I don't consciously try to take my readers on a journey as I don't really think about my readers when I'm writing. I just try to write what I feel passionately about, to tell a story down onto the page. Michael Morpurgo More Quotes by Michael Morpurgo More Quotes From Michael Morpurgo Unless you can be in a place yourself and go through the subject of your story yourself, the next best thing is not to read a book about it, or see a movie about it, it's to talk to the people who've been there. Michael Morpurgo stories book people Any story you write about war, or film you make about war, is bound to be political whether you like it or not. Michael Morpurgo political writing war Any story that gets us thinking, and particularly young people, thinking why? Whether it's as a result of reading the book, or coming out of the theatre or the cinema, I think we should just simply be asking the question 'why'? Why did it happen to those people? Was it necessary? And anything that gets us thinking like that is really important. Michael Morpurgo reading book thinking If it is possible to be happy in the middle of a nightmare, then Topthorn and I were happy that summer. Michael Morpurgo nightmare middle summer It is the child's understanding that teaches the adults the way of the future. They're still doing it today with modern technology. Michael Morpurgo technology understanding children But try as I might, I never got to eat any of her pastries, and do you know, she never even offered me one. Michael Morpurgo pastries trying might There's a nobility in his eye, a regal serenity about him. Does he not personify all that men try to be and never can be? Michael Morpurgo serenity eye men I tell you, my friends,’ he said one day. ‘I tell you that I am the only sane man in the regiment. It’s the others that are mad, but they don’t know it. They fight a war and they don’t know what for. Isn’t that crazy? How can one man kill another and not really know the reason why he does it, except that the other man wears a different colour uniform and speaks a different language? And it’s me they call mad! Michael Morpurgo crazy fighting war cause when there's life there's still hope Michael Morpurgo causes stills He never reckoned much to schooling and that. He said you could learn most what was worth knowing from keeping your eyes and ears peeled. Best way of learning, he always said, was doing. Michael Morpurgo eye knowing ears That's what this war is all about, my friend. It's about which of us is the crazier.And clearly you British have an advantage.You were crazy beforehand. Michael Morpurgo advantage crazy war That's what sailing is, a dance, and your partner is the sea. And with the sea you never take liberties. You ask her, you don't tell her. You have to remember always that she's the leader, not you. You and your boat are dancing to her tune. Michael Morpurgo dancing leader sea If I learned anything in this life, I've learned that you can't cling on. Michael Morpurgo ive-learned this-life ifs For me,the greater part of writing is daydreaming, dreaming the dream of my story until it hatches out-the writing down of it I always find hard.But I love finishing it,then holding the book in my hand and sharing my dream with my readers. Michael Morpurgo dream writing book This one isn’t just any old horse. There’s a nobility in his eye, a regal serenity about him. Does he not personify all that men try to be and never can be? I tell you, my friend, there’s divinity in a horse, and specially in a horse like this. God got it right the day he created them. And to find a horse like this in the middle of this filthy abomination of a war, is for me like finding a butterfly on a dung heap. We don’t belong in the same universe as a creature like this. Michael Morpurgo horse butterfly war A lot of children, like I did, move away from words because of the fear - which is something you have to take out of education: the fear of worrying about what marks you'll get, detention, worrying about letting people down, your parents, teachers. Michael Morpurgo teacher children moving I fill up the well of stories in my head - without ever knowing I'm doing it. Michael Morpurgo wells knowing stories When I write I try as far as possible to forget I'm writing it at all. I tell it down onto the page, as if I'm telling it to one person only, my best friend. Michael Morpurgo writing trying friendship Children have to be motivated to want to learn to read. Reading must not be taught simply as a school exercise. Michael Morpurgo reading children school A notion for a story is for me a confluence of real events, historical perhaps, or from my own memory to create an exciting fusion. Michael Morpurgo historical real memories
