Quotes from Kate Forsyth

Since the moment I could hold a pencil, I have spent nearly all day every day writing. And there is not an age group that I have not written for. You can read me from birth 'til death.

Storytelling is as old as speech. It existed before humans first began to carve shapes in stones and press their hands upon the rocky walls of caves.

The dried yellow petals of St. John's wort, which Old Marie called 'chase-devil' for the way it could drive the megrims away. Gaudy calendula, bright as the sun. Sweet-smelling lemon balm, guaranteed to lift the spirits with its aroma alone.

The whole reason for telling the fairy tales is to awaken the heart. To help people believe that misfortune can be overcome and evil conquered.

What's wrong with writing about love? Everybody longs for love.

War is an unpredictable beast. Once unleashed, it runs like a rabid dog, ravening friend or foe alike. It can drag on for years, a slow attrition of nerve and fortitude, or be over in one brilliant flash, an extravagant conflagration of flame and blood and waste.

What they do no' understand, they fear, and they hate what makes them afraid, for they think it is a sign o' weakness.

Dortchen was called the wild one because one day, when she was seven years old, she had got lost in the forest. She had wandered off to a far-distant glade where a willow tree trailed its branches in a pool of water. Dortchen crept within the shadowy tent of its branches and found a green palace. She wove herself a crown of willow tendrils and collected pebbles and flowers to be her jewels. At last, worn out, she lay down on a velvet bed of moss and fell asleep.

My writing tools were my most precious belongings. My best quill pen was made from a raven's feather . . . I was often so poor that I could not pay my mantua-maker, but I always invested in the best ink and parchment. I smoothed it with pumice stone till it was as white and fine as my own skin, ready to absorb the rapid scratching of my quill

Seasickness… is caused… by the disturbance… to the inner ear " he said. " You just need… to… look… at… the horizon…" His last words disappeared as he vomited violently over the side of the boat. "What's wrong " "Doctor Death is seasick.

These things you know." Scarlett shook her head in a mock amazement. "Where do you get all this stuff from " "Books you know the things made from words printed on paper and bound together. Im sure you must have seen one even if you've never opened one " Max said. "Ha ha very funny " Scarlett said. Hannah found she had remembered how to smile.

and what do you think true love is? her father had asked her. 'Loving even when all hope is gone,' she had answered.

If we want a better world, we must never cease to think about what kind of world we want... and we must not be afraid to do whatever it takes to make the world the way it should be. It is not enough just to talk. We must act!

Stories cannot exist without a storyteller.

Dortchen ducked through a gap in the trees, following a winding path to a small grove of old linden trees, their branches hanging with heavy creamy-white flowers. A hedge of briar roses, with delicate pink-white flowers blooming among the thorns, shielded them from the eyes of anyone walking past. The garden was alive with birdsong. A blackbird looked at her with a cheeky eye, then hopped away to search for worms. The scent of the linden blossoms was intoxicating.

Had she been broken and healed all awry, like a bone that had not been properly set?

Fairy tales ... give us hope that we can somehow be saved, rescued, healed. Transformed in some way for the better. As we travel with the fairy tale protagonist through the dark and dangerous forest, as we suffer with them and triumph with them, we follow them back into the brightness of a world renewed. Fairy tales are an instruction manual for psychological healing.

Fairy tales are not just for children. They are for all humans, having the power to help us change not only ourselves but, indeed, the whole world.

If you are brave of heart, sharp of wit, strong of spirit and steadfast of purpose, there is nothing you cannot achieve

I want to stay here and think about the secret door.' 'You can think about it on the way. That's the beautiful thing about the secret door. You can open it anywhere, any time.' In later years, the court ladies often laughed behind their fans at the Dauphin, saying cruelly that he could spend a whole day tapping his cane against his foot and staring into space. I knew, though, that he was building castles in the air.

Soeur Seraphina gently removed my lace fontanges. It was named for the King's mistress Angelique de Fontanges, who had lost her hat while hunting one day and had hastily tied up her curls with her garter. The King had admired the effect, and the next day all the court ladies had appeared with their curls tied back with lace

Margherita stared at the mask. It was painted bright yellow and marked with little copper-colored circles to suggest florets. White petals streaked with gold radiated out in all directions. Long golden eyelashes fringed the eye slits, and the mouth was painted as a big happy smile. 'La sua bella,' she whispered, her lisp more pronounced than ever.

I have always had a deep love of fairytales and fairytale retellings. As well as the power to enchant and entertain, I believe that the old wonder tales can help us work through the deep internal conflicts that beset us all as we grow to adulthood.

I have been fascinated with fairy tales ever since I was first given a red leather-bound copy of Grimm's Fairy Tales when I was just seven years old. Of all the stories of beauty and peril and adventure within its pages, it was the story of 'Rapunzel' that resonated with me most powerfully.