Franny Billingsley Quotes

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Witches don’t look like anything. Witches are. Witches do.

Franny Billingsley

Looks, Witch

Franny Billingsley (2013). “Chime”, p.291, A&C Black

44 Copy quote
Even a witch wants sympathy.

Franny Billingsley

Sympathy, Want, Witch

Franny Billingsley (2013). “Chime”, p.130, A&C Black

14 Copy quote
If you say a word, it leaps out and becomes the truth. I love you. I believe it. I believe I am loveable. How can something as fragile as a word build a whole world?

Franny Billingsley

Believe, Love You, World

Franny Billingsley (2013). “Chime”, p.361, A&C Black

6 Copy quote
When we were small, Rose and I used to play a game called connect the dots. I loved it. I loved drawing a line from dot number 1 to dot number 2 and so on. Most of all, I loved the moment when the chaotic sprinkle of dots resolved itself into a picture. That's what stories do. They connect the random dots of life into a picture. But it's all an illusion. Just try to connect the dots of life. You'll end up with a lunatic scribble.

Franny Billingsley

Games, Play, Drawing

Franny Billingsley (2011). “Chime”, p.45, Penguin

6 Copy quote
I should hate to be a regular girl with a sugar-plum voice. I should hate to have swan-like lashes, and a thick, sooty neck. I sound as though I’m joking, I know, but I should truly hate to be like Leanne, so charming and ordinary and stuffed with clichéd feelings. I’m glad I’m the ice maiden. Who wants to be crying over every stray dog? Not I. Scratch my surface and what do you see? More surface.

Franny Billingsley

Girl, Dog, Hate

Franny Billingsley (2013). “Chime”, p.157, A&C Black

3 Copy quote
Actually, it would be assumed that the young lady had no such impulses at all, but I’ll tell you something: Chocolate melts on my tongue too.

Franny Billingsley

Chocolate, Would Be, Tongue

Franny Billingsley (2013). “Chime”, p.264, A&C Black

3 Copy quote
Death had no lips, but it was smiling

Franny Billingsley

Lips

Franny Billingsley (2013). “Chime”, p.49, A&C Black

3 Copy quote
I was asking about lust, wasnʼt I? I was fairly certain of it. But isnʼt love supposed to come before lust? It does in the dictionary.

Franny Billingsley

Lust, Doe, Asking

3 Copy quote
It wasn't quite a question. It was more of an invitation to tell him whatever I chose. Eldric game me a choice, and it was this that made me want to tell him everything.

Franny Billingsley

Games, Choices, Want

3 Copy quote
It's strange how a person can have a distinct distaste for herself, but still she clutches on to life.

Franny Billingsley

Strange, Clutch, Persons

Franny Billingsley (2013). “Chime”, p.92, A&C Black

3 Copy quote
I have some questions about betrayal,” I said. “Think about this: A person who calls you his best friend, and says he has dinner plans with you, goes off with a beautiful woman, saying he’ll be back directly, then makes you wait half an hour because he’s kissing the woman in the alley. Is that betrayal?” “Oh, Lord.” Eldric tossed back his wine.

Franny Billingsley

Beautiful, Betrayal, Wine

Franny Billingsley (2011). “Chime”, p.161, Penguin

3 Copy quote
I might be a wicked girl who'd think nothing of eating a baby for breakfast, but I'd never allow myself to get expelled. It's far too public.

Franny Billingsley

Girl, Baby, Thinking

Franny Billingsley (2013). “Chime”, p.18, A&C Black

3 Copy quote
Father’s silence is not merely the absence of sound. It’s a creature with a life of its own. It chokes you. It pinches you small as a grain of rice. It twists in your gut like a worm. Silence clawed at my throat. It left a taste of burnt matches.

Franny Billingsley

Father, Silence, Twists

Franny Billingsley (2011). “Chime”, p.15, Penguin

3 Copy quote
A poem doesn’t come out and tell you what it has to say. It circles back on itself, eating its own tail and making you guess what it means.

Franny Billingsley

Mean, Circles, Tails

Franny Billingsley (2013). “Chime”, p.5, A&C Black

3 Copy quote
It's one thing to keep secrets. It's quite another to lie.

Franny Billingsley

Lying, Secret, One Thing

Franny Billingsley (2013). “Chime”, p.261, A&C Black

3 Copy quote
Despite her cough, Rose was in unusually good spirits. That was irritating. If I’m to trade my life for Rose’s, I’d appreciate her exhibiting a touch of melancholy. Also acceptable would be despair.

Franny Billingsley

Appreciate, Rose, Despair

Franny Billingsley (2011). “Chime”, p.65, Penguin

3 Copy quote
Let’s hope she’s like the others, who look only at the surface. Let’s hope she’d never think that a girl with black-velvet eyes and cut-glass cheekbones could be a witch.

Franny Billingsley

Girl, Eye, Cutting

Franny Billingsley (2013). “Chime”, p.152, A&C Black

9 Copy quote
You don’t mind when he stares at you.” Cecil jerked his head toward Eldric. "He doesn’t stare,” I said. “He looks.

Franny Billingsley

Mind, Looks, Said

Franny Billingsley (2013). “Chime”, p.147, A&C Black

3 Copy quote
My own mask stayed just where it ought. I’ve had lots of practice.

Franny Billingsley

Practice, Mask, Ought

Franny Billingsley (2013). “Chime”, p.137, A&C Black

3 Copy quote
Father sighed. “Please spare me these arguments of yours.” “Whose arguments should I use?

Franny Billingsley

Father, Use, Argument

Franny Billingsley (2011). “Chime”, p.87, Penguin

3 Copy quote
Now that’s true poetic irony. I rush into battle to defend the fair name of Rose Larkin, and what does she do but fetch Robert to stop me.

Franny Billingsley

Names, Rose, Battle

Franny Billingsley (2013). “Chime”, p.105, A&C Black

3 Copy quote
Did I kill him?” I said. “No, miss,” said Robert. “Pity.

Franny Billingsley

Missing, Pity, Said

Franny Billingsley (2013). “Chime”, p.106, A&C Black

3 Copy quote
Secrets press inside a person. They press the way water presses at a dam. The secrets and the water, they both want to get out.

Franny Billingsley

Water, Secret, Dams

Franny Billingsley (2013). “Chime”, p.133, A&C Black

3 Copy quote
Poor Petey. I’d like to say I could almost feel a tender spot for poor Petey, but the truth is I’d rather feel at the tender spot on his head and give it a poke.

Franny Billingsley

Giving, Truth Is, Poor

Franny Billingsley (2013). “Chime”, p.112, A&C Black

3 Copy quote
Life and stories are alike in one way: They are full of hollows. The king and queen have no children: They have a child hollow. The girl has a wicked stepmother: She has a mother hollow. In a story, a baby comes along to fill the child hollow. But in life, the hollows continue empty.

Franny Billingsley

Girl, Mother, Baby

Franny Billingsley (2013). “Chime”, p.160, A&C Black

3 Copy quote

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Born: July 3, 1954
Occupation: Author
Cite this Page: Citation

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