# Quote — Lev Grossman, The Magicians

> “Sure, but real life’s not actually like that,” Quentin went on, fumbling after what he was sure was an important insight. “You don’t just go on fun adventures for good causes and have happy endings. You’re not going to be a character in a story, there’s nobody arranging everything for you. The real world just doesn’t work like that.”

- Author: [Lev Grossman](https://www.leafyquotes.com/lev-grossman.md)
- Book: [The Magicians](https://www.leafyquotes.com/lev-grossman/the-magicians.md)
- Page: 268
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lev_Grossman#The_Magicians_(2009)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/lev-grossman/the-magicians/sure-but-real

## More from this book

> He had no interest in TV anymore—it looked like an electronic puppet show to him, an artificial version of an imitation world that meant nothing to him anyway.

p. 167 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/lev-grossman/the-magicians/he-had-no-interest.md)

> “Stop looking for the next secret door that is going to lead you to your real life. Stop waiting. This is it: there’s nothing else. It’s here, and you’d better decide to enjoy it or you’re going to be miserable wherever you go, for the rest of your life, forever.”
>
> “You can’t just decide to be happy.”
>
> “No, you can’t. But you can sure as hell decide to be miserable. Is that what you want?”

p. 333 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/lev-grossman/the-magicians/stop-looking-for.md)

> He was experimenting cautiously with the idea of being happy, dipping and uncertain toe into those intoxicatingly carbonated waters. It wasn’t something he had much practice at.

p. 41 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/lev-grossman/the-magicians/he-was-experimenting.md)