July 2, 2024, 9:46 p.m.
Witches have long fascinated us with their mystical powers, enigmatic presence, and timeless wisdom. From literature to folklore, they have been portrayed in myriad ways, embodying everything from dark sorcery to benevolent magic. Whether you're drawn to their mysterious allure or their sage advice, witch quotes capture the essence of the mystical and the arcane. In this collection, we've gathered the top 100 witch quotes that span across centuries and cultures, offering you a glimpse into the world of enchantment and spellbinding words. Prepare to be bewitched as you delve into sayings that resonate with the magic within us all.
1. “Verence would rather cut his own leg off than put a witch in prison, since it'd save trouble in the long run and probably be less painful.” - Terry Pratchett
2. “You are so young, Lyra, too young to understand this, but I shall tell you anyway and you'll understand it later: men pass in front of our eyes like butterflies, creatures of a brief season. We love them; they are brave, proud, beautiful, clever; and they die almost at once. They die so soon that our hearts are continually racked with pain. We bear their children, who are witches if they are female, human if not; and then in the blink of an eye they are gone, felled, slain, lost. Our sons, too. When a little boy is growing, he thinks he is immortal. His mother knows he isn't. Each time becomes more painful, until finally your heart is broken. Perhaps that is when Yambe-Akka comes for you. She is older than the tundra. Perhaps, for her, witches' lives are as brief as men's are to us.” - Philip Pullman
3. “Scarcely has night arrived to undeceive, unfurling her wings of crepe (wings drained even of the glimmer just now dying in the tree-tops); scarcely has the last glint still dancing on the burnished metal heights of the tall towers ceased to fade, like a still glowing coal in a spent brazier, which whitens gradually beneath the ashes, and soon is indistinguishable from the abandoned hearth, than a fearful murmur rises amongst them, their teeth chatter with despair and rage, they hasten and scatter in their dread, finding witches everywhere, and ghosts. It is night... and Hell will gape once more.” - Charles Nodier
4. “I myself have seen this woman draw the stars from the sky; she diverts the course of a fast-flowing river with her incantations; her voice makes the earth gape, it lures the spirits from the tombs, send the bones tumbling from the dying pyre. At her behest, the sad clouds scatter; at her behest, snow falls from a summer's sky.” - Tibullus
5. “Witches are naturally nosy,” said Miss Tick, standing up. “Well, I must go. I hope we shall meet again. I will give you some free advice, though.”“Will it cost me anything?”“What? I just said it was free!” said Miss Tick.“Yes, but my father said that free advice often turns out to be expensive,” said Tiffany.Miss Tick sniffed. “You could say this advice is priceless,” she said, “Are you listening?”“Yes,” said Tiffany.“Good. Now...if you trust in yourself...”“Yes?”“...and believe in your dreams...”“Yes?”“...and follow your star...” Miss Tick went on.“Yes?”“...you’ll still be beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren’t so lazy. Goodbye.” - Terry Pratchett
6. “There exists indeed an opposition to it [building of UVA, Jefferson's secular college] by the friends of William and Mary, which is not strong. The most restive is that of the priests of the different religious sects, who dread the advance of science as witches do the approach of day-light; and scowl on it the fatal harbinger announcing the subversion of the duperies on which they live. In this the Presbyterian clergy take the lead. The tocsin is sounded in all their pulpits, and the first alarm denounced is against the particular creed of Doctr. Cooper; and as impudently denounced as if they really knew what it is.[Letter to José Francesco Corrê a Da Serra - Monticello, April 11, 1820]” - Thomas Jefferson
7. “Keep the Magic Alive!” - Debie Torkellson
8. “My darling," she said at last, are you sure you don't mind being a mouse for the rest of your life?""I don't mind at all" I said.It doesn't matter who you are or what you look like as long as somebody loves you.” - Roald Dahl
9. “People will have their excitements, and a good rousing persecution used to stir things like the burning of Chicago or a Presidential election in our day.” - Edward Payson Roe
10. “For as from the same piece of clay a potter may fashion either a pot or a tile, so the Devil may shape a witch into a wolf or a cat or even a goat, without subtracting from her and without adding to her at all. For this occurs just as clay is first molded into one, then shaped into another form, for the Devil is a potter and his witches are but clay.” - Aino Kallas
