Quotes from Diana Wynne Jones

They knew that if, as a child, you do pluck up the courage to hit a bully, it is an act of true heroism--as great as that of Beowulf in his old age.

Sophie looked up at him. As she had feared, the hard black-and-white daylight coming through the broken wall showed her that Howl had not bothered to shave or tidy his hair.

I thank you for giving me ten times my former speed.

I didn't ask to be a witch.' Chrestomanci looked at him with faint, chilly surprise. 'Didn't you?' The way he said it made Charles actually wonder, for a moment, if he had somehow chosen to be born a witch.

Now there, Charles,' said Chrestomanci, 'you have an excellent example quite apart from rights and wrongs, of why it is such a bad idea to do things to people. Everyone is now sorry for Simon. Which is not what you want at all, is it?

The job Chrestomanci has is to make sure this world isn't run entirely by witches. Ordinary people have rights too.

you may not want to visit Series Eight, a bleak and stony world, or Series Six, where the worlds are covered in ice. And don't be fooled by Series Eleven, as it's not a Series at all, but just one world. But you may like Series Five, with its islands and mermaids. And if you're looking for a good cup of hot chocolate, Series Nine is the place for you.

Really, Wizard Derk, this place is like a pigsty! she said. Derk settled more comfortably among the pigs. It is a pigsty, he said.

Sophie lut: « Va prendre l'étoile tombée Et fais enfanter la mandragore, cette racine pure. Dis-moi où sont donc les années écoulées Ou qui du diable le sabot fend. Apprends-moi à entendre des sirènes le chant Ou à retenir de l'envie les morsures Et trouve céans Quel bon vent Permet à l'esprit honnête d'aller de l'avant. Décide de ce qu'il en est Et le second couplet toi-mémé écriras. »

Imogen relaxed a little. She dared to sit up. "Cart's blood sugar is low in the mornings," she explained to Fenella. "Is that what it's called?" said Fenella. "I thought it was bad temper.

Pudgy is comfortable," said Julia. "It must be a nuisance to look like a china doll, the way you do.

Dans le pays d'Ingary, où des choses étonnantes comme les bottes de sept lieues et les capes d'invisibilité existent bel et bien, c'est une véritable calamité que d'être l'aîné de trois enfants ; chacun sait que vous serez le premier à échouer, si d'aventure vous décidiez d'aller chercher fortune.

People with nine lives are very important and very rare. They only happen when, for one reason or another, there are no counterparts of them living in any other world. Then the lives that would have been spread out over a whole set of worlds get concentrated in one person. And so do all the talents that those other eight people might have had.

Pero ahora se daba cuenta de que había cosas que solo era capaz de hacer cuando ya no le quedaba ninguna excusa.

You know the way they have mouths that don't seem to smile in the same way as normal people's.

It just lies behind the slightly more normal things I do do. This sense that most people are crazy, if you look deep enough. Adults particularly, and children have to deal with them.

It's like life," Clennen said. "You may wonder what goes on inside, but what matters is the look of it and the kind of performance we give.

I asked you for Hobbits on a grail quest, and not one Hobbit have I seen!

THE OLD LAB was not used for anything much except detention. But there was still a faint smell of old science clinging to it, from generations of experiments which had gone wrong.

You can tell them you're a Homeward Bounder.

He is real, in his own way, Ann pointed out. After all, what's real? How do you know I'm real, or if you are?

Por qué será que siempre que voy a Gales vuelvo con un resfriado! —gimió Howl, y se conjuró un montón de pañuelos a la vez.

You don't give hired assassins supper, do you?" Quentin smiled. "No, but when a wolf follows your sleigh, you give it meat," he

That's right, dear. We must all hunt for the pussy." She turned to the crowd with a witch's piercing scream. "Hunt for pussy, everyone!