# Quote — Philip Pullman, The Subtle Knife: His Dark Materials 2

> "This edge," said Giacomo Paradisi, touching the steel with the handle of a spoon, "will cut through any material in the world. Look."
>
> And he pressed the silver spoon against the blade. Will, holding the knife, felt only the slightest resistance as the tip of the spoon's handle fell to the table, cut clean off.
>
> "The other edge," the old man went on, "is more subtle still. With it you can cut an opening out of this world altogether. Try it now. Do as I say — you are the bearer. You have to know. No one can teach you but me, and I have not much time left. Stand up and listen."

- Author: [Philip Pullman](https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-pullman.md)
- Book: [The Subtle Knife: His Dark Materials 2](https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-pullman/the-subtle-knife-his-dark-materials-2.md)
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Philip_Pullman#The_Subtle_Knife_(1997)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-pullman/the-subtle-knife-his-dark-materials-2/this-edge-said

## More from this book

> I hold the subtle knife on behalf of the Guild.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-pullman/the-subtle-knife-his-dark-materials-2/i-hold-the.md)

> Who is this man who's got the knife?

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-pullman/the-subtle-knife-his-dark-materials-2/who-is-this.md)

> Both the Oblation Board and the Specters of Indifference are bewitched by this truth about human beings: that innocence is different from experience. The Oblation Board fears and hates Dust, and the Specters feast on it, but it's Dust both of them are obsessed by.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-pullman/the-subtle-knife-his-dark-materials-2/both-the-oblation.md)