Going to China

...But it gradually seemed to me that I'd made myself believe something that wasn't true. I'd made myself believe that I was fine and happy and fulfilled on my own without the love of anyone else. 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... And I thought: am I really going to spend the rest of my life without feeling that again? I thought: Iwant to go to China. It's full of treasures and strangeness and mysteries and joy.

~Philip Pullman, The Amber Spyglass

Stories

Stories are the most important thing in the world.

Without stories, we wouldn't be human beings at all.

~Philip Pullman

Thoughts

The idea hovered and shivered delicately, like a soap bubble, and she dared not even look at it directly, in case it burst. But she was familiar with the ways of ideas, and she let it shimmer, looking away, thinking about something else.

~Philip Pullman, Northern Lights

Was there only one world after all, which spent its time dreaming of others?
~Philip Pullman
The Subtle Knife