Hallie

“There is something about words. In expert hands, manipulated deftly, they take you prisoner. Wind themselves around your limbs like spider silk, and when you are so enthralled you cannot move, they pierce your skin, enter your blood, numb your thoughts. Inside you they work their magic.”
― Diane Setterfield, The Thirteenth Tale

“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.”
― George Orwell, 1984

“No opera plot can be sensible, for people do not sing when they are feeling sensible.”
― W. H. Auden

“Begin at the beginning," the King said, very gravely, "and go on till you come to the end: then stop.”
― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland