We are all subject to the fates. But we must act as if we are not, or die of despair.

When he'd sworn at her and been sworn at in return, they became great friends.

She had asked: What is he? A friend or an enemy? The alethiometer answered: He is a murderer. When she saw the answer, she relaxed at once. He could find food, and show her how to reach Oxford, and those were powers that were useful, but he might still have been untrustworthy or cowardly. A murderer was a worthy companion. She felt as safe with him as she'd done with Iorek Byrnison the armoured bear.

I thought physics could be done to the glory of God, till I saw there wasn’t any God at all and that physics was more interesting anyway. The Christian religion is a very powerful and convincing mistake, that’s all.

I will love you for ever, whatever happens. Till I die and after I die, and when I find my way out of the land of the dead I'll drift about forever, all my atoms, till I find you again.

For a human being, nothing comes naturally,' said Grumman. 'We have to learn everything we do.

When you choose one way out of many, all the ways you don't take are snuffed out like candles, as if they'd never existed.