11. “Miles away, down through an opening in the hills, he could catch glimpses of a road where motor-cars sometimes passed, and yet here, so removed from the arteries of the latest civilization, was a bat-haunted old homestead, where something unmistakably like witchcraft seemed to hold a very practical sway.” - H.H. Munro
12. “Your average witch is not, by nature, a social animal as far as other witches are concerned. There's a conflict of dominant personalities. There's a group of ringleaders without a ring. There's the basic unwritten rule of witchcraft, which is 'Don't do what you will, do what I say.' The natural size of a coven is one. Witches only get together when they can't avoid it.” - Terry Pratchett
13. “People go around mourning the death of God; it's the death of sssin that bothers me. Without ssin, people aren't people any more, they're just ssoul-less sheep.” - John Updike
14. “Never put your faith in a Prince. When you require a miracle, trust in a Witch.” - Catherynne M. Valente
15. “A Witch is born out of the true hungers of her time,” she said. “I was born out of New York. The things that are most wrong here summoned me. ("Drink Entire: Against The Madness Of Crowds")” - Ray Bradbury
16. “I am a child of the poisonous wind that copulated with the East River on an oil-slick, garbage infested midnight. I turn about on my own parentage. I inoculate against those very biles that brought me to light. I am a serum born of venoms. I am the antibody of all Time. I am the Cure. You do of the City, do you not? Manhattan is your punisher, let me be you shield.” - Ray Bradbury
17. “I should have learned this, she thought. I wanted to learn fire, and pain, but I should have learned people.” - Terry Pratchett
18. “At such times the universe gets a little closer to us. They are strange times, times of beginnings and endings. Dangerous and powerful. And we feel it even if we don't know what it is. These times are not necessarily good, and not necessarily bad. In fact, what they are depends on what *we* are.” - Terry Pratchett
19. “I hate witches. Humans had the right idea, burning them at the stake.” - Charlaine Harris
20. “Where shall we three meet again in thunder, lightning, or in rain? When the hurlyburly 's done, when the battle 's lost and won” - William Shakespeare
21. “And she would not hold back his limbs when his heart was gone to the woods, for it is ever the way of witches with any two things to care for the more mysterious of the two.” - Lord Dunsany
22. “Gavin! What’ll I wear home?”“Cloak.” His voice roughened and he ripped harder, tossing the material to the ground. I felt his smile when he kissed my neck, and shivers ran down my back at the sound of his low growl.“I made that! I don’t have many of those, you know.”“Cam,” he snaked one hand around my stomach and made his way north, slipping one hand into my corset top to grope my chest. “You won’t be thinking about it when I’m inside you.” His hips shifted off my back and he separated my legs with his knee, his breathing ragged against my shoulder. “Now forget the damn dress.” - Rachael Wade
23. “Please, let me take you home. You’re drunk.”“I am not.” I shoved him, spilling some kind of delicious poison on him. “Go home and have a wild time with Ms. Scarlet. In the bedroom. With the—”“Okay, you’re starting to talk board game. Let’s go home, babe. I’ll get you into bed.” - Rachael Wade
24. “Joel’s face swam across my vision and I blinked, goose bumps running up my arms. I shook his memory away, determined to stay focused, although my heart caved at the thought of his last words to us, right here in this very spot: Take care of each other. I’d be damned if I was going to let him down now.” - Rachael Wade
25. “Truth is in the guidance of the Coven. Is it a curse or a blessing?” - Amy Lunderman
26. “Maidens stand still, they are lovely statues and all admire them. Witches do not stand still. I was neither, but better that I err on the side of witchery, witchery that unlocks towers and empties ships.” - Catherynne M. Valente
27. “Mikolay and Julia live in the same neighborhood and go tothe same school every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.” - Magda M. Olchawska
28. “When Mikolay and Julia are not at school, they usually go exploring and adventuring. Mikolay’s and Julia’s mummies are both witches and are in charge of fixing things.” - Magda M. Olchawska
