All things from the north are devilish.

So Lyra and her daemon turned away from the world they were born in, and looked toward the sun, and walked into the sky.

That's the duty of the old, to be anxious on behalf of the young. And the duty of the young is to scorn the anxiety of the old.

There are some themes, some subjects, too large for adult fiction; they can only be dealt with adequately in a children's book.

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

If a witch needs something, another witch will give it to her. If there is war to be fought, we don't consider cost one of the factors in deciding whether or not it is right to fight. Nor do we have any notion of honor. An insult to a bear is a deadly thing. To us...inconceivable. How could you insult a witch? What would it matter if you did?

The idea hovered and shimmered delicately, like a soap bubble, and she dared not even look at it directly in case it burst. But she was familiar with the way of ideas, and she let it shimmer, looking away, thinking about something else.