Cornelia Funke

“What a luxury it was for a dull and sensible creature like himself to be able to indulge in a little madness.”

“Nothing is more terrifying than a monster who was once a man.”

“Books have to be heavy because the whole world is in them.”

“Stories never really end... even if the books like to pretend they do. Stories always go on.”

“Isn't it a curious thing how much pain can be relayed in a single glance?”

“The sea always filled her with longing, though for what she was never sure.”

“Writing stories is a kind of magic, too.”

“If you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce, it tastes much more like prunes than rhubarb does.”

“Some books should be tasted, some devoured, but only a few should be chewed and digested thoroughly.”

“A reader doesn't really see the characters in a story; he feels them.”

“Books loved anyone who opened them, they gave you security and friendship and didn't ask for anything in return.”

“The world was a terrible place, cruel, pitiless, dark as a bad dream. Not a good place to live. And yet it was the only one.”

“Which of us has not felt that the character we are reading in the printed page is more real than the person standing beside us?”

“Words are like spices. Too many ruin the flavor.”

“There are more dead people than living. And their numbers are increasing. The living are getting rarer.”

“Do you know how it feels to be fire? To burn and burn and never be extinguished?”

“The heart of a book is its story, all else is ephemeral.”