The function of a book or a poem or a story is to delight, to enchant, to beguile.
Philip PullmanRead
Stories are the most important thing in the world. Without stories, we wouldn't be human beings at all.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Stories define our humanity and are integral to our existence.
This quote by Philip Pullman emphasizes the fundamental role that stories play in shaping human identity and culture. It suggests that storytelling is not merely a form of entertainment but a vital aspect of what makes us human, as it connects us to our emotions, experiences, and shared histories, allowing us to understand ourselves and each other deeply.
Themes
StoriesHumanityIdentityCultureNarrative
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the power of literature, one might say, 'As Philip Pullman once stated, stories are the most important thing in the world.'
More from Philip Pullman
All quotes βEducation and health were always matters of charity. You educated children and you helped the sick because they were good things to do, not because you were going to make money out of them. If you let the money-making principle, the profit-seeking motive, anywhere near education and health, things go bad.
Philip PullmanRead
To get the best out of life here ...Good grief. There's plenty of it about, so indulge. Give yourself some thing to remember. Fall in love. Fall out of love. Gamble. Get drunk. See how long you can stay awake. Go for long walks at night. Discover what you're afraid of doing, and then do it.
Philip PullmanRead
People should decide on the books' meanings for themselves. They'll find a story that attacks such things as cruelty, oppression, intolerance, unkindness, narrow-mindedness, and celebrates love, kindness, open-mindedness, tolerance, curiosity, human intelligence.
Philip PullmanRead
I told him I was going to betray you, and betray Lyra, and he believed me because I was corrupt and full of wickedness; he looked so deep I felt sure he'd see the truth. But I lied too well. I was lying with every nerve and fiber and everything I'd ever done...I wanted him to find no good in me, and he didn't. There is none.
Philip PullmanRead
Lyra learns to her great cost that fantasy isnβt enough. She has been lying all her life, telling stories to people, making up fantasies, and suddenly she comes to a point where thatβs not enough. All she can do is tell the truth. She tells the truth about her childhood, about the experiences she had in Oxford, and that is what saves her. True experience, not fantasy - reality, not lies - is what saves us in the end.
Philip PullmanRead
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I spend a lot of my time talking to the dead, but since I get paid for it, no one thinks I'm mad.
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Someone said to me, early on in film school... if you can photograph the human face you can photograph anything, because that is the most difficult and most interesting thing to photograph.
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I never expected to become a director. It never occurred to me to come to America, to Hollywood. It's all been a wonderful accident. I'm still amazed every time I finish a film.
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