Quotes from The Rules of Magic

Alice Hoffman ·  369 pages

Rating: (21.9K votes)


“Other people’s judgments were meaningless unless you allowed them to mean something.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from The Rules of Magic


“Know that the only remedy for love is to love more.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from The Rules of Magic


“Life is a mystery, and it should be so, for the sorrow that accompanies being human and the choices one will have to make are a burden, too heavy for most to know before their time comes.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from The Rules of Magic


“Do as you will, but harm no one.

What you give will be returned to you threefold.

Fall in love whenever you can.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from The Rules of Magic


“I’m fated to lose everyone I ever love,” April said. “I already know that.” “Of course you are,” Jet responded in her calm, measured tone. “That’s what it means to be alive.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from The Rules of Magic



“I just do the best I can to face what life brings. That’s the secret, you know. That’s the way you change your fate.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from The Rules of Magic


“This is what happens when you repudiate who you are. Once you do that, life works against you, and your fate is no longer your own.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from The Rules of Magic


“Writing itself was a magical act in which imagination altered reality and gave form to power.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from The Rules of Magic


“Anything whole can be broken,” Isabelle told her. “And anything broken can be put back together again. That is the meaning of Abracadabra. I create what I speak.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from The Rules of Magic


“when you truly love someone and they love you in return, you ruin your lives together. That is not a curse, it’s what life is, my girl. We all come to ruin, we turn to dust, but whom we love is the thing that lasts.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from The Rules of Magic



“Maria Owens did what she did for a reason. She was young and she thought damning anyone who loved us would protect us. But what she had with that terrible man wasn't love. She didn't understand that when you truly love someone and they love you in return, you ruin your lives together. That is not a curse, it's what life is, my girl. We all come to ruin, we turn to dust, but whom we love is the thing that lasts.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from The Rules of Magic


“For what you can fix, there are a hundred remedies. For what cannot be cured, not even words will do.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from The Rules of Magic


“Truth felt light and green, but a lie sunk to the floor, heavy as metal, a substance she always avoided for it made her feel as though she was trapped behind bars.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from The Rules of Magic


“Don't waste time when there's someone you love.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from The Rules of Magic


“Blue must be worn for protection. Moonstones were useful in connecting with the living, topaz to contact the dead. Copper, sacred to Venus, will call a man to you, and black tourmaline will eliminate jealousy. When it came to love, you must always be careful. If you dropped something belonging to the man you loved into a candle flame, then added pine needles and marigold flowers, he would arrive on your doorstep by morning, so you would do well to be certain you wanted him there. The most basic and reliable love potion was made from anise, rosemary, honey, and cloves boiled for nine hours on the back burner of the old stove. It had always cost $9.99 and was therefore called Love Potion Number Nine, which worked best on the ninth hour of the ninth day of the ninth month.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from The Rules of Magic



“They may be nothing like you, he had written, they may surprise you, they may even repel you when their behavior is out of control, when they climb out their windows and drink underage and break every rule, but you will love them in a way you had not thought possible before, no matter who they turn out to be.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from The Rules of Magic


“Butter melting on a dish meant someone nearby was in love, and a bird in the house take your bad luck out the window.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from The Rules of Magic


“What’s done cannot be undone. What’s set into motion takes on a life of its own.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from The Rules of Magic


“She thought she could have what she wanted; she thought she could see the world from above, as if it were a distant blue ball whose sorrows had nothing to do with her. She had wanted to be a bird, but now she knew, as she looked out the window to see Lewis following, that even birds are chained to earth by their needs and desires.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from The Rules of Magic


“Nathaniel Hawthorne had placed the w in his name to distance himself from his cruel ancestor, his writing driven by his desire to make amends for all the evil his great-great-grandfather had done in the world.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from The Rules of Magic



“All of the quarters in his hand were tarnished. He had no idea that the silver in a man’s pockets always turns black if he kisses a witch.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from The Rules of Magic


