The Golem's Eye Quotes

“Check out that one at the end. He's taken the form of a footstool. Weird...but somehow I like his style."

"That is a footstool.”
― Jonathan Stroud, The Golem's Eye

“Hey, we've all got problems, chum. I'm overly talkative. You look like a field of buttercups in a suit.”
― Jonathan Stroud, The Golem's Eye

“I warn you," the boy went on. "I am a magician of great power. I control many terrifying entities. This being you see before you" - here I rolled my shoulders back and puffed my chest up menacingly - "is but the meanest and least impressive of my slaves." (Here I slumped my shoulders and stuck my stomach out.)”
― Jonathan Stroud, The Golem's Eye

“I wanted to wake you straightaway, but I knew I had to wait several hours to ensure you were safely recovered."
"What! How long has it been?"
"Five minutes. I got bored.”
― Jonathan Stroud, The Golem's Eye

“Despite his crimped shirts and flowing mane (or perhaps because of them) I had seen no evidence as yet that Nathaniel even knew what a girl was. If he'd ever met one, chances are they'd both have run screaming in opposite directions.”
― Jonathan Stroud, The Golem's Eye

“The afrit batted his eyelashes with a ostentatious lack of concern. "Indeed? Have you a name?"
"A name?" I cried. "I have MANY names! I am Bartimaeus! I am Sakhr al-Jinni! I am N'gorso the Mighty and the Serpent of Silver Plumes!"
I paused dramatically. The young man looked blank. "Nope never heard of you. Now if you'll just-”
― Jonathan Stroud, The Golem's Eye

“Stanley went on, "highly dangerous, fanatical and additictied to violence'- Blimey Fred, is it your mother writing this? They seem to know you so well”
― Jonathan Stroud, The Golem's Eye

“Julius Tallow was a fool. He appeared complacent, but like a weak swimmer out of his depth, his legs were kicking frantically under the surface, trying to keep him afloat. Whatever happened, Nathaniel did not intend to sink with him.”
― Jonathan Stroud, The Golem's Eye

“I—though forced through lack of space to assume the form of a stoic guinea pig crouched between the girl's shoe and the glove compartment—was my usual dignified self.”
― Jonathan Stroud, The Golem's Eye

“In my youth, I was always one for the dramatic entrance. Now, in keeping with my character, I gravitate more toward the subtle and refined. Okay, with the occasional feathered serpent thrown in.”
― Jonathan Stroud, The Golem's Eye

“Ia bukan demon, bukan penyihir. Ia lebih baik dari mereka. Keserakahan dan sikap mementingkan diri sendiri bukanlah sifatnya.”
― Jonathan Stroud, The Golem's Eye

“You were hit by a considerable magical backlash through the Staff. Your brains and body will be even more addled than usual for a while, but you're lucky to be alive. The magical energies have been gradually ebbing through your system," the djinni went on. "Yor skin's been steaming gently and the end of each hair's been glowing at the tip. A remarkable sight. Your aura's gone haywire, too. Well, it's a delicate business, ridding yourself of a charge like that. I wanted to wake you straight away, but I knew I had to wait several hours to ensure you were safely recovered."

"What! How long has it been?"

"Five minutes. I got bored.”
― Jonathan Stroud, The Golem's Eye

“The boy was silent as we went. Unsurprising, this—he had seldom left London in his life before. I guessed him to be gazing about in dumbstruck admiration.
"What an appalling place," he [Nathaniel] said. - Bartimaeus”
― Jonathan Stroud, The Golem's Eye

“Wrong again. I'll tell you, shall I?" The djinni fixed him with its black-eyed stare. "You knocked yourself out, like the idiot you are. The golem was approaching, doubtless planning to take the Staff and crush your head like a melon. It was foiled—"
"By your prompt action?" Nathaniel said. "If so, I'm grateful, Bartimaeus."
"Me? Save you? Please—someone I know might be listening. No. My magic is canceled out by the golem's, remember? I sat back to watch the show. In fact... it was the girl and her friend. They saved you. Wait—don't mock! I do not lie. The boy distracted it while the girl climbed on the golem's back, tore the manuscript from its mouth, and threw it to the ground. Even as she did so, the golem seized her and the boy—incinerated them in seconds. Then its life force ebbed and it finally froze, inches from your sorry neck.”
― Jonathan Stroud, The Golem's Eye

