A.S. Byatt Quotes

Top 97 wise famous quotes and sayings by A.S. Byatt

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A.S. Byatt Famous Quotes & Sayings

Discover top inspirational quotes from A.S. Byatt on Wise Famous Quotes.

A.S. Byatt quotes: Harm can come about without will or action. But will and action can avert harm. Harm can come about without will or action. But will and action can avert harm.
A.S. Byatt quotes: She was a thin, sickly, bony child, like an eft, with fine hair like sunlit smoke. She was a thin, sickly, bony child, like an eft, with fine hair like sunlit smoke.
A.S. Byatt quotes: I worry about anthropomorphism as a form of self-deception. (The Christian religion is an anthropomorphic account of the universe.) I worry about anthropomorphism as a form of self-deception. (The Christian religion is an anthropomorphic account of the universe.)
A.S. Byatt quotes: To a dusty shelf we aspire. To a dusty shelf we aspire.
A.S. Byatt quotes: I don't only write about English literature; I also write about chaos theory and ... ants. I can understand ants. I don't only write about English literature; I also write about chaos theory and ... ants. I can understand ants.
A.S. Byatt quotes: Art does not exist for politics, or for instruction- it exists primarily for pleasure, or it is nothing. Art does not exist for politics, or for instruction- it exists primarily for pleasure, or it is nothing.
A.S. Byatt quotes: Literary critics make natural detectives. Literary critics make natural detectives.
A.S. Byatt quotes: She was a thinking child, and worked this out. It hurt her, unlike most knowledge, which was strength and pleasure. She was a thinking child, and worked this out. It hurt her, unlike most knowledge, which was strength and pleasure.
A.S. Byatt quotes: He invented a machine for reading underwater and nearly drowned in the bath because it worked. He invented a machine for reading underwater and nearly drowned in the bath because it worked.
A.S. Byatt quotes: Vocabularies are crossing circles and loops. We are defined by the lines we choose to cross or to be confined by. Vocabularies are crossing circles and loops. We are defined by the lines we choose to cross or to be confined by.
A.S. Byatt quotes: Books that change you, even later in life, give you a kind of electrical shock as the world takes a different shape. Books that change you, even later in life, give you a kind of electrical shock as the world takes a different shape.
A.S. Byatt quotes: There are things, also, that are memories as essential and structural as bones in toes and fingers. There are things, also, that are memories as essential and structural as bones in toes and fingers.
A.S. Byatt quotes: Think of this - that the writer wrote alone, and the reader read alone, and they were alone with each other. Think of this - that the writer wrote alone, and the reader read alone, and they were alone with each other.
A.S. Byatt quotes: I think there are a lot more important things than art in the world. But not to me. I think there are a lot more important things than art in the world. But not to me.
A.S. Byatt quotes: His forty-third year. His small time's end. His time-Who saw Infinity through the countless cracksIn the blank skin of things, and died of it. His forty-third year. His small time's end. His time-
Who saw Infinity through the countless cracks
In the blank skin of things, and died of it.
A.S. Byatt quotes: Narrative is one of the best intoxicants or tranquilisers. Narrative is one of the best intoxicants or tranquilisers.
A.S. Byatt quotes: He had his ownways of sublimation. He had his own
ways of sublimation.
A.S. Byatt quotes: Everything is surprising, rightly seen. Everything is surprising, rightly seen.
A.S. Byatt quotes: Only write to me, write to me, I love to see the hop and skip and sudden starts of your ink. Only write to me, write to me, I love to see the hop and skip and sudden starts of your ink.
A.S. Byatt quotes: When I was a child - in wartime, pre-television - books were my life. When I was a child - in wartime, pre-television - books were my life.
A.S. Byatt quotes: We might do better if we saw art as a technique, not a mystique. We might do better if we saw art as a technique, not a mystique.
A.S. Byatt quotes: I do not want to be a relative and passive being, anywhere. I want to live and love and write. I do not want to be a relative and passive being, anywhere. I want to live and love and write.
A.S. Byatt quotes: What I need to write well is a combination of heat, light and solitude. What I need to write well is a combination of heat, light and solitude.
A.S. Byatt quotes: I wanted to be a Poet and a Poem, and now am neither, I wanted to be a Poet and a Poem, and now am neither,
A.S. Byatt quotes: I like feeling my way into different minds and experiences. It comes naturally and always has. I like feeling my way into different minds and experiences. It comes naturally and always has.
