Cornelia Funke: Story

“Her curiosity was too much for her. She felt almost as if she could hear the books whispering on the other side of the half-open door. They were promising her a thousand unknown stories, a thousand doors into worlds she had never seen before.”

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

“I prefer a story that has the good sense to stay on the page where it belongs.
- Elinor”

“Life was more difficult in Inkheart, yet it seemed to Meggie that with every new day Fenoglio's story was spinning a magic spell around her heart, sticky as a spider's web and enchantingly beautiful..”

“Why do grown-ups think it's easier for children to bear secrets than the truth? Don't they know about the horror stories we imagine to explain the secrets?”

“What are stories for if we don't learn from them?”

“Thats beautiful! Sad and beautiful," murmured Meggie. Why were sad stories often so beautiful? It was different in real life.”

“He flung his arms around her neck, but only once he saw Silvertoungue's back was turned. He never knew with fathers. "I'll save him, Meggie!" he wispered in her ear. "I'll bring Dustfinger back. This story will have a happy ending. I swear!”

“My dear Elinor, you were obviously born into the wrong story,” said Dustfinger at last.”

“As Mo had said: writing stories is a kind of magic, too.”

“But after all, the villains are the salt in the soup of a story.”