One of the marks of a truly great mind, I had discovered, is the ability to feign stupidity on demand. Alan Bradley More Quotes by Alan Bradley More Quotes From Alan Bradley If you remember nothing else, remember this: Inspiration from outside one's self is like the heat in an oven. It makes passable Bath buns. But inspiration from within is like a volcano: It changes the face of the world. Alan Bradley volcanoes inspiration self My grandmother flew only once in her life, and that was the day she and her new husband ascended into the skies of Victorian London in the wicker basket of a hot-air balloon. They were soon to emigrate to Canada, and the aerial ride was meant to be a last view of their beloved England. Alan Bradley grandmother husband air Anyone who knew the word slattern was worth cultivating as a friend. Alan Bradley cultivating It is not unknown for fathers with a brace of daughters to reel off their names in order of birth when summoning the youngest, and I had long ago become accustomed to being called 'Ophelia Daphne Flavia, damn it. Alan Bradley long-ago daughter father The spectrum on the list is very broad. It includes leftists who think that whiny liberals should be stuffed in a sack and drowned. Alan Bradley lists politics thinking I had long ago discovered that when a word or formula refused to come to mind the best thing for it was to think of something else: tigers for instance or oatmeal. Then when the fugitive word was least expecting it I would suddenly turn the full blaze of my attention back onto it catching the culprit in the beam of my mental torch before it could sneak off again into the darkness. Alan Bradley oatmeal long-ago thinking Chicken fizz! O Lord, protect all of us who toil in the vineyards of experimental chemistry! Alan Bradley vineyards toil chemistry Whenever I'm out-of-doors and find myself wanting to have a first-rate think, I fling myself down on my back, throw my arms and legs out so that I look like an asterisk, and gaze at the sky. Alan Bradley sky doors thinking As I stood outside in Cow Lane, it occurred to me that Heaven must be a place where the library is open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. No ... eight days a week. Alan Bradley eight heaven book Although it is pleasant to think about poison at any season, there is something special about Christmas, and I found myself grinning. Alan Bradley holiday christmas thinking Not very good with death? Father was a military man, and military men lived with death; lived for death; lived on death. To a professional soldier, oddly enough, death was life. Alan Bradley military men father If poisons were ponies, I'd put my money on cyanide. Alan Bradley cyanide ponies poison I was learning that among friends, a smile can be better than a belly laugh. Alan Bradley belly belly-laughs laughing Whenever I'm with other people, part of me shrinks a little. Only when I am alone can I fully enjoy my own company. Alan Bradley enjoy littles people TV and film taught me to think cinematically. Teaching others to edit, for example, provides a great deal of insight into the millions of ways in which given elements can be put together to tell a story. Alan Bradley teaching together thinking I'm at that age where I watch such things with two minds, one that cackles at these capers and another that never gets much beyond a rather jaded and self-conscious smile, like the Mona Lisa. Alan Bradley self laughing two I was an early reader, and my grandmother, who as a child had been forbidden to read by a father who believed books to be frivolous time-wasters, delighted in putting her favorite volumes into her grandchildren's hands. Alan Bradley father book children I had thought for years, probably 30 or 40 years, that it would be a lot of fun to try my hand at a classic English mystery novel... I love that form very much because the reader is so familiar with all of the types of characters that are in there that they already identify with the book. Alan Bradley fun character book Growing up in a Canadian household that was more British than Big Ben, I dreamed of flying to England myself and visiting the places my family never tired of talking about. I always woke up before the plane landed. Alan Bradley growing-up tired talking Except I'm aware that as a writer you can't get away with as much writing for children as you can with adults. Children have much more finely tuned senses of justice, morals, and ethics. They are much more Platonic: children are symmetrical, before we begin to fragment them with our own nonsensical ideas and squelch their natural joy in knowledge. Alan Bradley writing children ideas
