The truth's not pretty of course. No one likes to look it in the face.

There are not so many mythical creatures from Inkheart.

The sea always filled her with longing, though for what she was never sure.

believe me. Sometimes when life looks to be at its grimmest, there's a light hidden at the heart of things. Clive Barker, Abarat

Second, there are so many magical places in books that you cant go to, like Hogwarts and Middle Earth, so I wanted to set a story in a place where children can actually go.

A library book, I imagine, is a happy book.

You know what they say: When people start burning books they'll soon burn human beings.

Books have to be heavy because the whole world's inside them.

I have two Iceland horses, a very hairy dog called Looney, and a guinea pig.

Which of us has not felt that the character we are reading in the printed page is more real than the person standing beside us?

If I was a book, I would like to be a library book, so I would be taken home by all different sorts of kids.

Embracing change can be daunting, but it is our willingness to do better that makes it worthwhile.

Faithful are the wounds of a friend but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

If there are dreams about a beautiful South Africa, there are also roads that lead to their goal. Two of these roads could be named Goodness and Forgiveness.

Sometimes you just can't walk away from films you're offered, like the Dylan Thomas thing.

The argument about zoning and the presidency of Nigeria is like the philosophical argument of the egg or the hen. Who is older through the evolutionary process, who came first?

Love ought to show itself in deeds more than in words.

Wouldn’t that make a charming epitaph? Here lies Cat. Killed not by fang, but Ferragamos.

We want big directional signs from God. God just wants us to pay attention.

My wife happens to be probably the greatest working woman in comedy. I can't think of anyone who even approaches her achievements and her abilities.

My response is that I love the church.