Garth Nix

“I have never known what to tell anybody. Except that it is better to do something than nothing, even if the cost is great.”

“This? It's a feather-coin. I made it.''What is it for?''It isn't for anything. It's a toy.''It's for annoying people,' said Mogget from Sam's pack. 'If you don't put it away, I shall eat it.”

“...I've been thinking that it's as if my ancestors are saying it's all right to make things. That's what I'm meant to do. Make things, and help the Abhorsen and the King. So I'll do that, and I'll do my best, and if my best isn't good enough, at least I will have done everything I could, everything that is in me. I don't have to try to be someone else, someone I could never be.”

“Your father is angry with me because he thinks I almost got myself killed,' said Sabriel, with a slight grin. 'I don't understand it myself, since I think he should be glad that I didn't.”

“I'll sing you a song of the long ago - Seven shine the shiners, oh!What did the Seven do way back when?Why, they wove the Charter then!Five for the warp, from beginning to end.Two for the woof, to make and mend.That's Seven, but what of the Nine - What of the two who chose not to shine?The Eighth did hide, hide all away,But the Seven caught him and made him pay.The Ninth was strong and fought with might,But lone Orannis was put out of the light,Broken in two and buried under hill,For ever to lie there, wishing us ill.”

“I am Abhorsen..."He looked at the baby again and added, almost with a note of surprise, "Father of Sabriel”

“A hundred hundred heartbeats..." whispered Sabriel, tears falling down her face.”

“A zlo plodí zlo, zlo zamořuje místa a přitahuje k nim další zlé skutky...”

“Volí si stezku chodec, nebo stezka chodce?”

“So I'll do that, and I'll do my best and if my best isn't good enough, at least I will have done everything I could, everything that is in me. I don't have to try to be someone else, someone I could never be.”

“Why, Yrael?” it said, as the last of the dark gave way to silver, and the shining sphere of metal sank slowly to the ground. “Why?”“Life,” said Yrael, who was more Mogget than it ever knew. “Fish and fowl, warm sun and shady trees, the field mice in the wheat, under the cool light of the moon.”

“Sam picked up his pack, but before he could put it on, Mogget leaped onto it and slid under the top flap. All that could be seen of him were his green eyes and one white-furred ear."Remember I advised against this way," he instructed. "Wake me when whatever terrible thing is a about to happen happens, or if it appears I might get wet.”

“‎"It always seemed somehow less real here... a really detailed dream, but sort of washed out, like a thin watercolor. Softer, somehow, even with their electric light and engines and everything. I guess it was because there was hardly any magic.”

“Prepare a crossing party," snapped Horyse. "A single person to cross. Miss Abhorsen, here. And Sergeant, if you or Private Rahise so much as talk in your sleep about what you may have heard here, then you'll be on gravedigging fatigues for the rest of your lives!”

“Alternatives! Probabilities!”

“Arthur sighed and barely managed to whisper, “Key... hold the Hour Hand for... a minute... a minute...”

“But we survived, didn’t we? That makes it an adventure. If you get killed it’s a tragedy.”

“I wish I had adventures like you do,” Leaf said as she traced her finger over the writing on the invitation.“They didn’t feel like adventures,” said Arthur.”

“Is it a lack of faith to be thinking that we’re all going to be slain or captured and sunk into the Hot Lake?” asked one of the four chosen archers.“Yes,” snapped the Carp.”

“I’m not going,” he said. He held up the Third key like a weapon. Sensing his mood, it grew longer and sharper, till he was holding a trident as long as he was tall... “And anyone who tries to make me is going to suffer.” “Twice,” added the voice under the table.”

“Blood trickled down his chin as he was hauled up onto his knees, the golden rope securing his arms behind him and his ankles together. Arthur looked up and saw the fizzing sparkling crown coming down. I’m Arthur Penhaligon, he thought desperately... The crown was wedged tightly upon his head- and Arthur fell silently screaming into darkness.”

“Time and death sleep side by side.”

“I love you," he whispered. "I hope you don't mind.”

“It's always better to be doing.”

“For everyone and everything, there is a time to die. Some do not know it, or would delay it, but its truth cannot be denied. Not when you look into the stars of the ninth gate.”

“I am not afraid," he said to himself.”

“There is never one absolutely right thing to do. All you can do is honor what you believe, accept the consequences of your own actions, and make the best out of what happens.”

“For all my longer works (i.e. the novels) I write chapter outlines so I can have the pleasure of departing from them later on.”

“Let this be my final lesson. Everyone and everything has a time to die.”

“Often, I get the feeling that the story is really happening somewhere and all I'm doing is trying to work out the best way to tell it.”

“Fear and realisation of ignorance, strong medicines against stupid pride.”

“I can see time," whispered Mogget, so softly that his words were lost.”

“Nick shook his head and found to his surprise that he did have tears left after all. He wasn't surprised by a talking cat. The world was crumbling around him and anything could happen.”

“As for you, Private, if you mention a word of this to anyone, I'll feed you to the cat thing here. Understand?""Yum," said Mogget."Yes, sir!" mumbled the telephone operator, his hands shaking as he tried to smother the burning wreckage of his switchboard with a fire blanket.”

“Maybe if I act well enough, I'll come to believe it myself.”

“Even now, she wished she could write a note, push it across the table, and go away to her room. But she was no longer a Second Assistant Librarian of the Great Library of the Clayr. Those days were gone, vanished with everything else that had defined her previous existence and identity.”

“But think of how much worse it would be to sit here, not knowing. Until the Dead choke the Ratterlin and Hedge walks across the dry bed of the river to batter down the door.”

“The visions are fragmented and a dark cloud spreads like spilt ink across the pages of possible futures.”

“Ow do you knock out a Denizen?" asked Suzy. "I tried it myself once or twice, but just hitting them never works.""It is not the force of the blow, but the authority with which it is delivered," quoth the raven.”

“Do not tarry, do not stop, no matter what happens.”

“Fine!" muttered Mogget. "Wet, cold, and full of holes. Another fun day on the river.”

“Choosers will be beggars if the begging's not their choosing.”

“I suppose you could call me...Soot," said the thing. "Yes...Soot. I have breathed it, lived in it, and eaten it for so long that it is a fitting name.""Eaten it?" asked Suzy. "Why eat soot?""Boredom," said Soot.”

“Unhand my tail!" squealed the Will.”

“Since being a prisoner was a definite improvement over being dead, which was what she thought was going to happen when the Loundergs had attacked, Suzy was quite cheerful.”

“I 'ad a toy when I was little,' said Suzy. She frowned for a moment, then added, 'Can't remember what it was. It moved and made me laugh...”

“Knowledge, like all things, is best in moderation," intoned the Will. "Knowing everything means you don't need to think, and that is very dangerous.”

“You are an adventurer!" exclaimed Sylvie. She tore herself away from the window and handed the glasses back to her. "But I suppose that could work. Only, what will happen afterwards?"'I was planning to worry about afterwards when there is an afterwards," replied Leaf. "And I'm not an adventurer. At least not by choice. I've done that once and learned my lesson. No more adventures without knowing what I'm getting into.""They wouldn't be adventures, then," said Sylvie.”

“Yep," said Arthur. Somehow yep seemed the most positive thing he could say. Stronger than yeah and more heroic than yes. He hoped he could live up to it.”

“It is taken care of. Nothing will not break into my Pit or the Far Reaches! I cannot speak for the other parts of the House, but we have Nothing well in hand here. I understand Nothing as no one else does! - Grim Tuesday”