

Lady Alice Rowhedge”

Norah Lofts (1904–1983) British writer

Source: Bless This House

Personality

“She brooded and bit her rich lips: my soul began its first sink into her, deep, heady, lost; like drowning in a witches' brew, Keltic, sorcerous, starlike.”

Jack Kerouac book Maggie Cassidy

Source: Maggie Cassidy

Soul

“To me, a witch is a woman that is capable of letting her intuition take hold of her actions, that communes with her environment, that isn't afraid of facing challenges.”

Paulo Coelho (1947) Brazilian lyricist and novelist

Communication

“The earliest authority was the word of the strongest warrior, the head of the family or the tribe, the medicine man or the witch doctor.”

Kirby Page (1890–1957) American clergyman

Source: Something More, A Consideration of the Vast, Undeveloped Resources of Life (1920), p. 28

Family

“There were only four witches in all the Land of Oz, and two of them, those who live in the North and the South, are good witches.”

L. Frank Baum book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900)
Context: There were only four witches in all the Land of Oz, and two of them, those who live in the North and the South, are good witches. I know this is true, for I am one of them myself, and cannot be mistaken. Those who dwelt in the East and the West were, indeed, wicked witches; but now that you have killed one of them, there is but one Wicked Witch in all the Land of Oz — the one who lives in the West.