29. “The room was full of magical objects, animals, photographs, paintings, strange looking plants and many flying books. I only found this room a few days ago and it seems that it keeps changing every time I come.” - Magda M. Olchawska
30. “Come on, this is a real adventure I have here, screamed Mikolay again, this time more impatiently.I think someone is singing inside the wardrobe. Can you hear that?” - Magda M. Olchawska
31. “I love fairies so much. I would so love to touch one, whispered Julia in excitement. “U can touch me.But please don't touch my wings,they are very fragile,”replied 1 fairy.“I’m Farina,the fairy queen.” - Magda M. Olchawska
32. “Julia heard from her mummy that fairies were gentle creatures with singing voices just like the mermaids.” - Magda M. Olchawska
33. “Me & my fellow fairies are running away from a huge monster that keeps destroying our home land,sobbed Farina.The monster is terribly scary,has huge jaws, creates clouds of smoke & makes loads of noise everywhere it goes.” - Magda M. Olchawska
34. “We live in the fairy forest of huge trees which is on the other side of the lake, said Farina.” - Magda M. Olchawska
35. “We need to get to the other side of the lake if you want to help the fairies,” said Mikolay.We could use my crystal ball for transportation,” suggested Julia pulling out a small crystal ball out of her pocket.” - Magda M. Olchawska
36. “Many trees were pulled out of the ground with their roots crying for water.” The lake was all polluted with thick layers of grease,the grass & flowers were squashed, animals walked around. #kidsbooks "Mikolay & Julia"Total elocological destruction,said Mikolay trying to use one of the funny long words Julia was always using.These are not monsters Farina.These are people and building machines.” - Magda M. Olchawska
37. “But our forest is sacred & magical with many unusual creatures & plants.We don’t want people to destroy everything!” - Magda M. Olchawska
38. “Mikolay had explored the big attic many times before, and he knew that his mummy misplaced boxes all the time. Ah, I,don’t really want a wand, um, that much. Can we go home now? “Please? begged Julia as she walked toward the door. But Mikolay grabbed her hand and whispered:Lets just see where the shadow is going and after that, we can go right home.Mikolay and Julia carefully moved closer and closer to the wall.” - Magda M. Olchawska
39. “Wow!” gasped Julia. They saw 20 or more young children of every sort lyingon the cold, bare ground.” - Magda M. Olchawska
40. “The people who run the circus kidnapped us from our parents. Since we got here, we have all been working in the circus. We can’t see any of our mummies or kiss them OR cuddle up to them. said Adrian.His tears flowing in his big blue eyes that were the colour of the sky. We didn’t want to listen to our parents when they told us: ‘Never, Ever!” talk to strangers. We all disobeyed and spoke to strangers, and then the strangers stole us away from our parents.” - Magda M. Olchawska
41. “Mikolay took his wand out, touched the cage’s lock and said: “Eis Izras” three times. The door opened at once, unfortunately making lots of noise and waking the humans up. Mikolay knew a few powerful hexes and he was able to create small flying dragons. He hoped that he could stop the people, animals, and block the shadows to buy some time.” - Magda M. Olchawska
42. “But I find it necessary to repeat in this particular place that the division into classes, which is so salient a part of modern demonology, had, and has, little significance for primitive man or for the peasant in a comparatively low state of mental development. To such people, spirits of all kinds - fairies, the ghosts of the dead, and even witches and water-kelpies - are all creatures of the supernatural class between which he scarcely differentiates.” - Lewis Spence
43. “I think you’ve forgotten that this place holds a lot more than justbetraying Hobgoblins. Call upon the spirits, summon fairies, raise thedead! My brother, you have the power to do so--now get off of your buttand use it!” - Richard Denney
44. “A witch who is bored might do ANYTHING.People said things like 'we had to make our own amusements in those days' as if this signified some kind of moral worth, and perhaps it did, but the last thing you wanted a witch to do was get bored and start making her own amusements, because witches sometimes had famously erratic ideas about what was amusing.” - Terry Pratchett
45. “Whatever. I just won’t have Elena hurt, is all. Or the little red-headed witch.” “Ah, yes, sweet Bonnie. I wouldn’t mind one or two like her. One for Samhain and one for the Solstice.”Damon snorted drowsily. “There aren’t two like her; I don’t care where you look. I won’t have her hurt either.” - L.J. Smith
