I have never begun a novel which wasn't going to stretch me further than I had ever stretched before. Peter Carey More Quotes by Peter Carey More Quotes From Peter Carey I had known loneliness before, and emptiness upon the moor, but I had never been a NOTHING, a nothing floating on a nothing, known by nothing, lonelier and colder than the space between the stars. It was more frightening than being dead. Peter Carey space stars loneliness To know you will be lonely is not the same as being lonely. Peter Carey being-lonely lonely art The declared meaning of a spoken sentence is only its overcoat, and the real meaning lies underneath its scarves and buttons. Peter Carey buttons real lying People do not love those whose eyes show that they are somewhere else Peter Carey eye love art It's like standing on the edge of a cliff. This is especially true of the first draft. Every day you're making up the earth you're going to stand on. Peter Carey cliffs earth firsts Our prime minister could embrace and forgive the people who killed our beloved sons and fathers, and so he should, but he could not, would not, apologise to the Aboriginal people for 200 years of murder and abuse. The battle against the Turks, he said in Gallipoli, was our history, our tradition. The war against the Aboriginals, he had already said at home, had happened long ago. The battle had made us; the war that won the continent was best forgotten Peter Carey home war father I'm interested in where we are, where we're going, where we've come from. Peter Carey I did not know that history is like a blood stain that keeps on showing on the wall no matter how many new owners take possession, no matter how many times we pint over it. Peter Carey wall matter blood If you ever read one of my books I hope you'll think it looks so easy. In fact, I wrote those chapters 20 times over, and over, and over, and that if you want to write at a good level, you'll have to do that too. Peter Carey writing book thinking The great thing about using the past is that it gives you the most colossal freedom to invent. The research is necessary, of course, but no one writes a novel to dramatically illustrate what everybody already knows. Peter Carey writing giving past Nostalgia is something we think of as fuzzy. But it's pain. Pain concerning the past. Peter Carey pain past thinking My greatest pleasure is to invent. My continual mad ambition is to make something true and beautiful that never existed in the world before. Peter Carey mad ambition beautiful Swimming always cleans your soul Peter Carey your-soul swimming soul Good writing of course requires talent, and no one can teach you to have talent. Peter Carey teach talent writing Living where I live New York I don't think anyone's going to make a fuss. But it is more deeply satisfying because it's of your place and means that you aren't forgotten; someone's noticed what you have been doing with your life. Peter Carey new-york mean art I went to work in 1962, and by '64 I was writing all the time, every night and every weekend. It didn't occur to me that, having read nothing and knowing nothing, I was in no position to write a book. Peter Carey weekend writing book I think that thing about the destruction of the world is there all the time, it's there every day when we look out the window. Peter Carey looks world thinking I'm always the one with the activist friends. I've been an activist very little. Peter Carey activist littles I don't separate my books into historical novels and the rest. To me, they're all made-up worlds, and both kinds are borne out of curiosity, some investigation into the past. Peter Carey historical-novels book past I don't think you have the right to shout about other people's private life. Peter Carey private-life people thinking
