# Quote — Philip Pullman, Northern Lights

> “That’s the duty of the old,” said the Librarian, “to be anxious on behalf of the young. And the duty of the young is to scorn the anxiety of the old.”

- Author: [Philip Pullman](https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-pullman.md)
- Book: [Northern Lights](https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-pullman/northern-lights.md)
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Philip_Pullman#Northern_Lights_(1995)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Topics: [old age](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/old-age.md), [youth](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/youth.md)
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-pullman/northern-lights/thats-the-duty
- JSON version (same data): https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-pullman/northern-lights/thats-the-duty.json

## More from this book

> "But suppose your dæmon settles in a shape you don't like?"
>
> "Well, then, you're discontented, en't you? There's plenty of fold as'd like to have a lion as a dæmon and they end up with a poodle. And till they learn to be satisfied with what they are, they're going to be fretful about it. Waste of feeling, that is."

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-pullman/northern-lights/but-suppose-your.md)

Topics: [self-acceptance](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/self-acceptance.md)

> In Lyra’s heart, revulsion struggled with compassion, and compassion won.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-pullman/northern-lights/in-lyras-heart.md)

Topics: [empathy](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/empathy.md)

> You cannot change what you are, only what you do.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-pullman/northern-lights/you-cannot-change.md)

Topics: [change](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/change.md), [taking action](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/taking-action.md)