46. “I think that all women are witches, in the sense that a witch is a magical being. And a wizard, which is a male version of a witch, is kind of revered, and people respect wizards. But a witch, my god, we have to burn them. It’s the male chauvinistic society that we’re living in for the longest time, 3,000 years or whatever. And so I just wanted to point out the fact that men and women are magical beings. We are very blessed that way, so I’m just bringing that out. Don’t be scared of witches, because we are good witches, and you should appreciate our magical power.” - Yoko Ono
47. “I was born on the night of Samhain, when the barrier between the worlds is whisper-thin and when magic, old magic, sings its heady and sweet song to anyone who cares to hear it.” - Carolyn MacCullough
48. “Most witches don’t believe in gods. They know that the gods exist, of course. They even deal with them occasionally. But they don’t believe in them. They know them too well. It would be like believing in the postman.” - Terry Pratchett
49. “My whole world started to tilt. I could feel it, sliding ever so slightly off center.” - Leslie Deaton
50. “I know some words floated through my ears, but my mind refused to absorb their meaning. I just shook my head slowly as the wall of pain washed over me, leaving me submerged and broken in the flood.” - Leslie Deaton
51. “Witches never existed, except in people’s minds. All there was in the olden days was women and some men who believed in herbal cures and in folklore and in the wish to fly. Witches? We’re all witches in one way or another. Witches was the invention of mankind, son. We’re all witches beneath the skin.” - Ian Rankin
52. “How do I know you’re not the killer?” MeShack asked.A smirk plastered on Zulu’s face. “Because you would’ve been the first victim.” - Kenya Wright
53. “If you’re not good, I’ll burn your—”“Yeah, I know.” MeShack strolled to his bedroom. “You’ll burn my balls off.” - Kenya Wright
54. “But witchy magic doesn’t listen to please and pretty please, and anyway, I didn’t really care. I only pretended to care because not caring makes me a monster.” - Franny Billingsley
55. “Even a witch wants sympathy.” - Franny Billingsley
56. “It’s one thing if a person learns you’re a witch. It’s quite another if he learns you’re a murderer. I almost forget I’m a witch now that I know I’m a murderer—murderess, actually. Murderess sounds so much worse.” - Franny Billingsley
57. “An understanding washed over Darren. You plan on me running.”“For many, many years.” The crooked smile on Trent’s mouth sent a shiver throughout my body. He was utterly dangerous when he wanted to be.” - Elizabeth J. Kolodziej
58. “There is an odd quirk in the human mind that makes a fearful man prefer to go quietly to a wicked-looking, gnarled "witch" for a countercharm than to a respectable licensed sorcerer or an accredited priest of the Church.” - Randall Garrett
59. “...Granny Weatherwax, who had walked nightly without fear in the bandit-haunted forests of the mountains all her life in the certain knowledge that the darkness held nothing more terrible than she was...” - Terry Pratchett
60. “In the Scotland of the early seventeenth century, an old woman living alone in Kirkcudbrightshire was accused of witchcraft and on conviction was rolled downhill in a blazing tar barrel. One of the charges against her was that she walked withershins round a well near her cottage which was used by other people. The well was afterwards known as the Witch's Well. These episodes must surely serve as cautionary tales to anyone tempted to transgress the usual custom of walking deasil round a holy well.” - Colin Bord
61. “Granny looked up at the zombie. He was - or, technically, had been - a tall, handsome man. He still was, only now he looked like someone who had walked through a room full of cobwebs.'What's your name, dead man?' she said.” - Terry Pratchett
62. “I'm hoping you end up happily married to the man of your dreams and have a hoard of beautiful kids that'll keep you on your toes by turning your neighbours into various types of pond-life." He then shot her his signature grin. "But if it happens to be me, then I wouldn't say no."(Karl to Elena in The Witching Pen)” - Dianna Hardy
63. “Do I at least get to keep the toothbrush?”“Sure. Unless you can get it back in that wrapper and seal it up all nice and new. Well, that’s what the last girl did. See,you can hardly tell it’s been opened!”--Reggie Sinclair from Angela's Coven” - Bruce Jenvey
64. “And to do something that helps your coven survive, even after your own death, is the greatest gift you can possibly give them…”--Angela from Angela’s Coven” - Bruce Jenvey