A.S. Byatt quotes: The more research you do, the more at ease you are in the world you're writing about. It doesn't encumber you, it makes you free. The more research you do, the more at ease you are in the world you're writing about. It doesn't encumber you, it makes you free.
A.S. Byatt quotes: You wrote something easily in youth, and later you came to see how difficult it all was. You wrote something easily in youth, and later you came to see how difficult it all was.
A.S. Byatt quotes: In England, everyone believes if you think, then you don't feel. But all my novels are about joining together thinking and feeling. In England, everyone believes if you think, then you don't feel. But all my novels are about joining together thinking and feeling.
A.S. Byatt quotes: Young girls are sad. They like to be; it makes them feel strong. Young girls are sad. They like to be; it makes them feel strong.
A.S. Byatt quotes: One of the reasons I've gotten so attached to talking to scientists is that ... they know there is a reality. One of the reasons I've gotten so attached to talking to scientists is that ... they know there is a reality.
A.S. Byatt quotes: The reading eye must do the work to make them live, and so it did, again and again, never the same life twice, as the artist had intended. The reading eye must do the work to make them live, and so it did, again and again, never the same life twice, as the artist had intended.
A.S. Byatt quotes: He felt changed, but there was no one to tell. He felt changed, but there was no one to tell.
A.S. Byatt quotes: One does not remember the winners. One remains haunted by the losers. One does not remember the winners. One remains haunted by the losers.
A.S. Byatt quotes: All scholars are a bit mad. All obsessions are dangerous. All scholars are a bit mad. All obsessions are dangerous.
A.S. Byatt quotes: An odd phrase, "by heart," he would add, as though poems were stored in the bloodstream. An odd phrase, "by heart," he would add, as though poems were stored in the bloodstream.
A.S. Byatt quotes: ...bleached by darkness ...bleached by darkness
A.S. Byatt quotes: Never stop paying attention to things. Never make your mind up finally. Do not hold beliefs. Never stop paying attention to things. Never make your mind up finally. Do not hold beliefs.
A.S. Byatt quotes: Once you get older, people stop listening to what you say. It's very agreeable once you get used to it. Once you get older, people stop listening to what you say. It's very agreeable once you get used to it.
A.S. Byatt quotes: I'm not very interested in myself. I do have a deep moral belief that you should always look out at other things and not be self-centred. I'm not very interested in myself. I do have a deep moral belief that you should always look out at other things and not be self-centred.
A.S. Byatt quotes: Lists are a form of power. Lists are a form of power.
A.S. Byatt quotes: Human beings love stories because they safely show us beginnings, middles and ends. Human beings love stories because they safely show us beginnings, middles and ends.
A.S. Byatt quotes: The historian is an indissoluble part of his history, as the poet is of his poem, as the shadowy biographer is of his subject's life ... The historian is an indissoluble part of his history, as the poet is of his poem, as the shadowy biographer is of his subject's life ...
A.S. Byatt quotes: Good writing is always new. Good writing is always new.
A.S. Byatt quotes: We are a Faustian generation, my dearwe seek to know what we are maybe not designed (if we are designed) to be able to know. We are a Faustian generation, my dear
we seek to know what we are maybe not designed (if we are designed) to be able to know.
A.S. Byatt quotes: You can understand a lot about yourself by working out which fairytale you use to present your world to yourself in. You can understand a lot about yourself by working out which fairytale you use to present your world to yourself in.
A.S. Byatt quotes: Frederica also thought, for she had been there many times, that if this was a beginning, it was the beginning of an ending, that was the way it went. Frederica also thought, for she had been there many times, that if this was a beginning, it was the beginning of an ending, that was the way it went.
A.S. Byatt quotes: In our world of sleek flesh and collagen, Botox and liposuction, what we most fear is the dissolution of the body-mind, the death of the brain. In our world of sleek flesh and collagen, Botox and liposuction, what we most fear is the dissolution of the body-mind, the death of the brain.
A.S. Byatt quotes: The whole of our scholarship - the whole of our thought - we question everything except the centrality of sexuality. The whole of our scholarship - the whole of our thought - we question everything except the centrality of sexuality.
A.S. Byatt quotes: I think vestigially there's a synesthete in me, but not like a real one who immediately knows what colour Wednesday is. I think vestigially there's a synesthete in me, but not like a real one who immediately knows what colour Wednesday is.
A.S. Byatt quotes: That is human nature, that people come after you, willingly enough, provided only that you no longer love or want them. That is human nature, that people come after you, willingly enough, provided only that you no longer love or want them.
