Susan Hill Quotes

Powerful Susan Hill for Daily Growth

About Susan Hill

Susan Hill (born 5 December 1942) is a celebrated English author known for her gothic novels, short stories, and plays. Born in Hampstead, London, Hill developed a love for storytelling at an early age, often listening to ghost stories on the radio during her childhood. This fascination with the supernatural would later become a defining element of her work. After attending St Hugh's College, Oxford, she worked as a teacher before venturing into journalism, contributing to various publications including The Guardian and The Sunday Times. In 1972, Hill published her debut novel, "Cure for Love," which was followed by several others. However, it was her third novel, "The Legend of the Pale Horse" (1983), that brought her widespread recognition. Hill's most famous work is arguably the ghost story "The Woman in Black" (1983). Adapted into a successful stage play and later a film, this chilling tale follows solicitor Arthur Kipps as he deals with the ghost of a vengeful woman haunting a remote house. The novel has been hailed as one of the finest examples of contemporary supernatural fiction. In addition to her gothic novels, Hill has written several other critically acclaimed works, including the Arthur Munby mysteries, a series of detective stories set in Victorian England. Her work often explores themes of isolation, memory, and the power of the past, reflecting both her love for historical settings and her interest in the human psyche. Today, Susan Hill continues to write and has been awarded numerous honors for her contributions to literature. Her enduring popularity and the enduring appeal of her most famous creation, the Woman in Black, ensure her place as a prominent figure in English literary history.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"We are all haunted, in one way or another."

This quote by Susan Hill suggests that everyone experiences some form of emotional burden or struggle, a "haunting" that may manifest differently for each individual. These burdens can stem from personal issues, past traumas, fears, regrets, or unresolved conflicts. The phrase serves as a reminder that we all carry something within us that affects our thoughts, feelings, and actions in life. Understanding and acknowledging these hauntings can help individuals work through them and grow, fostering empathy and compassion towards others who may be similarly affected.

"Fear can be a good thing, as long as it keeps you on your toes."

This quote by Susan Hill suggests that fear, when used constructively, can serve as a useful tool for staying alert and vigilant in our surroundings or situations. It implies that the unease brought about by fear can prompt individuals to take extra precautions, make better decisions, or act more prudently. In essence, it underscores the importance of being mindful and aware of potential dangers or risks to ensure one's safety and well-being.

"The darkness holds an energy that is not evil but necessary, like the dark of the earth."

This quote suggests that darkness, often associated with negativity or fear, can also be seen as a crucial and powerful force, similar to the depths of the earth. It implies that just as the earth's darkness is essential for growth and nourishment, so too does the metaphorical 'darkness' in our lives provide necessary perspectives, experiences, and opportunities for personal growth and understanding.

"I have always believed that to love at all is to be vulnerable."

This quote suggests that loving someone exposes oneself to potential emotional pain, as vulnerability means being open, exposed, and susceptible to harm or injury. However, this exposure is a necessary part of loving, because to withhold one's heart from another person is to prevent the full expression of love. The quote emphasizes that love requires courage and trust, acknowledging that it carries risks but also offers immense rewards.

"People can't look at something for too long without becoming a part of it."

This quote by Susan Hill suggests that extended exposure to anything can lead to an intimate connection or identity with it. Over time, our focus, interest, or involvement deepens, causing us to become increasingly associated with the object, situation, or idea we are observing. This concept is particularly relevant in areas like art, science, and relationships, where sustained engagement often fosters a sense of belonging or transformation.

The one thing the Victorians really believed in was philanthropy. I think we've forgotten the obligation to be philanthropic. I think we need smaller government, but I want to make it clear I'm not the Sarah Palin of the Cotswolds.

- Susan Hill

I Think, Smaller, Sarah

If you were writing a short ghost story, I would say start very quietly and go, 'One, two, three jump.' Or start with a jump and make it jumpier. But with a long story, it must have rises and falls.

- Susan Hill

Two, Three, Very, Long Story

I was taught to whistle as a little girl by an undertaker. I used to sit in his workshop, watching him planing wood for the coffins, and he used to whistle all the time - and eventually I started whistling, too. I can whistle anything, particularly trumpet tunes from Classic FM.

