Dick Francis
Dick Francis
Richard Stanley "Dick" Francis CBE FRSLwas a British steeplechase jockey and crime writer, whose novels centre on horse racing in England...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionHorse Jockey
Date of Birth31 October 1920
writing self tasks
Writing a novel proved to be the hardest, most self-analyzing task I had ever attempted, far worse than an autobiography: and its rewards were greater than I expected.
british-author extent people remained wondered
I wondered to what extent people remained the same as they'd been when very young; if one peeled back the layers of living one would come to the know child.
against firmly hunt national riding women
I am firmly against women riding in National Hunt races.
asked console fact happened result terrible written
It was a terrible day. I can only console myself with the fact that if it hadn't happened I wouldn't have written a book. As a result I was asked to write my autobiography.
jobs believe giving
But people as a rule believe only what they want to believe, and if you tell them anything else they'll call you a trouble-maker and get rid of you and never give you your job back, even if what you said is proved spot on right by time.
mother running somewhere-else
I hadn’t had a mother since I was two, and from then until seven I had believed God was someone who had run off with her and was living with her somewhere else... (God took your mother, dear, because he needed her more than you do) which had never endeared him to me
men paper tissues
The dignity of man was everywhere tissue-paper thin.
law way crime
Crime to many is not crime but simply a way of life. If laws are inconvenient, ignore them, they dont apply to you.
character journey rough-times
Everyone journeys through character as well as through time. The person one becomes depends on the person one has been.
views interesting evil
I'd always found goodness more interesting then evil, though I was aware this wasn't the most general view. To my mind, it took more work and more courage to be good, an opinion continually reinforced by my own shortcomings.
fire people ashes
How could people, I wondered for the ten thousandth useless time, how could people who had loved so dearly come to such a wilderness; and yet the change in us was irreversible, and neither of us would even search for a way back. It was impossible. The fire was out. Only a few live coals lurked in the ashes, searing unexpectedly at the incautious touch.
self next ruins
I guessed life was like that. You gained and you lost, and if you saved anything from the ruins, even if only a shred of self-respect, it was enough to take you through the next bit.
looks upside-down granted
Look at everything upside down.Take absolutely nothing for granted.
cancer people died
Historically, more people have died of religion than cancer.