Friendship is a word, the very sight of which in print makes the heart warm. – Augustine Birrell
An ordinary man can… surround himself with two thousand books… and thenceforward have at least one place in the world in which it is possible to be happy. – Augustine Birrell
One whom it is easier to hate, but still easier to quote–Alexander Pope. – Augustine Birrell
Often the magical elements in my books are standing in for elements of the real world, the small and magical-in-their-own-right sorts of things that we take for granted and no longer pay attention to, like the bonds of friendship that entwine our own lives with those of other people and places. – Charles de Lint