Shannon Hale > Quotes

“I think the only way to get through this life is laughing hard and constantly, mostly at myself.”
― Shannon Hale

“Right now I'd like all my troubles to stand in front of me in a straight line, and one by one I'd give each a black eye. ”
― Shannon Hale, The Goose Girl

“Mama used to say, you have to know someone a thousand days before you can glimpse her soul.”
― Shannon Hale, Book of a Thousand Days

“There you go...let it all slide out. Unhappiness can't stick in a person's soul when it's slick with tears.”
― Shannon Hale, Princess Academy

“... If we don't tell strange stories, when something strange happens we won't believe it.”
― Shannon Hale, The Goose Girl

“Personally, I believe “Young Adult” to be an arbitrary title that means the book "Can be enjoyed by anyone/Has a main character who’s not quite an adult/Isn’t really boring.”
― Shannon Hale

“I don't know how you persist in being so stubborn-"
"It's a superpower. I was bitten by a radioactive mule.”
― Shannon Hale, The Actor and the Housewife

“Writing a first draft and reminding myself that I'm simply shoveling sand into a box so that later I can build castles.”
― Shannon Hale

“You are my butterfly and refuse to set you free.”
― Shannon Hale

“If we're mad, we're mad in large numbers, at least larger than yours.”
― Shannon Hale, The Goose Girl

“I keep thinking about a tale my nurse used to read to me about a bird whose wings are pinned to the ground. In the end, when he finally frees himself, he flies so high he becomes a star. My nurse said the story was about how we all have something that keeps us down.”
― Shannon Hale, Princess Academy

“She closed the book and put her cheek against it. There was still an odor of a library on it, of dust, leather, binding glue, and old paper, one book carrying the smell of hundreds.”
― Shannon Hale, The Goose Girl

“He had a dashing smile. It nearly dashed right off his face.”
― Shannon Hale, Austenland

“When you get tired of worrying and mourning your horse and trying not to be afraid, tell me and I'll do it for you a while so you can shut your eyes and sleep peaceful.”
― Shannon Hale, The Goose Girl

“All I've ever wanted was to be near you.”
― Shannon Hale, Enna Burning

“Its important to know stories. I felt the earth shift to make a place for you when you were born, and I came to tell you stories while you are young. And like me, you were born with a word on your tongue.”
― Shannon Hale, The Goose Girl

“I, Geric-Sinath of Gerhard, declare that you're beautiful and you're perfect and I'll slay any man who tries to take you from my side. Goose girl, may I kiss you?”
― Shannon Hale, The Goose Girl

“I'm writing a first draft and reminding myself that I'm simply shoveling sand into a box so that later I can build castles.”
― Shannon Hale

“Yes, we'll yell, 'Help, help us, goose girl, and bring the terrifying legion of warrior geese'.”
― Shannon Hale, The Goose Girl

“I know I would crumble if I lost you.”
― Shannon Hale, Enna Burning

“I let my head fall back, and I gazed into the Eternal Blue Sky. It was morning. Some of the sky was yellow, some the softest blue. One small cloud scuttled along. Strange how everything below can be such death and chaos and pain while above the sky is peace, sweet blue gentleness. I heard a shaman say once, the Ancestors want our souls to be like the blue sky.”
― Shannon Hale, Book of a Thousand Days

“You're better than seven years of food. You're better than windows. You're even better than the sky.”
― Shannon Hale, Book of a Thousand Days

“They finished laughing and caught their breaths, and looked at each other, and Ani thought Geric looked at her too long, as though he forgot he was looking, as though he did not wish to do anything else. She looked back. Her heart took its time quieting down.”
― Shannon Hale, The Goose Girl

“Really, becoming a writer sounds more like a mental illness than a professional choice.”
― Shannon Hale

“I do like the world quite a lot.”
― Shannon Hale, Book of a Thousand Days

“We know it's all just daydreaming...But sometimes, it'd be nice just to hold something real in your hands that felt like a measure of your worth.”
― Shannon Hale, The Goose Girl

“I was under the stars, like a fish is under water.”
― Shannon Hale

“He smiled in a way that made me want to kiss him right on the spot. Or the lips. Whichever was closer.”
― Shannon Hale

“Truth is when your mind and your gut agree.”
― Shannon Hale, Princess Academy

“I cannot write to anyone outside myself--if I tried, it would be a horrible story, flat and lifeless. I write to myself. That's the only person I'm trying to please.”
― Shannon Hale