Disney is a huge presence when it comes to fairy tales because heโs made of them such brilliant artifacts in terms of movie-making. But itโs very hard to ignore what heโs done to them. I'm not interested in denigrating Disney or even commenting on him very much. I'm more interested in seeing what I can do with the stories myself.
Philip PullmanI thought physics could be done to the glory of God, till I saw there wasnโt any God at all and that physics was more interesting anyway. The Christian religion is a very powerful and convincing mistake, thatโs all.
Philip PullmanThere's a hunger for stories in all of us, adults too. We need stories so much that we're even willing to read bad books to get them, if the good books won't supply them.
Philip PullmanIf I'm reading something I happen to know and gets it wrong, I just don't trust the book any more. What I ask of a novel I'm reading is that it should know a fraction more about the things I know than I do. When I'm writing...I ask myself: would I be convinced by this if I read it? If I knocked against this bit of scenery, would it feel solid?
Philip PullmanAll 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 Pullman