Kate Banks > Quotes

“I am not alone," said Tadis. "You are not alone. No one is ever alone, because that is not the human condition. Each of us is unique, different. Yet we are all the same, all one. That is the greatest wisdom I can give you.”
― Kate Banks, The Magician's Apprentice

“We are all heading toward the same destination," Tadis said. "That is the least significant. What is most interesting is our journey. When you come to see this, then you've learned real magic.”
― Kate Banks, The Magician's Apprentice

“You must use your mind and not let it use you.”
― Kate Banks, The Magician's Apprentice

“We walk in the dark to learn to see.”
― Kate Banks, The Magician's Apprentice

“I was given my power by someone much like me," said Tadis. "It is the power to create, but with this came the obligation to teach. I shall give you the power to create, Baz, just as I have. But never forget that the real power is that which we all have sleeping in our souls. It is the power to remove illusions, to see and feel who we really are. It is the power to love and forgive.”
― Kate Banks, The Magician's Apprentice

“Repeating a mantra quiets the mind,” Lester’s mother had said. “And it provides comfort in trying times.” Then she had reached her palms skyward and bent forward into an upside-down V. Lester’s mother was a yoga teacher and spent a lot of time in strange and unusual positions. These were certainly trying times for Lester, who had moved from Denver to Cape Cod just after Easter and was going to start a new school in two days’ time. “A mantra can even unlock great virtues within,” Lester’s mother had added. Lester liked the idea that there might be great virtues lurking within him waiting to be unleashed, and he wondered what those”
― Kate Banks, Boy's Best Friend

“Silence does not come," said Tadis. "It is always there. You are simply aware of it.”
― Kate Banks, The Magician's Apprentice

“They say that some of those who failed to reach the top fell into deep ravines, and others were swallowed by monsters and demons," said Baz.



"The monsters and demons were of their own making," said Tadis. "If you invent them, you will have to slay them. That is common practice, is it not? We invent monsters so we will have something to slay. Then we punish ourselves for not being up to the task.”
― Kate Banks, The Magician's Apprentice

“He is a wanderer," said the stranger. "He travels from village to village. He writes his poems on the road and he reads them to whomever he meets. He touches us here." The stranger pointed to his heart. "He has a mysterious and wonderful power. Tomorrow we will see that something has occurred. It will be because of him." . . .

In the night a pear tree had flowered, sprouting white and pink blossoms.

"It is nothing that would not have happened anyway," said Baz.

"But maybe no one would have noticed," said Tadis. "The Poet has opened their eyes. He has made them see what is there. That is his power.”
― Kate Banks, The Magician's Apprentice