The humble were the elect of God. Did not the priests teach so, in their gemmed, kingly robes, from their towering pulpits? Tanith Lee More Quotes by Tanith Lee More Quotes From Tanith Lee I tend not to analyse my work, though I'm frequently intrigued when other people take time to do so. Tanith Lee intrigued take-time people Oh, love. Love is best of all. There is no such total element, not even pain. Who has ever loved, knows this. I need not say more. Tanith Lee pain love-is needs In the greater part of humankind there resides an instinct for survival. It is this which can clutch at straws and effect a rescue from them. It is this which can, now and then, outwit fate. Tanith Lee fate now-and-then survival If I ever get to 100, I'd want to be filled with wonder and wild, adolescent, wide-eyed interest in newness. So let's keep the flame burning. Let's stop thinking everyone over 29, or 49, has to be reinforced by concrete. Tanith Lee burning flames thinking Some writers, of course, simply write, as they feel they are driven to do, by outer/inner inspirations. If, after the work is written and, hopefully, published, others respond -- that is the Champagne. But we, or some of us, don't write for the Champagne. We write because we write. Tanith Lee driven inspiration writing Danger and anger are everywhere. Love is the rarity, the gem buried in the core of the mine, the outpost of God. Tanith Lee buried danger love-is We need the expressive arts, the ancient scribes, the storytellers, the priests. And that's where I put myself: as a storyteller. Not necessarily a high priestess, but certainly the storyteller. And I would love to be the storyteller of the tribe. Tanith Lee tribes art needs If anyone ever wonders why there's nothing coming from me, it's not my fault. I'm doing the work. No, I haven't deteriorated or gone insane. Suddenly, I just can't get anything into print. And apparently I'm not alone in this. There are people of very high standing, authors who are having problems. So I have been told. In my own case, the more disturbing element is the editor-in-chief who said to me, "I think this book is terrific. It ought to be in print. I can't publish it -- I've been told I mustn't." The indication is that I'm not writing what people want to read, but I never did. Tanith Lee writing book thinking In the usual way I submitted manuscripts to publishers. This was not so much a feeling that I should be published as a wish to escape the feared and hated drudgery of "normal" work. In my twenties some of my work for children was published by Macmillan. However, I was twenty-seven before my adult novel, The Birthgrave, was taken by DAW Books in the USA. This enabled me finally to stop doing stupid and soul-killing jobs, and start working day and night as a professional writer. It felt like a rescue from damnation, and still does. Tanith Lee stupid jobs children Men are not the causers of history. History itself, by a pressure of events, causes men to resort to particular actions. Tanith Lee events pressure men Robespierre, crippled and blind, has yet to be healed to the knowledge that service - his desire - is a deed of savage-speaking gentleness, not soft-spoken savagery. Tanith Lee savages deeds desire At an early school, when I was about 5, they asked what we wanted to be when we grew up. Everyone said silly things, and I said I wanted to be an actress. So that was what I wanted to be, but what I was, of course, was a writer. Tanith Lee actresses silly school Im a devotee of Dracula, which was a pathfinder in horror and vampire fiction. Tanith Lee vampire horror fiction I was reading some complex books in my own youth-and no, I didnt always understand every word, let alone every concept-but I got the main thrust, which was like a lifeline in a fluctuating world. Tanith Lee reading book world Pirates have always fascinated me. Tanith Lee fascinated pirate I haven't changed. Something's happened to me, that's all. Tanith Lee i-havent-changed happened changed I'm not very good at being alive. Sometimes I despair of ever mastering it, getting it right. When I'm old, perhaps. Tanith Lee despair alive sometimes It was not apathy. It was an intelligent disinterest in those things that could have no bearing on one's existence. Tanith Lee disinterest apathy intelligent He sat by her, watching every gesture she made, as if he would paint her portrait afterward. Tanith Lee gestures portraits paint I hate the way, once you start to know someone, care about them, their behavior can distress you, even when it's unreasonable and not your fault, even if you were really trying to be careful, tactful. Tanith Lee care hate trying