65. “The slam of a car door drew her attention to a new arrival. Maxville Deputy Sheriff Zach Manus emerged from his unmarked 2011 Camaro and stalked toward them. Deep sorrow and anger laced across his handsome features. His light-brown hair stood a little more on end than normal. He stopped in front of them, his frown deepening and his golden-brown eyes darkening.” - Lia Davis
66. “She was the one person he’d hoped to avoid as much as possible when he’d taken his place as Sheriff of Maxville. It wasn’t that he disliked her, that was the problem. Despite his better judgment and a glutton for punishment, he still cared too damn much for the woman.” - Lia Davis
67. “His hand came out and captured her by the chin. She froze, finding it hard to breathe as he gently raised her face to meet his gaze.” - Lia Davis
68. “His hand cupped her cheek as he lowered his head to hers. Just before their lips touched, a light knock sounded on the door.” - Lia Davis
69. “A sudden intake of breath escaped her as soon as his lips touched the backs of her fingers. His rose birthmark tingled as if awakened.” - Lia Davis
70. “Yeah? You want to do some other worldly hanky panky? She laughed and almost fell off the couch. "Hanky Panky?" "Don't knock it till you try it” - Carrie Ann Ryan
71. “I'm looking forward to the noose. Nothing better than a good hanging.” - Victoria Lamb
72. “When the power falls on me, it buzzes in the warm, dark spaces of my skull. It stings like nettles at the tips of my fingers. The power is a fever I have felt since early childhood, a heat in the blood that leaves me flushed and unsteady, dreaming in daylight.” - Victoria Lamb
73. “Quincy laughed. "If I were Elizabeth I shouldn't thank either of you for that comforting diagnosis. Would it do any good to open Aunt Sarai's grave and drive a stake through her? If you believe in as much sorcery as that, you must regret the days of witch-burners, Carew."Carew said quietly, "No. Witch-burners were barbarous blunderers. If I wanted to suppress a dangerous letter, could I do it by burning the envelope and leaving the letter loose? The witch would come back unchanged; I should merely have postponed the danger until another time and place. And have further handicapped myself to meet it, by depriving the witch, by violent death, of the years allotted her, or him, for evolution."Joseph said with dry humor, "She might not have used them for that, Carew. At least not for your idea of it."Carew shrugged. "That would be her responsibility, not mine. And, in any case, she would be that many years nearer the time of her inevitable change."This time Joseph did not answer, only smiled.” - Evangeline Walton
74. “Those old hypocrites. They talk about killing witches but the Good Book’s full of magic. Turning the Nile to blood and parting the Red Sea. What’s that if it’s not good old-fashioned magic? Want a little water into wine? No trouble! How about raising the dead man Lazarus? Just say the word!” - Clive Barker
75. “Without asking, he moved behind her and brushed her hair over her shoulder. Drawing the necklace around her neck, he fastened the clasp. The amber felt cool against her sweltering skin. Lifting it, she rotated the pendant, watching as it caught the light. "It's lovely." Before she could change her mind, she dug into her pocket and shoved the rest of the coins into his hand.” - Amber Argyle
76. “Perhaps I am the only person who, asked whether she were a witch or not, could truthfully say, "I do not know. I do know some very strange things have happened to me, or through me."Lady Alice Rowhedge” - Norah Lofts
77. “If your going to be a jackass then do it outside of your home, as your home is supposed to be a place of love and safety, it's your sanctuary from the outside world. The only place where we can truly be accepted.” - Lisa Marie Main
78. “You don’t have any balls?’ For once I wasn’t trying to be insulting.” - Chantal Halpin
79. “What do you mean?” Leslie’s voice was cool, as if she questioned witches who were flat on their backs being threatened by werewolves every day.” - Patricia Briggs
80. “That's Third Thoughts for you. When a huge rock is going to land on your head, they're the thoughts that think: Is that an igneous rock, such as granite, or is it sandstone?” - Terry Pratchett
81. “That guy with the silver hair, he’s your dad, right?” Amber questioned, surveying the scene. “Yes,” I said, reluctant to say anything but, considering what was happening, figured was the least of my worries. “Ooo la la. He’s, like, totally diesel. Look at those arms.” She went on, admiring my dad to a sickening degree. “All right, jailbait, back off. It’s practically incest.”She sucked air through her teeth. “I know,” she said regretfully. “But a girl can dream. And I have a feeling he’s going to be starring in a lot of them.” - Brandi Salazar
