The Alchemyst Quotes
"I’m not a magician," Flamel said, without looking at them. "I’m an alchemyst, a man of science, though perhaps not the science you would be familiar with."
"To remain unknown in this modern world: that, indeed, is real power."
"Once Dee discovers that the Book is incomplete, he will return for the missing pages. And I guarantee you, he will leave no witnesses on this earth."
"Magic was movie special effects. Magic was stage shows with rabbits and doves and sometimes tigers, and David Copperfield sawing people in half and levitating over the audience. There was no such thing as real magic."
"Every human has a similar glow around their body. In the distant past, people could see it clearly and they named it the aura. It comes from the Greek word for breath."
"Greed, jealousy… and the Codex, the Book of Abraham the Mage," Flamel answered. "He’s coveted that for a long time, and now he has it."
"Dee came dangerously close to capturing us in Paris in 1763," Flamel continued, "and again in 1835, when we were in Rome working as booksellers, as it happens. That was always my favorite occupation."
"Look at me. Look at me! I am older than America. That is what is so special about the book."
"The secret of life eternal is probably the least of the secrets in the Codex."
"With the Codex, Dee can set about changing the world."
"Cameras, videos, phones and the Internet make it so much harder to remain hidden nowadays."
"Madame Perenelle Flamel. His prisoner. Now, that was certainly something for the photo album."
"You’ve left the safe and mundane world you once knew. Nothing is as it seems. You must learn to question everything."
"Every magical creature is kept animated by a spell that is either in or on its body. All you have to do is remove it to break the spell. Remember that."
"I’ve lived a long time; I’ve had a lot of students—some made famous by history, most forgotten. I’ve met a lot of people, human and unhuman, mortal and immortal."
"The earth is a lot older than most people imagine. Creatures and races that are now no more than myth once walked this world."
"Like most educated men of his time, Nicholas Flamel was fascinated with alchemy—a combination of science and magic."
"Perenelle quickly became familiar with the ancient systems of magic and began to practice in small ways, developing her skills, concentrating on how to channel and focus the energy of her aura."
"She had been poring over the pages one bitter winter’s night, watching the words crawl on the page, when the letters formed and re-formed, and for a heartbeat she had seen the initial formula for the philosopher’s stone, and realized instantly that here was the secret to life eternal."
"The couple spent the next twenty years traveling to every country in Europe, heading east into the land of the Rus, south to North Africa, even into Araby in an attempt to decipher and translate the curious manuscript."
"But magic, like everything else, follows certain natural laws. Magic needs energy, and it takes that energy wherever it can find it, even from the tiny batteries in your electrical toys."
"When the earliest humani first appeared, the Torc clans taught them how to work wood and stone and how to create fire. The humani worshipped the Torc clans as gods-why do you think so many of the earliest gods have animal shapes?"
"No, I don’t drink blood," Scathach said quietly. "Not now. Not ever."
"Everything you have been taught, all the myths and legends of your world, have a kernel of truth in them. You’ve seen wonders today. You will see more in the days to come."
"Once you have been touched by magic, you are forever changed."
"When you return to your own world, you will be able to recognize people who have some taint of magical energy."
"Nothing will ever be the same for either of you from this day forth."
"Every magician has his or her own distinctive odor; rather like a magical fingerprint."
"She is always fearful when the evening draws in. It is when she is at her most vulnerable."
"The moon washed yellow light across the shattered windshield, the broken patterns in the starred glass picked out in shadow."
"Those few millimeters of glass were all that had protected her flesh from the birds’ claws."
"Playing video games was all fine and well. When you were killed in a game, you just started again. In this Shadowrealm, though, there were no second chances."
"The vast majority of humani will not even know anything is happening."
"Great change always comes down to the actions of a single person."
"I don’t want anything to happen to you," he said simply.
"Both of us don’t have to go through this Awakening. Let me do it."
"The idea that something terrible could happen to his sister had only occurred to him a little while before. But the very thought of it terrified him."
