48 quotes found
Author · British
British author
“[A] smile is the most becomingornament that any lady can wear.”
“For there was nothing in his eyes but the black night and the cold stars.”
“I have been quite put out of temper this morning and someone ought to die for it.”
“Magic, madam, is like wine and, if you are not used to it, it will make you drunk.”
“Ha!" cried Dr John contemptuously. "Magic! That is chiefly used for killing Frenchmen, is it not?”
“Where have they gone?" "Wherever magicians used to go. Behind the sky. On the other side of the rain.”
“It may be laid down as a general rule that if a man begins to sing, no one will take any notice of his song except his fellow human beings. This is true even if his song is surpassingly beautiful. ...”
“There is nothing else in magic but the wild thought of the bird as it casts itself into the void. There is no creature upon the earth with such potential for magic. Even the least of them may fly s...”
“He said, "Were he only like his sisterwhat a difference that would make! For there never was such a sweet and gentle lady! I hear her footsteps, as she goes about the world. I hear the swish-swish-...”
“Most of us are naturally inclined to struggle against the restrictions our friends and family impose upon us, but if we are so unfortunate as to lose a loved one, what a difference then! Then the r...”
“I was told once by some country people that a magician should never tell his dreams because the telling will make them come true. But I say that is great nonsense.”
“Oh! And they read English novels! David! Did you ever look into an English novel? Well, do not trouble yourself. It is nothing but a lot of nonsense about girls with fanciful names getting married.”
“When you're writing, you're creating something out of nothing ... A successful piece of writing is like doing a successful piece of magic.", 6 March 2012]”
“There are people in this world, whose lives are nothing but a burden to them. A black veil stands between them and the world. They are utterly alone. They are like shadows in the night, shut off fr...”
“Time and I have quarrelled. All hours are midnight now. I had a clock and a watch, but I destroyed them both. I could not bear the way they mocked me.”
“Can a magician kill a man by magic? Lord Wellington asked Strange.Strange frowned. He seemed to dislike the question. I suppose a magician might, he admitted, but a gentleman never could.”
“I am, as far as I can tell, about a month behind Lord Byron. In every town we stop at we discover innkeepers, postillions, officials, burghers, potboys, and all kinds and sorts of ladies whose brai...”
“But the other Ministers considered that to employ a magician was one thing, novelists were quite another and they would not stoop to it.”
“Perhaps I am too tame, too domestic a magician. But how does one work up a little madness? I meet with mad people every day in the street, but I never thought before to wonder how they got mad. Per...”
“Beware Stephen! There will probably be a magical combat of some sort. I daresay I shall have to take on different forms cockatrice, raw head and bloody bones, rains of fire, etc., etc. You may wis...”
“It seemed that it was not only live magicians which Mr. Norrell despised. He had taken the measure of all the dead ones too and found them wanting.”
“Above all remember this: that magic belongs as much to the heart as to the head and everything which is done, should be done from love or joy or righteous anger.”
“Captain Harcourt-Bruce was not only dashing, handsome, and brave, he was also rather romantic. The reappearance of magic in England thrilled him immensely. He was a great reader of the more excitin...”
“The pools had been written onto the fields by the rain. The pools were a magic worked by the rain, just as the tumbling of the black birds against the grey was a spell that the sky was working and ...”