Philip Pullman Quotes
-
That's the duty of the old, to be anxious on behalf of the young. And the duty of the young is to scorn the anxiety of the old.
-
It was all very well, the alethiometer telling her to be truthful, but she knew what would happen if she told the whole truth. She had to tread carefully and just avoid direct lies.
-
You cannot change what you are, only what you do.
-
Being in love was like China: you knew it was there, and no doubt it was very interesting, and some people went there, but I never would. I'd spend all my life without ever going to China, but it wouldn't matter, because there was all the rest of the world to visit.
-
I'm trying to undermine the basis of Christian belief.
-
What Asriel's done has shaken everything up, Mr. Scoresby, shaken it more profoundly than it's ever been shaken before. These doorways and windows that I spoke of - they open in unexpected places now. It's hard to navigate, but this wind is a fair one.
-
The security services are alarmed. Every nation that does research into fundamental physics - what we call experimental theology - is turning to its scientists urgently to discover what's going on. Because they know that something is happening. And they suspect it has to do with other worlds.
-
Every government secretary of state or minister should jolly well go to the theatre, go to a concert, go to an art gallery, go to a museum, become somehow interested in these things. If they're not interested, they shouldn't be in government, full stop.
-
'We are all subject to the fates. But we must all act as if we are not,' said the witch, 'or die of despair.'
-
The Master of Jordan College is a foolish old man. Why he gave it to her I can't imagine; you need several years of intensive study to make any sense of it at all.
-
I love the way ravens fly; they are the most acrobatic and daring birds.
-
The lizard dragged the priest’s body back to her nest, and her children feasted very well. As for the rifle, it lay in the grass where Father Gomez had laid it down, quietly turning to rust.
-
'She is the goddess of the dead. She comes to you smiling and kindly, and you know it is time to die.'
-
How can I just go and sit in the library or somewhere and twiddle my thumbs, knowing what's going to happen? I don't intend to do that, I promise you.