In the House in the Dark of the Woods Quotes

“For there are things in this world that you think will never come to pass that will rob you of your voice for nothing but the joy of them when suddenly they do.”
― Laird Hunt, In the House in the Dark of the Woods

“There was magic in wanting to see a thing that has been marvelously described.”
― Laird Hunt, In the House in the Dark of the Woods

“A tale is a funny thing, and even when it’s your own and you have a quill in your hand you must be careful where you touch it.”
― Laird Hunt, In the House in the Dark of the Woods

“There are no poor men. Not even among the wretches.”
― Laird Hunt, In the House in the Dark of the Woods

“For my own part I kept very quiet, as quiet as I have ever been, for there are things in this world that you think will never come to pass that will rob you of your voice for nothing but the joy of them when suddenly they do.”
― Laird Hunt, In the House in the Dark of the Woods

“But a quill on paper was different from a stick on the bottom of a stream or a fingertip on my forearm. Its scratch was like the dry sparking of a flint and a page with fresh marks on it like a blazing porcupine. A tale written down must be like that, I thought. It must be like the block of wood of the body sprouting tiny tongues of fire and who knows where the next one will rise and burn.”
― Laird Hunt, In the House in the Dark of the Woods

“But could she see things clear like you can? Could she see straight through you? See through your hair and skin to your blood and bones? Did she ever give your cheek a lick to see how you tasted and tell what you would become? Did she have a scar on her chest like a door? Did she ever leave you for long periods? Did a squirrel ever come and sit on her shoulder and whisper in her ear?”
― Laird Hunt, In the House in the Dark of the Woods

“I am dreaming, I thought, and should go straight to my bed and hide under its pillow, for, like quills, dreams can mark you, dreams can stripe your back.”
― Laird Hunt, In the House in the Dark of the Woods

“There are no poor men. Not even among the wretches”
― Laird Hunt, In the House in the Dark of the Woods

“Truth has many different drawers and shelves.”
― Laird Hunt, In the House in the Dark of the Woods

“Rules are the way of the world! Did you never dance? Did you never stomp your foot around a ring of fire? Which way do you step? Which way do you stomp? How do you decide?”
― Laird Hunt, In the House in the Dark of the Woods

“There is always part of us admits we are done when the rest of us is not yet ready.”
― Laird Hunt, In the House in the Dark of the Woods

“One is you, two is me, three is her, four is she!”
― Laird Hunt, In the House in the Dark of the Woods

“Each scream is as different as each Red Boy. Different and the same.”
― Laird Hunt, In the House in the Dark of the Woods

“...she said she heard nothing, that our friend might well be screaming, but what I heard was only the memory of my own scream trapped like a wasp inside my head.”
― Laird Hunt, In the House in the Dark of the Woods

“...like quills, dreams can mark you, dreams can stripe your back.”
― Laird Hunt, In the House in the Dark of the Woods

“He would gather up the ages and plant and reap what he and his father had sown. All the while I would watch. From my chair. From my window. From my garden. Watch until my eyes died at their roots and I fell cold silent in my skirts and could watch no more.”
― Laird Hunt, In the House in the Dark of the Woods

“Don't be weak, my boy', I whispered. I know he heard me. It was something I had told him many times. But what did I mean? For I did not want him to be strong either. Not like his father, who could fling his cousin through the air. Not like my mother, who could chase the husband, who so loved her, with a switch. I meant some other thing. Something like Captain Jane in her wolf cloak. Something like Eliza when the metal was in her voice and she had set her jaw.”
― Laird Hunt, In the House in the Dark of the Woods

“Oh, it's a merry thing, this heart of yours," she said. "It's like a drink in a small glass on the deck of a storm-tossed ship or a shout in a fiery room.”
― Laird Hunt, In the House in the Dark of the Woods