He tried to give his wife pleasure in little ways, because he had come to realize, after nearly two decades together, how often he disappointed her in the big things. It was never intentional. They simply had very different notions of what ought to take up most space in life.

In dreams, we enter a world that’s entirely our own.

I am the freest author in the world.

I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even put a stopper on death.

Sirius looked slightly disconcerted for a moment, then said, "I'll look for him later, I expect I'll find him upstairs crying his eyes out over my mother's old bloomers or something... Of course, he might have crawled into the airing cupboard and died... But I mustn't get my hopes up.

I've been writing my entire life, and I'll always write.

there is plenty to be learned even from a bad teacher: what not to do, how not to be