222 Quotes by Jonathan Stroud

The object that was pinning me haplessly to the ground, like a butterfly on a collector's tray, was of twentieth-century origin and of very specific function.Oh, all right, it was a public lavatory.

The boy was silent as we went. Unsurprising, this—he had seldom left London in his life before. I guessed him to be gazing about in dumbstruck admiration."What an appalling place," he [Nathaniel] said. - Bartimaeus

According to some, heroic deaths are admirable things. I've never been convinced by this argument, mainly because, no matter how cool, stylish, composed, unflappable, manly, or defiant you are, at the end of the day you're also dead. Which is a little too permanent for my liking.

One magician demanded I show him an image of the love of his life. I rustled up a mirror.

The skull’s…spirit? He…he looks different.”The youth scowled. “Yeah? You look just the same. I was banking on frostbite taking a few of your fingers, or even your nose. Here’s hoping something else has dropped off that I don’t know about. If not, I’ll be sorely disappointed.”Lockwood stared. “Does he always talk like this?”“No. Usually he’s worse. See what I have to put up with?

Oh, we'll suffer in silence. You've given us plenty of practice at that.

Not bad in short, though the last one [understanding the language of animals], isn't half as useful as you might expect, since when all's said and done the language of the beasts tends to revolve around: a) the endless hunt for food, b) finding a warm bush to sleep in the evening, and c) the sporadic satisfication of certain glands. (Many would argue that the language of human kind boils down to this too)

Dazu bedarf es [...] vor allem des richtigen Namens. Ich meine, es ist ja nicht so, als bestellte man ein Taxi—bei einer Beschwörung kommt nicht einfach irgendwer!

His face was uniquely slapable - a nun would have ached to punch him - while his backside cried out to heaven for a well-placed kick.