Lyra learns to her great cost that fantasy isnโt enough. She has been lying all her life, telling stories to people, making up fantasies, and suddenly she comes to a point where thatโs not enough. All she can do is tell the truth. She tells the truth about her childhood, about the experiences she had in Oxford, and that is what saves her. True experience, not fantasy - reality, not lies - is what saves us in the end.
Philip PullmanOne 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.
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 PullmanIf you want something you can have it, but only if you want everything that goes with it, including all the hard work and the despair, and only if you're willing to risk failure.
Philip Pullman