- Susan Hill

Used, Whistling, Eventually, Whistle

It's easy to write a short story and frighten people for five pages, but to work at length, when you do it as in 'The Turn Of The Screw' or 'A Christmas Carol,' it's different; you have to build it and build it.

- Susan Hill

Work, Turn, Length, Carol

It would be difficult to write a convincing ghost story set on a sunny day in a big city.

- Susan Hill

Big, Ghost, Set, Big City

Though they don't always have to be set in fog, weather is incredibly important in ghost stories. As is suspense: you've got to turn the screw very, very slowly.

- Susan Hill

Always, Very, Set, Screw

I have only read very classic traditional English ghost stories, other than Henry James, who wrote some magnificent short ones as well as the longer 'Turn of the Screw.' He, Dickens, and M.R. James are my influences.

- Susan Hill

Some, Other, Very, Screw

I don't understand it when people get cross about how one of their works was adapted and say, 'Oh, they ruined it!' Well, the book is still there.

- Susan Hill

Book, Still, Works, Adapted

Certainly with a book, people are going to be able to read it and give themselves permission to have that delicious feeling of being terrified because they're in a safe place while they're reading. That's what you can rely on as a writer, that people can let themselves be really frightened because they're really all right.

- Susan Hill

Book, Themselves, While, Frightened

I don't really do jolly. I don't know why, I just don't.

- Susan Hill

Know, Why, Just, Jolly

I wrote ghost stories because I'd always enjoyed reading them, and they seemed to be fizzling out... I don't take them terribly seriously. It's like a cake, with ingredients.

- Susan Hill

Always, Stories, Seemed, Ingredients

Every reader re-creates a novel - in their own imagination, anyway. It's only entirely the writer's when nobody else has read it.

- Susan Hill

Own, Read, Reader, Entirely

I was an only child who was never really good at anything else. I had no other option. I could write; I wanted to write; I wrote. Otherwise, I was unemployable.

- Susan Hill

Other, Could, Otherwise, Only Child

Theology is endlessly interesting in that you can study it without believing in anything. I do believe, but you don't have to. I got very caught up in the 11th-century monasticism and the Cistercians. My dissertation was about Aelred of Rievaulx and one of his books.

- Susan Hill

Caught, Very, Endlessly, Dissertation

In another life I would be a medievalist. I loved Chaucer, far more than Shakespeare.

- Susan Hill

Loved, Far, Would, Shakespeare

Without turning prison life into something more meaningful, prisoners are more likely to reoffend.

- Susan Hill

More, Turning, Likely, Prisoners

The New Testament is about loving other people as you love yourself. That means caring for them and looking after them and being kind to them.

- Susan Hill

Love, New, Means, Love Yourself

Flashback in film rarely works.

- Susan Hill

Film, Works, Rarely, Flashback

I'm not one of those people who hates Amazon because they're big. Why pay a third more for the same thing?

- Susan Hill

Big, More, Same Thing, Amazon

A lot of writers want everything put on screen, but it doesn't work like that. The screenwriter brings her own imaginative interpretation, just as the director and actors do.

- Susan Hill

Work, Like, Screenwriter, Imaginative

Love has an enormous number of connotations, and if somebody is a person who does kind acts as a way of life, if they are generally disposed to being caring and loving and doing things for other people, then kindness is a much stronger word than we make it out to be.

- Susan Hill

Love, Doing, Other, Generally

Once you finish a book, you let it go out into the world to seek its fortune.

- Susan Hill

World, Fortune, Once, Finish

Yorkshire is so much part of me.

- Susan Hill

Me, Part, Much, Yorkshire

I've never written poetry. I'm not a poet, but I think the nearest you get is either the short story or the novella, in that you can't waste a word. There is no hiding place: everything's got to be seen to relate, and the prose counts.

- Susan Hill

I Think, Counts, Short Story, Poet

Films always make everyone else rich save the author.

- Susan Hill

Always, Films, Everyone Else, Author

Kindness is a sort of love without being love.

- Susan Hill

Love, Sort, Being, Kindness

If you're searching for quotes on a different topic, feel free to browse our Topics page or explore a diverse collection of quotes from various Authors to find inspiration.