A.S. Byatt quotes: I am not an academic who happens to have written a novel. I am a novelist who happens to be quite good academically. I am not an academic who happens to have written a novel. I am a novelist who happens to be quite good academically.
A.S. Byatt quotes: The young desired to be free of the adults, and at the same time were prepared to resent any hint that the adults might desire to be free of them. The young desired to be free of the adults, and at the same time were prepared to resent any hint that the adults might desire to be free of them.
A.S. Byatt quotes: A metamorphosis ... The shining butterfly of the soul from the pupa of the body. Larva, pupa, imago. An image of art. A metamorphosis ... The shining butterfly of the soul from the pupa of the body. Larva, pupa, imago. An image of art.
A.S. Byatt quotes: I did a lot of my writing as though I was an academic, doing some piece of research as perfectly as possible. I did a lot of my writing as though I was an academic, doing some piece of research as perfectly as possible.
A.S. Byatt quotes: I don't think it is an easy thing to write and expect to be commercial, even if you are from Venus and a hermaphrodite. I don't think it is an easy thing to write and expect to be commercial, even if you are from Venus and a hermaphrodite.
A.S. Byatt quotes: Contemporary' was in those days [1953] synonymous with 'modern' as it had not been before and is not now [1977]. Contemporary' was in those days [1953] synonymous with 'modern' as it had not been before and is not now [1977].
A.S. Byatt quotes: I hated being a novelist when I was 20 - I had nothing to write about. I hated being a novelist when I was 20 - I had nothing to write about.
A.S. Byatt quotes: I don't understand why, in my work, writing is always so dangerous. It's very destructive. People who write books are destroyers. I don't understand why, in my work, writing is always so dangerous. It's very destructive. People who write books are destroyers.
A.S. Byatt quotes: You are safe with me.""I am not at all safe, with you. But I have no desire to be elsewhere. You are safe with me."
"I am not at all safe, with you. But I have no desire to be elsewhere.
A.S. Byatt quotes: I was no good at being a child. I was no good at being a child.
A.S. Byatt quotes: A man may be in as just possession of truth as of a City, and yet be forced to surrender it - this was the wise saying of Sir Thomas A man may be in as just possession of truth as of a City, and yet be forced to surrender it - this was the wise saying of Sir Thomas Browne.
A.S. Byatt quotes: She is afraid of divorce, which will free her, as she was not enough afraid of marriage, which trapped her. She is afraid of divorce, which will free her, as she was not enough afraid of marriage, which trapped her.
A.S. Byatt quotes: Things are not what they seem. Things are not what they seem.
A.S. Byatt quotes: I'm more interested in books than people, and I always expect everybody else to be, but they're not. I'm more interested in books than people, and I always expect everybody else to be, but they're not.
A.S. Byatt quotes: I am a creature of my pen. My pen is the best of me. I am a creature of my pen. My pen is the best of me.
A.S. Byatt quotes: Ice burns, and it is hard to the warm-skinned to distinguish onesensation, fire, from the other, frost. Ice burns, and it is hard to the warm-skinned to distinguish one
sensation, fire, from the other, frost.
A.S. Byatt quotes: On the other side of attraction, is repulsion. On the other side of attraction, is repulsion.
A.S. Byatt quotes: I don't like gurus. I don't like people who ask you to follow or believe. I like people who ask you to think independently. I don't like gurus. I don't like people who ask you to follow or believe. I like people who ask you to think independently.
A.S. Byatt quotes: It's exhausting. When everything's a deliberate political stance. Even if it's interesting. It's exhausting. When everything's a deliberate political stance. Even if it's interesting.
A.S. Byatt quotes: I know that part of the reason I read Tolkien when I'm ill is that there is an almost total absence of sexuality in his world, which is restful. I know that part of the reason I read Tolkien when I'm ill is that there is an almost total absence of sexuality in his world, which is restful.
A.S. Byatt quotes: I think the names of colors are at the edge, between where language fails and where it's at its most powerful. I think the names of colors are at the edge, between where language fails and where it's at its most powerful.
A.S. Byatt quotes: How true it was that one needed to be seen by others to be sure of one's own existence. How true it was that one needed to be seen by others to be sure of one's own existence.
A.S. Byatt quotes: I acquired a hunger for fairy tales in the dark days of blackout and blitz in the Second World War. I acquired a hunger for fairy tales in the dark days of blackout and blitz in the Second World War.
