If this were fiction, could even the most brilliant novelist contrive to make credible so short a period in which pride had been subdued and prejudice overcome?
- P. D. James
More Quotes By P. D. James
In 1930s mysteries, all sorts of motives were credible which aren’t credible today, especially motives of preventing guilty... to look back on one’s life is to experience the capriciousness of memory. … the past is not... The world is changed not by the self-regarding, but by men and women prepared to make fools of... It was one of those perfect English autumnal days which occur more frequently in memory than in life.
Write what you need to write, not what is currently popular or what you think will sell.
Not so much two ships passing in the night as two ships sailing together for a time but... A picnic may well be a metaphor for life. The essentials for happiness are the right company, moderate... We can experience nothing but the present moment, live in no other second of time, and to understand... Increase your word power. Words are the raw material of our craft. The greater your vocabulary the more... What the detective story is about is not murder but the restoration of order.
When I heard, Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, I thought, Did he fall or was he pushed?
Of the four billion life forms which have existed on this planet, three billion, nine hundred and sixty... Every island to a child is a treasure island.
We who write in English are fortunate to have the richest and most versatile language in the world.... A politician is required to listen to humbug, talk humbug, condone humbug. The most we can hope for...
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