Sydney J. Shields > Quotes

“What is so wrong about being a bitch? It is the closest a girl can be to a wolf.”
― Sydney J. Shields, The Honey Witch

“Is that not magical in itself? To have survived this long despite the world’s penchant for beautiful dead girls?”
― Sydney J. Shields, The Honey Witch

“These are the wild women who run barefoot through the meadow, who teach new songs to the birds, who howl at the moon together. Wild women are their own kind of magic.”
― Sydney J. Shields, The Honey Witch

“Just because she is choosing a different life path from you does not give you the right to belittle her. She’s not doing anything wrong. She’s not hurting anyone. She simply wants a little red lipstick and a nice boy to notice her.’
‘But should’t she want more for her life than that?’
‘Why any woman wants for herself is not for you to decide. You would do well to remember this.”
― Sydney J. Shields, The Honey Witch

“Well, that’s how all love works,” August says. “You can’t love anyone without the fear of losing them, without the forethought of grief. There is an inherent loss in love, but that does not mean that love is not worth it.”
― Sydney J. Shields, The Honey Witch

“But what happens when the girl keeps living, when she ages proudly and defiantly, without abandoning imagination, or stories, or that secret wish to find magic wherever it hides? Well, then the poets would call her a witch.”
― Sydney J. Shields, The Honey Witch

“It is a mistake to think of grief as an absence. It’s more of a dark, shadowy thing that sits in constant periphery, always there, always stealing air and making it hard to breathe.”
― Sydney J. Shields, The Honey Witch

“It is better to be lost in a beautiful daydream than trapped in a dim reality.”
― Sydney J. Shields, The Honey Witch

“Heartbreak is inevitable, but so is healing, so don’t be afraid to fall in love freely and often.”
― Sydney J. Shields, The Honey Witch

“Anyone can be capable of something impossible— as a witch, she must believe that.”
― Sydney J. Shields, The Honey Witch

“What any woman wants for herself is not for you to decide. You would do well to remember that.”
― Sydney J. Shields, The Honey Witch

“One day, I will be a rose. And I will plant myself somewhere so beautiful that I will never want to leave.” Her mother laughed. “And what if someone wants to pluck you?” “That is what the thorns are for,” she said.”
― Sydney J. Shields, The Honey Witch

“A Honey Witch provides women with choice—something they are all too often denied.”
― Sydney J. Shields, The Honey Witch

“Grief is often too strange and too vast to fit into words.”
― Sydney J. Shields, The Honey Witch

“She thinks of the excuse of youth — the thing that makes it okay to be so lost — and how it is slipping through her fingers with every passing year.”
― Sydney J. Shields, The Honey Witch

“One day, I will be a rose. And I will plant myself somewhere so beautiful that I will never want to leave.”
― Sydney J. Shields, The Honey Witch

“It would be a safe choice, a comfortable choice that no one could fault her for, but it does mean that every day she would have to sit in her room and look at her beige walls and wonder what could have been if she had painted them bright yellow or pink. What if she had forgone paint entirely? Or better yet, what if there were no walls at all? Only sky, sunlight, salty water, fresh rain, and spring flowers and no one else around to comment on the paint color of the walls.”
― Sydney J. Shields, The Honey Witch

“Who made this rule that people cannot have everything that they want, all at once?”
― Sydney J. Shields, The Honey Witch

“She is terribly worried that in the painting of this world, she will be a blemish instead of a bloom.”
― Sydney J. Shields, The Honey Witch

“Yes, she is a grown woman, and is that not magical in itself? To have survived this long, despite the world’s penchant for beautiful dead girls?”
― Sydney J. Shields, The Honey Witch

“Marigold once thought that all she would ever require for happiness would be to fit in somewhere, to be part of something bigger and better than herself. But now that she has that, it is not enough. It may be the case that all she needs — perhaps all she ever needed — are a few good people who will not leave. That will be enough. It has to be enough.”
― Sydney J. Shields, The Honey Witch

“the world is quite nice, but only if you know where to look. Friendships are harder to break than you think, and you will not outgrow the ones that are the most important. Heartbreak is inevitable, but so is healing, so don’t be afraid to fall in love freely and often.”
― Sydney J. Shields, The Honey Witch

“Many of the customers are women seeking some sort of cure, refuge, or fertility-control spells. It brings Marigold great joy to know that she can save another woman from being trapped in a life that she does not want, for she was so close to a similar fate. She narrowly escaped the life of a wife and mother, and she will always help another woman do the same. A Honey Witch provides women with choice - something they are all to often denied.”
― Sydney J. Shields, The Honey Witch

“But what happens when the girl keeps living, when she ages proudly and defiantly, without abandoning imagination, or stories, or that secret wish to find magic wherever it hides?”
― Sydney J. Shields, The Honey Witch

“Bad things can’t happen to people in comfy beds.”
― Sydney J. Shields, The Honey Witch

“One hundred years is more than enough for me."
Marigold places the jar back on the counter. "But I didn't get to spend those hundred years with you." Her voice comes as a whisper. "Even if I did, it still wouldn't be enough. I'll never be ready to let you go."
"Oh sweet girl," Althea says patting her hand. "You will be fine without me. In fact, you will thrive."
"I wish I could believe that." she says, sagging her shoulders.
"I promise, Mari. You will see one day. And when I am gone, look for me in the yellow flowers. I'll be there for you, always.”
― Sydney J. Shields, The Honey Witch

“No. You see only springtime. What happens when I am winter? I will tell you, Mr. Notley. When winter comes”—she leans in close so their noses are almost touching—“you will freeze.”
― Sydney J. Shields, The Honey Witch

“I am not married because I have yet to find someone who makes me feel seen.” He steadies himself on his throbbing toes. “You don’t believe that I could see you?” “No. You see only springtime. What happens when I am winter? I will tell you, Mr. Notley. When winter comes”—she leans in close so their noses are almost touching—“you will freeze.”
― Sydney J. Shields, The Honey Witch

“it is always nice to be reminded that one has kindhearted people in their corner.”
― Sydney J. Shields, The Honey Witch

“Love is worth the risk.”
― Sydney J. Shields, The Honey Witch