Quotes by Lev Grossman

“Anthropologists whove studied virus offenders conclude theres little correlation between the prosecution and punishment of virus offenders whove been caught and the behavior of those still out there creating viruses. They conclude that strengthening the law hasnt acted as much of a deterrent at all, since the people whore creating these viruses arent setting out to do billions of dollars of damage -- theyre simply trying to show off their skills by writing a smarter virus than the other kids in their clique. When the authors of a virus such as the Love Bug is caught, he or she is invariably stunned that it got out and did so much damage.”

“Software standardization is a fertile breeding ground for viruses. Writing a virus for one e-mail client can affect every company using that client.”

“Companies that receive daily updates of good anti-virus software could nip this thing in the bud.”

I got my hearts desire, and there my troubles began.

[F]or just one second, look at your life and see how perfect it is. Stop looking for the next secret door that is going to lead you to your real life. Stop waiting. This is it: theres nothing else. Its here, and youd better decide to enjoy it or youre going to be miserable wherever you go, for the rest of your life, forever.

The truth doesnt always make a good story, does it?

It was so much easier to be angry. Being angry made him feel strong, even though-- and this contradiction did nothing to diminish his anger-- he was angry only because his position was so weak.

In Fillory you felt the appropriate emotions when things happened. Happiness was a real, actual, achievable possibility. It came when you called. Or no, it never left you in the first place.

That’s what death did, it treated you like a child, like everything you had ever thought and done and cared about was just a child’s game, to be crumpled up and thrown away when it was over. It didn’t matter. Death didn’t respect you. Death thought you were bullshit, and it wanted to make sure you knew it.

I guess we’re supposed to have faith.”“I never really took you for the faith-having kind,” Quentin said.“I didn’t either. But it’s worked out so far. We’ve got five of the seven keys. You can’t argue with results.”“You can’t,” Quentin said, “but that’s actually not the same thing as having faith.”“Why do you always try to ruin everything?”“I’m not ruining it. I just want to understand it.”“If you had faith you wouldn’t have to understand.

It wasnt nothing, but it wasnt everything either.

If theres a single lesson that life teaches us, its that wishing doesnt make it so.

She was too tired to feel anything more, she wanted a book to do to her what books did: take away the world, slide it aside for a little bit, and let her please, please just be somewhere and somebody else

As a teenager in Brooklyn Quentin had often imagined himself engaged in martial heroics, but after this he knew, as a cold immutable fact, that he would do anything necessary, sacrificing whatever or whomever he had to, to avoid risking exposure to physical violence. Shame never came into it. He embraced his new identity as a coward. He would run in the other direction. He would lie down and cry and put his arms over his head or play dead. It didnt matter what he had to do, he would do it and be glad.

She was the most beautiful, terrible thing hed ever seen, like an acetylene flame, an incandescent filament, a fallen star right in front of him.

I have a little theory that Id like to air here, if I may. What is it that you think makes you magicians? More silence. Fogg was well into rhetorical-question territory now anyway. He spoke more softly. Is it because you are intelligent? Is it because you are brave and good? Is is because youre special? Maybe. Who knows. But Ill tell you something: I think youre magicians because youre unhappy. A magician is strong because he feels pain. He feels the difference between what the world is and what he would make of it. Or what did you think that stuff in your chest was? A magician is strong because he hurts more than others. His wound is his strength. Most people carry that pain around inside them their whole lives, until they kill the pain by other means, or until it kills them. But you, my friends, you found another way: a way to use the pain. To burn it as fuel, for light and warmth. You have learned to break the world that has tried to break you.

And if she liked and trusted the person who asked, she would add that yes, it was kind of a lot to deal with: her outward affect was bright and capable, and that was no illusion, but equally real was the yawning pit of exhaustion inside her. She just felt so tired sometimes. And because of everything her parents asked of her, she was ashamed of being tired. She could not, would not let the pit swallow her up, as much as she sometimes wanted it to.

Needless to say, that meant that the Braekbills student body was quite the psychological menagerie. Carrying that much onboard cognitive processing power had a way of distorting your personality. And to actually want to work that hard, you had to be at least a little bit screwed up.

Most people carry that pain around inside them their whole lives, until they kill the pain by other means, or until it kills them. But you, my friends, you found another way: a way to use the pain. To burn it as fuel, for light and warmth. You have learned to break the world that has tried to break you.

A magician is strong because he feels pain. He feels the difference between what the world is and what he would make of it. Or what did you think that stuff in your chest was? A magician is strong because he hurts more than others. His wound is his strength.