Doris Lessing
Doris Lessing
Doris May Lessing CHwas a British novelist, poet, playwright, librettist, biographer and short story writer. Her novels include The Grass is Singing, the sequence of five novels collectively called Children of Violence, The Golden Notebook, The Good Terrorist, and five novels collectively known as Canopus in Argos: Archives...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth22 October 1919
good written
You know, looking at it objectively, I've written one or two good books.
cannot five mould whether women
You cannot escape the fact that women mould your first five years, whether you like it or not. And I can't say I do like it very much.
I was a nursemaid. And it was pretty boring.
gives
I thought that would go without saying, that if a mother gives up her children, it's very painful.
I haven't got the energy to write now.
sweating
I don't write well when I'm sitting there sweating about every single phrase.
almost few list paper shop war
I remember World War II when there were very few books, very little paper available. For me to walk into a shop or look at a list and see anything that I want, or almost anything, is like a kind of miracle.
hold spend takes
It is very enjoyable, writing a story. You get this idea. It takes hold of you. And then you spend day and night thinking about how to do it. And then you do it. And much later, you think, 'Oh, yes. That's an interesting question.'
human since telling
The human race has been telling stories since it began.
It's very interesting what you don't care about.
god knows learns
God knows why nobody ever learns from the preceding generation - but they don't.
time
Everything all the time in a city is extraordinary!
absolutely british countries empire european people
When I was a girl, the idea that the British Empire could ever end was absolutely inconceivable. And it just disappeared, like all the other empires. You know, when people talk about the British Empire, they always forget that all the European countries had empires.
hard life
I've worked hard all my life. You have to if you want to get things done.