All the stories of the Bible that I know came to me first from my grandfather's lips... He would see stories in everything. He told stories very easily and very generously, so I loved him for that. He was a simple man, a Victorian; he was born in 1890-something. He saw no reason and had never seen any reason to question his Christian faith. His faith was strong and simple and that's it. And I, like his other grandchildren and the children in his parish, sheltered underneath it.
Philip PullmanJust finished 'Secrecy' - truly enthralling both as a love story and as a tale of suspense - but much more than both.
Philip PullmanWe 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.
Philip PullmanFor a human being, nothing comes naturally,' said Grumman. 'We have to learn everything we do.
Philip PullmanCorruption and envy and lust for power. Cruelty and coldness. A vicious probing curiousity. Pure, poisonous, toxic malice. You have never from your earliest years shown a shred of compassion for sympathy or kindness without calculating how it would return to your advantage. You have tortured and killed without regret or hesitation; you have betrayed and intrigued and gloried in your treachery. You are a cess-pit of moral filth.
Philip Pullman