“I have stolen ideas from every book I have ever read. My principle in researching for a novel is ‘Read like a butterfly, write like a bee’, and if this story contains any honey, it is entirely because of the quality of the nectar I found in the work of better writers.” – Philip Pullman on His Dark Materials (a rich, powerful, magnificent work).
“I’d made myself believe that I was fine and happy and fulfilled on my own without the love of anyone else. Being in love was like China: you knew it was there, and no doubt it was very interesting, and some people went there, but I never would. I’d spend all my life without going to China, but it wouldn’t matter, because there was all the rest of the world to visit.” – Philip Pullman, The Amber Spyglass, p466.