82. “Hey, aren’t you that girl from the web?” the new one asked, bending to suck my earing between his teeth. I pulled my head away. “You got the wrong girl.”Mr. Hawaii pulled back to take a better look at me. “No, I think you might be.” To my total bewilderment, he spun me around. “Hey! What are you—?”“Hey, it is you!” he yelled excitedly, drawing the attention of the crowd. “Hey, everyone, it’s Cheeky Galore!” - Brandi Salazar
83. “Witch' is just a religion, okay? No baby-sacrificing, no Black Masses, no sending imps out to scare the dog-snot out of kids, trying to make them think they're crazy. We don't do things like that. Our number-one law is 'Have fun in this lifetime, but don't hurt anybody.'Nice little paraphrase of "An it harm none, do as ye will" if I do say so myself.” - Mercedes Lackey
84. “Eye of newt, and toe of frog, Wool of bat, and tongue of dog, Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting, Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing,— For a charm of powerful trouble, Like a hell-broth boil and bubble. Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and caldron bubble.” - William Shakespeare
85. “Burning the witch Giordano Bruno is one more wound inflicted on Christ’s body.” - Dejan Stojanovic
86. “We feel cold, but we don't mind it, because we will not come to harm. And if we wrapped up against the cold, we wouldn't feel other things, like the bright tingle of the stars, or the music of the aurora, or best of all the silky feeling of moonlight on our skin. It's worth being cold for that.” - Philip Pullman
87. “What’s ‘at supposed tae mean?” He asked insulted.“Everyone always has an ulterior motive.” I replied.“Well I dinnae, an’ I’m nae claimin’ tae be innocent. I was lookin’ fur ye, as per yer mother’s request. Nae hidden agenda here!” He said sternly. “Besides, if I wanted ye dead, you’d be dead.” He stressed out the last part.” - S.L. Ross
88. “My problem wasn’t that he was a vamp, or that he was gay. I didn’t like him because he was a politician.” - Chantal Halpin
89. “You like playing with fire?”“Yes. It is my favorite element.” She extracted her arm from his grip and stepped inside the elevator” - Lia Davis
90. “I know of witches who whistle at different pitches, calling things that don't have names.” - Helen Oyeyemi
91. “Properly buried.""Properly kept.""That is the way with witches.""And with all things.” - Victoria Schwab
92. “I was going to fight vampires, and my name wasn't Buffy--I was so screwed.” - Patricia Briggs
93. “In his refusal to believe in anything supernatural or inherently evil, he was as unrealistic as an old voodoo queen who sees spirits everywhere.” - Anne Rice
94. “Love can give you such happiness, then can break the very heart it filled, leaving a hole that can never be fixed or protected by any armour.” - Kevin McLeod
95. “I took a step back, shaking my head, wishing I could place a gnarly black hex on him. My daddy taught me better than that.” - Mary Buckham
96. “The ReckoningThe time has come for RetributionA time for Redemption, A time for Forgiveness A time for Renewal, A time to prevailMy love will set you free my darling.Our love, forever bound.-SL Ross” - S.L. Ross
97. “Magic is all about words and believing. If you believe then anything is possible.” - Jennifer Loiske
98. “All you need is one thought and one word. When you learn how to connect them, you can do anything you like.” - Jennifer Loiske
99. “Little Marjorie was born an only child some forty years ago. She had lost her mother at a young age and her father never remarried. All her life she had been cursed with the need for her ‘coke-bottle’ glasses with the practical over-sized frames. And then there was the unfortunate appearance of her protruding front teeth. She had always been a slight child, but when children begin to grow into young men and women, slight becomes scrawny and her lack of fashion-sense and self-worth had sealed her social fate. Marjorie had never gone to Prom, nor any dance for that matter, and when the boys chose mates and began the next phase of the great circle of life…little Marjorie Morningstar had not been included. --From The Great Northern Coven” - Bruce Jenvey
100. “People who buy the little jars and boxes aren’t staying. They only want enough to last them while they’re here.”--Ginger the Checkout girl from The Great Northern Coven” - Bruce Jenvey