Absolute nakedness was intrusive, confusing to the senses. Paradoxically, it both revealed and diminished identity. P. D. James More Quotes by P. D. James More Quotes From P. D. James In youth we take egregious risks because death has no reality for us. Youth goes caparisoned in immortality. It is only in middle age that we are shadowed by the awareness of the transitoriness of life. P. D. James riskagereality If our sex life were determined by our first youthful experiments, most of the world would be doomed to celibacy. In no area of human experience are human beings more convinced that something better can be had only if they persevere. P. D. James sexworldfirsts Not so much two ships passing in the night as two ships sailing together for a time but always bound for different ports. P. D. James sailingnighttwo Daniel supposed he had a secret life. Most people did; it was hardly possible to live without one. P. D. James secret-lifesecretpeople Early this morning, 1 January 2021, three minutes after midnight, the last human being to be born on earth was killed in a pub brawl in a suburb of Buenos Aires, aged twenty-five years, two months and twelve days. P. D. James morningtwoyears Time didn't heal, but it anesthetized. The human mind could only feel so much. P. D. James get-wellpainmind Ambition, if it were to be savored, let alone achieved, had to be rooted in possibility. P. D. James rootedpossibilityambition Great literature cannot grow from a neglected or impoverished soil. Only if we actually tend or care will it transpire that every hundred years or so we might get a Middlemarch. P. D. James caremightyears What a child doesn't receive he can seldom later give. P. D. James happy-kidparentingchildren Every island to a child is a treasure island. P. D. James treasureislandschildren 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 novelistsprideovercoming A man who lives with nature is used to violence and is companionable with death. There is more violence in an English hedgerow than in the meanest streets of a great city. P. D. James violencecitiesmen the most successful marriages were always based on both partners feeling that they had done rather well for themselves. P. D. James donesuccessfulfeelings It shows considerable wisdom to know what you want in life and then to direct all your energies towards getting it. P. D. James energyshowswant I don't see why escapist literature shouldn't also be a work of art. P. D. James works-of-artliteratureart We live in a society which salves its conscience more by helping the interestingly unfortunate than the dull deserving. P. D. James charityhelpingdull It's easy to get a reputation for wisdom. It's only necessary to live long, speak little and do less. P. D. James littlesinspirationallong I can understand the poor and stupid voting for Marxism or one of its fashionable variants. If you've no hope of being other than a slave, you may as well opt for the most efficient form of slavery. P. D. James slaveryvotingstupid Can we ever break free of the devices and desires of our own hearts? Might not our conscience be telling us what we most want to hear? P. D. James wantdesireheart Creativity doesn't flourish in an atmosphere of despotism, coercion and fear. P. D. James atmospherecreativitycoercion
