A. S. Byatt
A. S. Byatt
Dame Antonia Susan Duffy DBE– known as A. S. Byatt – is an English novelist, poet and Booker Prize winner. In 2008, The Times newspaper named her on its list of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth24 August 1936
peace solitude treasure
…my Solitude is my Treasure, the best thing I have.
our-world brain mind
In our world of sleek flesh and collagen, Botox and liposuction, what we most fear is the dissolution of the body-mind, the death of the brain.
trying failing imagine
There is a certain aesthetic pleasure in trying to imagine the unimaginable and failing, if you are a reader.
writing light solitude
What I need to write well is a combination of heat, light and solitude.
children book television
When I was a child - in wartime, pre-television - books were my life.
hate mirrors self
Cyclists. I really hate them. I wish they would not be so self-righteous and realise they are a danger to pedestrians. I wish cyclists would not vindictively snap off wing mirrors on cars when they were trying to cross in front of the car at a danger to motorists and pedestrians.
stars unique thinking
On buses and trains, I always think about the inexhaustible variety of human genes. We see types, and occasionally twins, but never doubles. All faces are unique, and this is exhilarating, despite the increasingly plastic similarity of TV stars and actors.
deceived things-are-not-what-they-seem seems
Things are not what they seem.
surprising
Everything is surprising, rightly seen.
wisdom community ephemeral
The individual appears for an instant, joins the community of thought, modifies it and dies; but the species, that dies not, reaps the fruit of his ephemeral existence.
dark kissing night
Mine the long night The secret place Where lovers meet In long embrace In purple dark In silvered kiss Forget the world And grasp your bliss
stupid profound trying
I am a profound pessimist both about life and about human relations and about politics and ecology. Humans are inadequate and stupid creatures who sooner or later make a mess, and those who are trying to do good do a lot more damage than those who are muddling along.
girl strong young
Young girls are sad. They like to be; it makes them feel strong.
looks useful-things humans
Where would we be without inhibitions? Theyre quite useful things when you look at some of the things humans do if they lose them.