Most of the books and films I love walk a knife edge between romance and cynicism, and I wanted 'One Day' to stay on that line. I wanted it to be moving, but without being manipulative. David Nicholls More Quotes by David Nicholls More Quotes From David Nicholls I tell you what it is. It's...when I didn't see you, I thought about you every day, I mean every day in some way or another -" "Same here -" "- even if it was just 'I wish Dexter could see this' or 'where's Dexter now?' or 'Christ, that Dexter, what an idiot', you know what I mean, and seeing you today, well, I thought I'd got you back - my best friend. And now all this, the wedding, the baby - I'm so happy for you, Dex. But it feels like I've lost you again. David Nicholls wish baby mean All his words and actions would now be fit for his daughter’s ears and eyes. Life would be lived as if under [her] constant scrutiny. He would never do anything that might cause her pain or anxiety or embarrassment and there would be nothing, absolutely nothing in his life to be ashamed of anymore. David Nicholls daughter pain eye I think you actually get a kick out of being disappointed and under-achieving, because it's easier, isn't it? Failure and unhappiness is easier because you can make a joke out of it. David Nicholls unhappiness achieve thinking Fear and anxiety are great motivators for me. David Nicholls anxiety This might sound really foolish, but when I came to Edinburgh in 1988 I had spent nearly all my life living south of Bristol, and I was just amazed that a city like Edinburgh was actually in the British isles. David Nicholls edinburgh cities sound I know that for every reader who has lost the habit or can't find the time, there are people who've never enjoyed reading and question the value of literature, either as entertainment or education, or believe that a love of books, and of fiction in particular, is sentimental or frivolous. David Nicholls reading believe book The fact was I loved my wife to a degree that I found impossible to express, and so rarely did. David Nicholls degrees wife facts For the best part of my childhood I visited the local library three or four times a week, hunching in the stacks on a foam rubber stool and devouring children's fiction, classics, salacious thrillers, horror and sci-fi, books about cinema and origami and natural history, to the point where my parents encouraged me to read a little less. David Nicholls parent book children Read a book at the right age and it will stay with you for life. David Nicholls age book I think probably I'm quite sentimental; I like big emotional stories, I like being moved by things, but I think I'm very embarrassed by sentiment. I'm very embarrassed by corniness. David Nicholls emotional stories thinking I would never complain about One Day taking off but it made me painfully self-conscious for a long time. David Nicholls one-day self long I've been a compulsive reader for as long as I can remember. David Nicholls reader remember long Well, it's so hard for books to take off. You give years of your life to something that probably won't happen, so when it does, it feels a little unjust. David Nicholls giving book years As a novelist, I'm incredibly lucky to make a living, but that doesn't mean that I don't lie awake at four o'clock in the morning, worrying. David Nicholls morning mean lying There's no shortage of orphans in 19th-century literature, but it's hard to find a single happy, communicative, functional parental relationship in the whole of 'Great Expectations,' even among the minor characters. David Nicholls widows-and-orphans expectations character I usually write on a computer - unless I get stuck, at which point I switch to write by hand. I think that's common among writers if they get cornered on something. David Nicholls writing hands thinking I love Billy Wilder, and I love the way that his films can be very touching and very moving and very romantic, and at the same time there's always a little cynical undertone, there's always something that undercuts things. David Nicholls cynical touching moving Were helping build capability and capacity in the new Iraqi Navy David Nicholls navy capacity helping To have had fame, even very minor fame, and to have lost it, got older and maybe put on a little weight is a kind of living death. David Nicholls kind weight littles A joke was not a single-use item but something you brought out again and again until it fell apart in your hand like a cheap umbrella. David Nicholls humor use hands
