Home > Work > Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft
1 " The most terrifying thing in the world is a girl with power. That’s why they watch us burn. "
― Jessica Spotswood , Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft
2 " Every woman is never enough; she's always too much. We angered someone, somewhere, for our too muchness.If to be too much is to be a witch, then I am a witch, and we are all witches. I told this to the other girls, and I heard them all whisper back yes, because to be a witch means our too muchness serves a purpose: it gives us power. "
3 " Nothing is yours! The world wasn't made for you. The world was made. "
4 " The moon is full, and even the stars are scared of me. "
5 " It [the magic]’s there in the secret lives of girls, most of all. The way we smile and straighten our hair. We do magic every single day. We have to. Paint your nails silver and your heart sort of turns silver, too. Your claws and bones and teeth are steel. "
6 " She’d tell her daughters someday: ‘If you don’t feel safe enough to yell back, you’re not safe enough. My babies, that is not love. "
7 " He can't fill the empty spaces in her because there are none. "
8 " Here’s how to fulfill a prophecy: you are a woman, you speak the truth, and the world makes you into a liar. "
9 " This collection reveals a universal truth: there’s nothing more powerful than a teenage girl who believes in herself. "
10 " There are too many people in this world who would rather see a woman burn than wield power. "
11 " If witchcraft is the voice of women rising free and powerful (to change the world, make it ours, on our feet instead of on our knees) then I wish to be a witch more than anything. "
12 " I understand now that magic is not for wickedness, not for the devil, not for those with cruel hearts. It's for hope. For survival. It thrives in the darkness not because it is dark in nature but because the fire shines brightest then. "
13 " Here's how to fulfill a prophecy: you are a woman, you speak the truth, and the world makes you into a liar. "
14 " You're only different until the day you're not. "
15 " We'll all be wild together, you and me and the other girls. Just like this. We won't fear anything anymore, will we? We'll burn our path through the trees, wolves and witches and goddesses, and we'll make the world ours. "
16 " Every woman is never enough; she's always too much. We angered someone, somewhere, for our too muchness. "