194 Quotes by Penelope Lively

All I know for certain is that reading is of the most intense importance to me; if I were not able to read, to revisit old favorites and experiment with names new to me, I would be starved – probably too starved to go on writing myself.

I have learned to be suspicious of memory – my own, anyone’s – but to accord it considerable respect. Whether accurate or not, it can subvert a life.

If people don’t read, that’s their choice; a lifelong book habit may itself be some sort of affliction.

I’ve grown old with this century; there’s not much left of either of us.

I know quite well why I became a historian... It was because dissension was frowned upon when I was a child: ‘Don’t argue, Claudia,’ ‘Claudia, you must not answer back like that.’ Argument, of course, is the whole point of history. Disagreement; my word against yours; this evidence against that. If there were such a thing as absolute truth the debate would lose its lustre. I, for one, would no longer be interested.

I want to live somewhere where it rains a lot and things grow furiously. I want to see the fruits of the earth multiply and all that sort of thing. I want to make provision for the future. I want to lay up riches on earth since I don’t believe in heaven. Not material riches – I want green fields and fat cows and oak trees.

Any book represents effort, struggle, work – I know, I write them myself – every book deserves attention, even if that ends with dismissal.

Life is a mess – a random muddle. Which is exactly why one is drawn to improving on it.

Equally, we require a collective past – hence the endless reinterpretations of history, frequently to suit the perceptions of the present.