Books of quotations ... afford me one of the most undemanding but satisfying forms of reading pleasure. P. D. James More Quotes by P. D. James More Quotes From P. D. James All fiction is largely autobiographical and much autobiography is, of course, fiction. P. D. James autobiographycoursesfiction Increase your word power. Words are the raw material of our craft. P. D. James increaseraw-materialscrafts You never forget the people who were kind to you in childhood, do you, sir? P. D. James childhoodkindpeople [My father and his friends] believed in equality for women without troubling to acquire the basic domestic skills which would have made that equality possible. P. D. James equalityskillsfather Perfect love may cast our fear, but fear is remarkably potent in casting out love. P. D. James fearperfectmay I love the idea of bringing order out of disorder which is what the mystery is about. I like the way in which it affirms the sanity of human life and exorcises irrational guilts. P. D. James guiltorderideas The world is full of people who have lost faith: politicians who have lost faith in politics, social workers who have lost faith in social work, schoolteachers who have lost faith in teaching and, for all I know, policemen who have lost faith in policing and poets who have lost faith in poetry. It's a condition of faith that it gets lost from time to time, or at least mislaid. P. D. James teachingfaithpeople We English are good at forgiving our enemies; it releases us from the obligation of liking our friends. P. D. James funny-friendshipsarcasticwar It is always easy to question the judgement of others in matters of which we may be imperfectly informed. P. D. James judgementmattermay Publishers don't nurse you; they buy and sell you. P. D. James publishersnursewriting Feel, he told himself, feel, feel, feel. Even if what you feel is pain, only let yourself feel. P. D. James painbrokenlife Absolute nakedness was intrusive, confusing to the senses. Paradoxically, it both revealed and diminished identity. P. D. James sensesconfusingidentity I am fifty years old and I have never known what it is to love. I can write those words, know them to be true, but feel only the regret that a tone-deaf man must feel because he can't appreicate music, a regret less keen because it is for something never known, not for something lost. P. D. James regretwritingmen Charm is often despised but I can never see why. No one has it who isn't capable of genuinely liking others, at least at the actual moment of meeting and speaking. Charm is always genuine; it may be superficial but it isn't false. P. D. James superficialmomentsmay The equally is a political theory, but no a practical politics. P. D. James political-theorypoliticaltheory First-class travel, provided one hasn't to pay for it oneself, is the most insidiously addictive of life's luxuries. P. D. James luxuryclasspay Human kindness is like a defective tap, the first gush may be impressive but the stream soon dries up. P. D. James kindnessmayfirsts Read widely and with discrimination. Bad writing is contagious. P. D. James bad-writingdiscriminationwriting Any visitor to an historic country town or city quickly becomes aware in his or her peregrinations that the most attractive houses in the centre are invariably the offices of lawyers. P. D. James officecitiescountry But what do you believe? I don't just mean religion. What are you sure of?" "That once I was not and that now I am. That one day I shall no longer be. P. D. James one-daymeanbelieve
