Life is hard . . . but we cling to it all the same

Stories are the most important thing in the world. Without stories, we wouldn't be human beings at all.

Lyra learns to her great cost that fantasy isn’t enough. She has been lying all her life, telling stories to people, making up fantasies, and suddenly she comes to a point where that’s 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.

It’s like having to make a choice: a blessing or a curse. The one thing you can’t do is choose neither.

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

We shouldn't live as if [other worlds] mattered more than this life in this world, because where we are is always the most important place.

The first ghost to leave the world of the dead was Roger. He took a step forward, and turned to look back at Lyra, and laughed in surprise as he found himself turning into the night, the starlight, the air. . .and then he was gone, leaving behind such a vivid little burst of happiness.