Quotes from Walter Moers

A bluebear has twenty-seven lives. I shall recount thirteen-and-a-half of them in this book but keep quiet about the rest. A bear must have his secrets, after all; they make him seem attractive and mysterious.

Someone with an obsession for arranging things in alphabetical order was an abcedist, whereas someone with an obsession for arranging them in reverse alphabetical order was a zyxedist.

In tiefen, kalten, hohlen Räumen, Wo Schatten sich mit Schatten paaren, Wo alte Bücher Träume träumen, Von Zeiten, als sie Bäume waren, Wo Kohle Diamant gebiert, Man weder Licht noch Gnade kennt, Dort ist's, wo jener Geist regiert, Den man den Schattenkönig nennt.

I never trained, however, because I was a spontaneous talent. Practising spoiled my style.

never trust a Troglotroll

In my profession it isn't a question of telling good literature from bad. Really good literature is seldom appreciated in its own day. The best authors die poor, the bad ones make money — it's always been like that. What do I, an agent, get out of a literary genius who won't be discovered for another hundred years? I'll be dead myself then. Successful incompetents are what I need.

Hexen stehen immer zwischen Birken

Die Neugier ist die mächtigste Antriebskraft im Universum, weil sie die beiden größten Bremskräfte im Universum überwinden kann: die Vernunft und die Angst.

I had dispensed with a rudder on the principal that fate must be given a chance.

Knowledge is night!

There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written or badly written, that's all.

The problem is this: in order to make money- lots of money- we don't need flawless literary masterpieces. What we need is mediocre rubbish, trash suitable for mass consumption. More and more, bigger and bigger blockbusters of less and less significance. What counts is the paper we sell, not the words that are printed on it.

Ordinary folk prefer familiar tastes - they'd sooner eat the same things all the time - but a gourmet would sample a fried park bench just to know how it tastes.

From the stars we come, to the stars we go. Life is but a journey into the unknown.

On horseback you feel as if you're moving in time to classical music; a camel seems to progress to the beat of a drum played by a drunk.

never trust a Troglotroll

Wednesdays were the best thing about Atlantis. The middle of the week was a traditional holiday there. Everyone stopped work and celebrated the fact that half the week was over.