The best way to get kids to read a book is to say: 'This book is not appropriate for your age, and it has all sorts of horrible things in it like sex and death and some really big and complicated ideas, and you're better off not touching it until you're all grown up. I'm going to put it on this shelf and leave the room for a while. Don't open it.
Philip PullmanWe measure the value of a civilized society by the number of #โ libraries it opens, not the number it closes down.
Philip PullmanHuman beings can't see anything without wanting to destroy it. That's original sin. And I'm going to destroy it. Death is going to die.
Philip PullmanMarisa! Marisa!โ The cry was torn from Lord Asriel, and with the snow leopard beside her, with a roaring in her ears, Lyraโs mother stood and found her footing and leapt with all her heart, to hurl herself against the angel and her daemon and her dying lover, and seize those beating wings, and bear them all down together into the abyss.
Philip PullmanThere are some themes, some subjects, too large for adult fiction; they can only be dealt with adequately in a children's book.
Philip PullmanWe need to ensure that children are not forced to waste their time on barren rubbish.
Philip PullmanDisney is a huge presence when it comes to fairy tales because heโs made of them such brilliant artifacts in terms of movie-making. But itโs very hard to ignore what heโs done to them. I'm not interested in denigrating Disney or even commenting on him very much. I'm more interested in seeing what I can do with the stories myself.
Philip Pullman