“Those statues were exquisitely carved, without exception; that was what the Egyptians were really good at, along with organized religion and civil engineering.”
― Jonathan Stroud, The Golem's Eye

“The fact that a humble commoner was more honourable than you’ll ever be is hardly my affair. You do what you like.”
― Jonathan Stroud, The Golem's Eye

“Well, if it’s so easy, Kitty demanded hotly, “how come the magicians haven’t stopped it?”
The Djin gave a cold smile, “Because it would require personal bravery. They never do anything themselves. They rely on us the whole time. Mandrake gives me an order and I obey. He sits at home and I go out and suffer. That’s the way it works.”
― Jonathan Stroud, The Golem's Eye

“He’d been many things to me, Nathaniel had, most of them indescribable. But he never looked so much of a puppet as he did now. And already it had all gone wrong.”
― Jonathan Stroud, The Golem's Eye

“Two measly human years to get over the trauma of meeting you. Sure, I knew some idiot with a pointy hat would one day call me up again, but I hardly thought it would be the same idiot as last time.”
― Jonathan Stroud, The Golem's Eye

“Die Katastrophe war so verheerend, dass jede normale Reaktion unangemessen war.”
― Jonathan Stroud, The Golem's Eye

“It was the biggest joint summoning that I’d been involved in since the great days of Prague. Forty djinn materializing more or less at once, in a vast chamber built for that purpose in the bowels of Whitehall. As with all such things, it was a messy business, despite the best efforts of the magicians. They were all lined up in tidy rows of identical pentacles, wearing the same dark suits and speaking their incantations quietly, while the officiating clerks scribbled their names down at tables to the sides. We djinn, of course, were less concerned with regimental decorum: we arrived in forty very different guises, trumpeting our individuality with horns, tails, iridescent flanges, spikes, and tentacles; with colors ranging from obsidian-black to delicate dandelion-yellow; with a menagerie full of hollerings and chitter; with a magnificent range of sulfurous guffs and stenches.”
― Jonathan Stroud, The Golem's Eye

“coquettishly”
― Jonathan Stroud, The Golem's Eye

“panache,”
― Jonathan Stroud, The Golem's Eye

“She was no demon — no magician — she was better than they were.”
― Jonathan Stroud, The Golem's Eye

“Charming as she was, it never pays a Djin to get close to people. Never. Take it from one who knows.”
― Jonathan Stroud, The Golem's Eye

“The boy tutted. ‘Let me give you a friendly tip,’ he said, ‘Now you wouldn’t want to be called female mud-spawn, would you? Well, in a similar way, when addressing a spirit such as me, the word Demon is in all honesty a little demeaning to us both. The correct term is Djin though you may add adjectives such as noble or asplendent if you choose. Just a question of manners. It keeps things friendly between us.”
― Jonathan Stroud, The Golem's Eye

“Too right, buster! I’m nastier than any monkey you’re likely to come across, that’s for sure!”
― Jonathan Stroud, The Golem's Eye

“Be sure of one thing, I can help you with your vengeance.”
― Jonathan Stroud, The Golem's Eye

“However, try as he might, nothing Nathaniel summoned had the combination of initiative, power, and obedience that he required. More than once, in fact, he was surprised to find himself thinking almost wistfully of his first servant. But he had resolved not to summon Bartimeaus again.”
― Jonathan Stroud, The Golem's Eye

“Your face is never the same twice,' Jakob had said. 'Er—that's a compliment!' he added hastily, when Kitty glowered at him.”
― Jonathan Stroud, The Golem's Eye