A.S. Byatt quotes: Julian occasionally thought that enjoying oneself was a very strenuous occupation. Julian occasionally thought that enjoying oneself was a very strenuous occupation.
A.S. Byatt quotes: No man has a right to dictate another man's inner life - the furniture inside his skull. No man has a right to dictate another man's inner life - the furniture inside his skull.
A.S. Byatt quotes: You learn a lot about love before you ever get there. You learn at least as much about love from books as you do from watching your parents. You learn a lot about love before you ever get there. You learn at least as much about love from books as you do from watching your parents.
A.S. Byatt quotes: Where would we be without inhibitions? They're quite useful things when you look at some of the things humans do if they lose them. Where would we be without inhibitions? They're quite useful things when you look at some of the things humans do if they lose them.
A.S. Byatt quotes: Funny way to spend your life, though, studying another chap's versifying. Funny way to spend your life, though, studying another chap's versifying.
A.S. Byatt quotes: I'd like to write the way Matisse paints. I'd like to write the way Matisse paints.
A.S. Byatt quotes: All these are true and none. The place is thereIs what we name it, and is not. It is. All these are true and none. The place is there
Is what we name it, and is not. It is.
A.S. Byatt quotes: Everybody's possibilities solidify round them and become limitations. Everybody's possibilities solidify round them and become limitations.
A.S. Byatt quotes: Autobiographies tell more lies than all but the most self-indulgent fiction . Autobiographies tell more lies than all but the most self-indulgent fiction .
A.S. Byatt quotes: Outside our small safe place flies mystery. Outside our small safe place flies mystery.
A.S. Byatt quotes: It is good for a man to invite his ghosts into his warm interior, out of the wild night, into the firelight, out of the howling dark. It is good for a man to invite his ghosts into his warm interior, out of the wild night, into the firelight, out of the howling dark.
A.S. Byatt quotes: I cannot let you burn me up, nor can I resist you. No mere human can stand in a fire and not be consumed. I cannot let you burn me up, nor can I resist you. No mere human can stand in a fire and not be consumed.
A.S. Byatt quotes: But poets don't want homes do they? they are not creatures of hearths and firedogs, but of heaths and ranging hounds. But poets don't want homes
do they?
they are not creatures of hearths and firedogs, but of heaths and ranging hounds.
A.S. Byatt quotes: Narration is as much a part of human nature as breath and the circulation of the blood. Narration is as much a part of human nature as breath and the circulation of the blood.
A.S. Byatt quotes: What literature can and should do is change the people who teach the people who don't read the books. What literature can and should do is change the people who teach the people who don't read the books.
A.S. Byatt quotes: It's because I'm a feminist that I can't stand women limiting other women's imaginations. It really makes me angry. It's because I'm a feminist that I can't stand women limiting other women's imaginations. It really makes me angry.
A.S. Byatt quotes: There is a certain aesthetic pleasure in trying to imagine the unimaginable and failing, if you are a reader. There is a certain aesthetic pleasure in trying to imagine the unimaginable and failing, if you are a reader.
A.S. Byatt quotes: I do love you, my Florence. Will you always be so sensible?""No. I quite expect to become very silly as I grow older. Everyone seems to. I do love you, my Florence. Will you always be so sensible?"
"No. I quite expect to become very silly as I grow older. Everyone seems to.
A.S. Byatt quotes: The point of painting is not really deception or imitation. The point of painting is not really deception or imitation.
A.S. Byatt quotes: I have a dreadful fear that the more you try to prevent revealing the self, the more you do. I have a dreadful fear that the more you try to prevent revealing the self, the more you do.
A.S. Byatt quotes: Creative Writing was not a form of psychotherapy, in ways both sublime and ridiculuous, it clearly was, precisely that. Creative Writing was not a form of psychotherapy, in ways both sublime and ridiculuous, it clearly was, precisely that.
A.S. Byatt quotes: Iron bars make a cage all right, and the more you look at them or reproduce them the more you know it's a real cage. Iron bars make a cage all right, and the more you look at them or reproduce them the more you know it's a real cage.
A.S. Byatt quotes: History, writing, infect after a time a man's sense of himself ... History, writing, infect after a time a man's sense of himself ...
A.S. Byatt quotes: He knew her, he believed. He would teach her that she was not his possession, he would show her she was free, he would see her flash her wings. He knew her, he believed. He would teach her that she was not his possession, he would show her she was free, he would see her flash her wings.

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