212 Quotes by Ruth Rendell

I don't like the way young people write and talk about the old. I don't like their attitude, which, if they weren't young and therefore bright and vibrant, would be called outdated.

I wouldn't be young again even if it were possible, but I am not going to pretend that growing old is all sweetness and light.

I go to the House of Lords in the afternoon and try to walk halfway. I may be thinking about what I'm going to write. It's much more satisfying than sitting in a chair.

I don't mind being distracted. I don't want to sit there in utter silence and type. If the phone rings, I usually answer it, speak for a few minutes and return to writing, or go for a walk in and out of the rooms. I don't mind a break.

I have had quite a lot of prizes, but I don't think it makes any difference to the ease or difficulty to the writing process.

I am neurotic, but I live with it. I think most people are, anyway.

I don't have any dark desires. And I think most people don't. A few have dark desires and don't sublimate them.

I don't expect the sun to be always shining, or even want that to happen.

'The Chimney Sweeper's Boy' began differently from any previous book I'd written. It actually derives from a story a friend - the novel's dedicatee, Patrick Maher - told me.