A professional writer is someone who writes just as well when they're not inspired as when they are. Philip Pullman More Quotes by Philip Pullman More Quotes From Philip Pullman True education flowers at the point when delight falls in love with responsibility. Philip Pullman true-lovefalling-in-loveflower One curious thing about growing up is that you don't only move forward in time; you move backwards as well, as pieces of your parents' and grandparents' lives come to you. Philip Pullman grandparentgrowing-upmoving You cannot change what you are, only what you do. Philip Pullman being-yourselflife-changingchange I'll be looking for you, Will, every moment, every single moment. And when we do find each other again, we'll cling together so tight that nothing and no one'll ever tear us apart. Every atom of me and every atom of you... We'll live in birds and flowers and dragonflies and pine trees and in clouds and in those little specks of light you see floating in sunbeams... And when they use our atoms to make new lives, they wont' just be able to take one, they'll have to take two, one of you and one of me, we'll be joined so tight. Philip Pullman lightflowerclouds I stopped believing there was a power of good and a power of evil that were outside us. And I came to believe that good and evil are names for what people do, not for what they are. Philip Pullman nameslifebelieve A story, to me, has a particular sprite, like the angel of the spirit of that story - and it's my job to attend to what it wants to do. Philip Pullman angelstoriesjobs I'm for open-mindedness and tolerance. I'm against any form of fanaticism, fundamentalism or zealotry, and this certainty of 'We have the truth.' The truth is far too large and complex. Nobody has the truth. Philip Pullman truth-istoleranceform If you want something you can have it, but only if you want everything that goes with it, including all the hard work and the despair, and only if you're willing to risk failure. Philip Pullman want-somethingriskhard-work The idea hovered and shimmered delicately, like a soap bubble, and she dared not even look at it directly in case it burst. But she was familiar with the way of ideas, and she let it shimmer, looking away, thinking about something else. Philip Pullman soap-bubblesideasthinking This is the value for me of writing books that children read. Children aren't interested in your appalling self-consciousness. They want to know what happens next. They force you to tell a story. Philip Pullman writingbookchildren 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. Philip Pullman anxietymaturityyoung There are some themes, some subjects, too large for adult fiction; they can only be dealt with adequately in a children's book. Philip Pullman adultsbookchildren Maybe sometimes we don't do the right thing because the wrong thing looks more dangerous, and we don't want to look scared, so we go and do the wrong thing just because it's dangerous. We're more concerned with not looking scared than with judging right. Philip Pullman judgingfearlooks I have stolen ideas from every book I have ever read. Philip Pullman stolenbookideas As Jane Austen might have put it: It is a truth universally acknowledged that young protagonists in search of adventure must ditch their parents. Philip Pullman parentwritingadventure I don't know where my ideas come from, but I know where they come to. They come to my desk, and if I'm not there, they go away again. Philip Pullman going-awaywritingideas People are too complicated to have simple labels. Philip Pullman labelssimplepeople When you choose one way out of many, all the ways you don't take are snuffed out like candles, as if they'd never existed. Philip Pullman you-choosephilosophyway I have maintained a passionate interest in education, which leads me occasionally to make foolish and ill-considered remarks alleging that not everything is well in our schools. My main concern is that an over-emphasis on testing and league tables has led to a lack of time and freedom for a true, imaginative and humane engagement with literature. Philip Pullman passionateleagueschool 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. Philip Pullman knowinglovetravel
