“Lyra had never seen such a sight, never heard such a bellow; it was like a mountain laughing.”

“Who are you?" the woman said at last."Lyra Silver—""No, where d'you come from? What are you? How do you know things like this?" Wearily Lyra sighed; she had forgotten how roundabout Scholars could be. It was difficult to tell them the truth when a lie would have been so much easier for them to understand.”

“The first ghost to leave the world of the dead was Roger. He took a step forward, and turned to look back at Lyra, and laughed in surprise as he found himself turning into the night, the starlight, the air. . .and then he was gone, leaving behind such a vivid little burst of happiness.”

“Must is not the same as can, Lyra'. 'But if you must and you can, then there's no excuse!”

“And then what?" said her daemon sleepily. "Build what?""The Republic of Heaven," said Lyra.”

“So Lyra and her daemon turned away from the world they were born in, and looked toward the sun, and walked into the sky.”

“I’m working on another Lyra book right now – it’s called The Book of Dust.“It’s going very well and it will be finished when I write the words ‘The End’.”