“When something needs to be said, you look for a man to say it. But when something needs actually to be done, you look for a woman.”

“To grant all a man's wishes is to take away his dreams and ambitions. Life is only worth living if you have something to strive for. To aim at.”

“She herself was of the opinion that there would have been no need for a wish consultant if grammar had been taught properly in schools, so that mundanes could be trained to mean exactly what they said. Not wishing to be rude to her guest, however, she kept this opinion to herself.”

“A second or two later, the reptile had been quite absorbed by a handsome, arrogant-looking Englishman smelling strongly of snobbery and snake.”

“May you have warm words on a cool evening, a full moon on a dark night, and a smooth road all the way to your door.”

“And tell them all about the books you've read. Better still, buy some more books and read them. That's an order. You can never read too many books.”

“But Philippa was hardly listening. "It's a riddle," she declared finally, pointing to the card in the strange little round window. "I think that if we answer the riddle we can get in. Listen 'The beginning of eternity. The end of time and space. The beginning of every end. And the end pf everyplace." John shrugged. "I don't get it." "No, but I do," Philippa said triumphantly. "The answer is the letter e. E is the beginning of eternity, the end of time and space, the beginning of every end, and the end of everyplace.”