Philip Pullman Quotes & Sayings

“We don't need lists of rights and wrongs, tables of do's and don'ts: we need books, time, and silence. Thou shalt not is soon forgotten, but Once upon a time lasts forever.”

“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.”

“True education flowers at the point when delight falls in love with responsibility.”

“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.”

“Argue with anything else, but don't argue with your own nature.”

“For that reason you can't write with music playing, and anyone who says he can is either writing badly, or not listening to the music, or lying. You need to hear what you're writing, and for that you need silence.”

“If you can't think of what to write, tough luck; write anyway. If you can think of lots more when you've finished the three pages, don't write it; it'll be that much easier to get going next day.”

“Everything has a meaning, if only we could read it.”

“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.”

“For a long time I thought I was a poet, but that's a high title to claim.”