“Franny entwined her legs with his. She understood why ancient monsters were often made of two creatures, with two hearts and minds. There was strength in such a combination of opposites.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from The Rules of Magic


“It’s for your own good,” she said tenderly. “All I want for you is a normal life.” “Mother,” Franny sighed. “What makes you think that’s what I want?”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from The Rules of Magic


“She had lost some of who she was when she lost her beloved.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from The Rules of Magic


“We never know the end of the story until we get there.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from The Rules of Magic



“To want someone so much could be a terrible thing, or it could be the best hope a man could have”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from The Rules of Magic


“Love more, her aunt had said. Not less.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from The Rules of Magic


“Her one salvation was the novels she read. On nights when she thought it might be better not to be alive without Levi in the world, she opened a book and was therefore saved, discovering that a novel was as great an escape as any spell. She”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from The Rules of Magic


“But then you like to tempt fate,don’t you? Don’t worry, it will all work out”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from The Rules of Magic


About the author

Alice Hoffman
Born place: in New York, New York, The United States
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Popular quotes

“Eat, woman,” he bellowed, leaning over her, prepared to force the remainder of her meal into her opened mouth.
“I would,” she said in a strained voice, “But there is a giant attached to my chin. Perhaps if he would be so gracious as to remove the cured pork from my pack, I would share it with him.”
Rautu’s eyes blazed in senseless joy. He released his companion and hastened toward her effects, rummaging through them with great anticipation. He found a small brown parchment parcel and assumed that this was the source of his happiness. He sniffed the outside of the paper and hummed in delight for the exquisite scent. He tore open the barrier between him and his prize and he was compelled to smile when remarking the numerous slices of meat in his hands. He began eating them immediately, leaving no time between one slice and the next to savour that which he had longed to again taste. The superior fare of Frewyn had been the chief of his consolation during the war, and if he was to remain on the islands with all its splendor, all its comforting familiarity, all its temperate climate, and all its horrendous food, he would relish this last ember of bliss before being made to suffer a diet of steamed grains again.
“I did say share,” the commander called out.
“I am responsible for securing your life,” he replied with a full mouth and without turning around.
“And I thanked you accordingly.” The commander’s remonstrations were unanswered, and she scoffed in aversion as she watched the voracious beast consume nearly all the provisions she had been saving for the return journey. “I know you shall not be satisfied until you have all the tribute in the world, but that pork does belong to me, Rau.”
“You are not permitted to have meat while taking our medicines,” he said, dismissively.
She peered at him in circumspection. “I don’t recall you mentioning that stipulation before. I find it convenient that you should care to do so now.”
The giant paused, his cheeks filled with pork. “And?” he said, shoving another slice into his mouth.
“And,” she laughed, “You’re going to allow me to starve on your inedible bread while you skulk off with something that was meant for both of us?”
“Perhaps.”
“Savior, indeed,” the commander fleered. “You have saved me from one means of death only to plunge me into another.”
― Michelle Franklin, quote from The Commander And The Den Asaan Rautu


“And he left. I watched him walk out – he didn’t say good-bye, he didn’t even look back. It scared me, how easy it was for him to do that.”
― Sara Zarr, quote from Sweethearts


“What?” Ryder huffed. “Come on that was funny! That was comic gold right there.”
She shrugged, enjoying teasing him. “It was OK. Kind of elementary.”
“Elementary? It’s an effing joke.”
“Whatever.”
His groan could probably be heard for five miles. “Aw this is going to be a looong drive home.”
― Samantha Young, quote from River Cast


“It’s not about knowing. You can never really know someone. It’s really about trust.”
— Jameson Rook, Heat Rises”
― Richard Castle, quote from Heat Rises


“Computers were a kind of magery in themselves, or might as well be - to people who didn't understand them, they were every bit as inscrutable.”
― Orson Scott Card, quote from The Lost Gate - Shadow of the Hegemon


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