It's only through honesty and courage that science can work at all. The Ptolemaic understanding of the solar system was undermined and corrected by the constant pressure of more and more honest reporting. Philip Pullman More Quotes by Philip Pullman More Quotes From Philip Pullman Writing is tyranny ... but reading is democracy. Philip Pullman democracyreadingwriting Argue with anything else, but don't argue with your own nature. Philip Pullman arguing A professional writer is someone who writes just as well when they're not inspired as when they are. Philip Pullman inspiredwellswriting You'll drift apart, it's true, but you'll be out in the open, part of everything alive again. Philip Pullman alive As for what it's against - the story is against those who pervert and misuse religion, or any other kind of doctrine with a holy book and a priesthood and an apparatus of power that wields unchallengeable authority, in order to dominate and suppress human freedoms. Philip Pullman doctrineorderbook Religion begins in story. Yes, it does, because religion is an attempt to make sense of what is incomprehensible to us, what is inexplicable, what is awe-inspiring, what is frightening, what moves us to great wonder, and so on. That is the religious impulse, and it is part of our psychological makeup -- of everyone's psychological makeup. Philip Pullman makeupreligiousmoving Life is hard . . . but we cling to it all the same Philip Pullman life-is-hardhardlife-is No one has the right to live without being shocked. Philip Pullman shockedfreedom-of-speech She was riding a bear! And the Aurora was swaying above them in golden arcs and loops, and all around was the bitter Arctic cold and the immense silence of the North. Philip Pullman auroraridingsilence There's a hunger for stories in all of us, adults too. We need stories so much that we're even willing to read bad books to get them, if the good books won't supply them. Philip Pullman adultsbookneeds I am a religious person, although I am not a believer. Philip Pullman believerpersonsreligious We measure the value of a civilized society by the number of #‎ libraries it opens, not the number it closes down. Philip Pullman civilized-societylibrarynumbers We shouldn't live as if [other worlds] mattered more than this life in this world, because where we are is always the most important place. Philip Pullman other-worldsthis-worldimportant People should decide on the books' meanings for themselves. They'll find a story that attacks such things as cruelty, oppression, intolerance, unkindness, narrow-mindedness, and celebrates love, kindness, open-mindedness, tolerance, curiosity, human intelligence. Philip Pullman kindnessbookpeople We are all subject to the fates. But we must all act as if we are not, or die of despair...death will sweep through all the worlds; it will be the triumph of despair, forever. The universes will all become nothing more than interlocking machines, blind and empty of thought, feeling, life... Philip Pullman fateforeverfeelings There will be days when the stuff is not flowing freely. What you do then is MAKE IT UP! Philip Pullman stuff And barely ten minutes later the soft sound of wingbeats came to their ears, and Balthamos stood up eagerly. The next moment, the two angels were embracing, and Will, gazing into the flames, saw their mutual affection. More than affection: they loved each other with a passion. Philip Pullman passionangellove There's some that came here never believing they were dead. They insisted all the way that they were alive, it was a mistake, someone would have to pay; made no difference. There's others who longed to be dead when they were alive, poor souls; lives full of pain or misery; killed themselves for a chance of a blessed rest, and found that nothing had changed except for the worse, and this time there was no escape; you can't make yourself alive again. Philip Pullman painmistakebelieve I don't profess any religion; I don't think it's possible that there is a God.... My books are about killing God. Philip Pullman killingbookthinking Stories are the most important thing in the world. Without stories, we wouldn't be human beings at all. Philip Pullman importantstoriesworld