“It’s like having to make a choice: a blessing or a curse. The one thing you can’t do is choose neither.”
Source: The Subtle Knife
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Philip Pullman 161
English author 1946Related quotes
The Crosswicks Journal, The Irrational Season (1977)
Context: If our usual response to an annoying situation is a curse, we're likely to meet emergencies with a curse. In the little events of daily living we have the opportunity to condition our reflexes, which are built up out of ordinary things. And we learn to bless first of all by being blessed. My reflexes of blessing have been conditioned by my parents, my husband, my children, my friends
“You really can’t choose the people you’re going to like.”
Source: A Mask for the General (1987), Chapter 11 (p. 191)

“When yu’ can’t have what you choose, yu’ just choose what you have.”
The Virginian (1902), chapter 13, p. 149.