"From the moment we were born, we’ve done everything together... We’ll do this—just like we’ve done everything else—together."
"Magic is really only the utilization of the entire spectrum of the senses."
"What you call magic is nothing more than an act of the imagination fired by the senses, then given shape by the power of your aura."
"Nicholas Flamel never tells anyone everything."
"I am no girl. You may be ancient, but you have never encountered anything like me."
"Although the air, now stinking from the burning tree, was still, Dee watched as an invisible, unfelt breeze whipped the Morrigan’s cloak about her shoulders and buffeted the huge Bastet, making her tilt her head and lean forward into the wind."
"With growing alarm, he saw a dark shadow flowing across the withering grass and then watched as a swarm of tiny black flies settled on Bastet’s fur, crawling into her ears and up her nose."
"Realizing that she could not return to the Yggdrasill, Bastet hissed her rage, then turned and raced over to where Flamel, Scatty and the twins were trying to defend themselves."
"Even though the Yggdrasill was burning furiously, with whole sections blazing, burning leaves and blackened strips of branches spiraling down, sticky streamers of sap exploding from collapsing branches, Hekate’s powers seemed undiminished."
"Dee ground his teeth in frustration; all his research indicated that Hekate had brought the tree to life by imbuing it with a little of her own life force."
"Excalibur slid smoothly into the wood, sinking right up to the hilt without resistance."
"The sound was like that of an animal in pain: beginning as a deep grumbling, it quickly rose to a high-pitched whimpering."
"The World Tree was now almost entirely blue, covered with a sheath of ice."
"I’m glad I brought it," Dee said, not directly answering her. "It seems Hekate’s powers were stronger than we suspected."
"The Morrigan glanced at the blade in Dee’s hand, then quickly looked away. "Even after all these years in our employ, Dr. Dee, you can still surprise us," she said quietly."
"Josh Newman jerked open the door of the black SUV and felt a wave of relief wash over him."
""Now, that," she said as she launched herself into the back of the SUV, "was the most fun I’ve had in a millennium.""
"The Morrigan’s and Bastet’s transformation spells were failing: was Hekate that powerful?"
"Dr. John Dee lifted the short-bladed sword in his hand. Dirty blue light coiled down its length, and for an instant the ancient stone blade hummed as an invisible breeze moved across the edge."
"Gripping the hilt tightly, Dee pressed the point of the blade against the gnarled bark of the ancient tree… and pushed."
"Assistant Wanted, Bookshop. We don’t want readers, we want workers."
""I believe you," he said aloud. But somewhere in the back of his mind, he kept hearing Hekate’s last words to him-"Nicholas Flamel never tells anyone everything"-and he had the distinct impression that the Alchemyst still wasn’t telling everything he knew."
"The road curved to the right, and Ojai’s long, straight main street appeared before him."
""You haven’t answered my question," Josh said. He was watching his speed carefully; they couldn’t afford to be pulled over."
"Don’t believe that old rubbish about vampires not casting a reflection: of course we do; we are solid, after all."
"My race, the Clan Vampire, were of the Next Generation."
"It was the center of the world in the Elder Times."
"The finest warriors are not only those who do not know fear, but those who are without anger."
"Bloodsucking vampires don’t need the blood. They need the emotions, the sensations carried in the blood."
"What were Dee’s people thinking? Once she had recovered her strength, she’d charge up her aura, and then bend this metal like putty and simply walk out of here."
"The world has ended before, I’m sure it will end many times before the sun turns black."
"You brother is considering his options. Yours is not the only side in this battle. And now, since I have the boy, all I need are the pages."
"Hand over the pages, Nicholas, or I will loose these un-dead beasts on the town."
"Is that all you can manage, Nicholas? My, you’re weakening."
"This is the exception, Scathach. If I give him the pages, then I’ve condemned all of us-Perry, too, and the entire world-to destruction."
"We’re in this together to the end. Whatever that may be."
"On the contrary, it is now only just beginning."