Top 60 Jonathan Auxier Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “There is old proverb from my childhood. “Say not in grief ‘He is no more,’ but live in the thankfulness that he was.”

— Jonathan Auxier

2. “I think I figured it out.” She sniffed, looking up at the stars. “Hester asked me what the difference between a story and a lie was. At the time, I told her that a story helps folks. ‘Helps ‘em do what?’ she asked. Well, I think I know the answer. A story helps folks face the world, even when it frightens ’em. And a lie does the opposite. It helps you hide.”

— Jonathan Auxier

3. “There’s what’s smart and what’s right.” – Molly in the Night Gardener.”

— Jonathan Auxier

4. “Don’t confuse what you do with who you are...”

— Jonathan Auxier

5. “You can’t have courage without fear, any more than you can have a ray of light without shadows.”

— Jonathan Auxier

6. “That’s how it works, doesn’t it? We are saved by saving others.”

— Jonathan Auxier

7. “Runnin’s not a bad thing, sir, so long as you’re runnin’ towards somethin’ good.”

— Jonathan Auxier

8. “We save ourselves by saving others.”

— Jonathan Auxier

9. “The Victorian era was perhaps the last point in Western history when magic and science were allowed to coexist.”

— Jonathan Auxier

10. “Say not in grief ‘He is no more,’ but live in the thankfulness that he was.”

— Jonathan Auxier

11. “Steam rose from the soil like a phantom, carrying with it a whisper of autumn smoke that had been lying dormant in the frosty underground.”

— Jonathan Auxier

12. “Most people with foresight end up wielding immense power in life, often becoming great rulers or librarians.”

— Jonathan Auxier

13. “Nobody’s too old for stories – not even God himself.”

— Jonathan Auxier

14. “Most trees invite you to climb up into their canopy. This one did not. Most trees make you want to carve your initials into the trunk. This one did not.”

— Jonathan Auxier

15. “I’m sorry. I don’t know any more.” Niri shook her head, staring up at them. “But I do know that if you fail, everything is lost.” Rollan scratched his head. “No pressure.”

— Jonathan Auxier

16. “Boredom is anathema to the adventurous spirit, and when mixed with hunger, the effect could be forgot toxic.”

— Jonathan Auxier

17. “I’ve always admired a person who can admit to not knowing something. Most people smile and nod and pretend they know everything for fear of being caught out. But those people only ensure their ignorance.”

— Jonathan Auxier

18. “The late-autumn sky was a cauldron of swirling gray. There was a smell of ash and mischief in the air. Dead leaves danced across the streets like brittle phantoms.”

— Jonathan Auxier

19. “I suppose I am remembering Passover as a way to remind myself that the struggle for freedom is as old as time. That there are always others who yet need to be delivered.”

— Jonathan Auxier

20. “But that’s how the tree works, ain’t it? It gives you what you wish for but not in a way that makes things better. I suppose that’s the difference between what you want and what you need.” Molly.”

— Jonathan Auxier

21. “That’s what it is to care for a person,” Toby said. There was not even a hint of mocking in his voice. “If you’re not afraid, you’re not doing it right.”

— Jonathan Auxier

22. “We’ll never know. And maybe that’s the best. It’s a bad tale that has all the answers.” -Molly.”

— Jonathan Auxier

23. “And even though they had eaten nothing, the girl still ended her day with a belly full of story – which sticks to the ribs even better than mutton.”

— Jonathan Auxier

24. “Should you ever be so lucky as to encounter an author in your life, you should shower her or him with gifts and praise. Sir.”

— Jonathan Auxier

25. “Oh, where did you go, dear Gal-i-le-o? Your oats are a-ready, an’ we miss you so!” It.”

— Jonathan Auxier

26. “Being a leader is often difficult. It requires that you continually put the needs of others before your own desires.”

— Jonathan Auxier

27. “Serious readers know the singular pleasure of handling a well-made book – the heft and texture of the case, the rasp of the spine as you lift the cover, the sweet, dusty aroma of yellowed pages as they pass between your fingers. A book is more than a vessel for ideas; It is a living thing in need of love, warmth, and protection.”

— Jonathan Auxier

28. “There’s no better place for writing than a rooftop – the fresh air makes your words come out like songs.”

— Jonathan Auxier

29. “Stories don’t have to do anything; they just have to be.”

— Jonathan Auxier

30. “Kip had always liked the idea that courage was a thing a person could hold on to and use.”

— Jonathan Auxier

31. “Gifts are meant to be left behind, not waved under a person’s nose like a boast. It’s a very private thing to open a present, and a person deserves to do it in his own way.”

— Jonathan Auxier

32. “Literal minds don’t deal well with legends.”

— Jonathan Auxier

33. “Not everything old and ugly is wicked.”

— Jonathan Auxier

34. “Suffice it to say, if one hopes to live in a world of wonders, he had better locate himself in a place where wondrous stories abound.”

— Jonathan Auxier

35. “The start of any journey – whether pilgrimage or promenade – is one of life’s true joys. Every moment is charged with an excitement about things to come. Obstacles and complications are seen not as discouragement, but as seasoning that only improves the flavor of one’s adventure.”

— Jonathan Auxier

36. “To demand promises is to invite disappointment” -Hester.”

— Jonathan Auxier

37. “Scheherazade’s Law: It is impossible to kill someone who is in the middle of telling you a really wonderful story.”

— Jonathan Auxier

38. “It’s no joke,” he insisted. “Something’s wrong with this whole place. You seen how pale they all are – it ain’t natural.” “That’s just how folks look in England.”

— Jonathan Auxier

39. “To differing opinions: may they ever stay apart.”

— Jonathan Auxier

40. “My girl, we are on the cusp of a modern age-and with it comes modern medicine.” He dug a fat hand through his bag and removed a small bottle. “Take this laudanum, for example. Wonderful stuff! I have a few drops in my tea each morning to calm the nerves.”

— Jonathan Auxier

41. “There are some times when a person is in such dire straits that they are able to achieve the impossible – less by their own strength than by a strength that moves through them.”

— Jonathan Auxier

42. “Professor Cake, like all true readers, was an incurable book filch.”

— Jonathan Auxier

43. “You may have observed in your own lives that there is a great power in storytelling. A well-spun tale can transport listeners away from their humdrum lives and return them with an enlarged sense of the world.”

— Jonathan Auxier

44. “The only thing worse than a perilous adventure is a boring one, and the limits of the duo’s patience were tried more than once as they slalomed between squalls, broke through blizzards, and drifted across doldrums.”

— Jonathan Auxier

45. “When a population loses its stories, it loses its capacity for wonder – what remains is a life of drudgery and toil. Every day, it seems, I come upon another bookcase that looks into a world devoid of wonder. I fear Bustleburgh is next.”

— Jonathan Auxier

46. “What’s a storyteller but someone who asks folks to believe in impossible things?”

— Jonathan Auxier

47. “No, my foolish scribbler. I have made this world better. Safer. More dependable. There are no more fairy feasts in Bustleburgh, but neither are there starving widows. The lame man no longer experiences miraculous healing, but he now has a physician to soothe his pain. Children have no time for perilous adventures, because they are employed in productive work. We have no glass orchards or wishing wells, but we do have courthouses and factories and hospitals and schools.”

— Jonathan Auxier

48. “It is lamentably common among chivalrous sorts that they are more intent on defending a woman’s honor than listening to the actual wishes of said woman.”

— Jonathan Auxier

49. “A soot golem may be a very nice creature,” he said slowly. “But I think I would rather be just Charlie.”

— Jonathan Auxier

50. “Ma and Da believed that if you suspected a monster was hiding under your bed, you should get down on your hands and knees and find out for certain. And if you were lucky enough to discover one down there – fangs dripping, eyes glowing red – you should be quick to offer him a blanket and a bowl of warm milk so he wouldn’t catch a chill.”

— Jonathan Auxier