212 Quotes by Ruth Rendell

Whereas most of us would think that's a very good thing, he doesn't. He thinks this is sacrilege, this is desecration.

unusual thing: a European thriller writer whose work holds up as literature.

You don't knock television, even if you don't always like what they make of your work. It makes all the difference between being an also-ran writer and very famous.

Violence is very much with us, and we like to see it. I doubt if you can change that, and I'm not sure you should want to. I have occasionally been very upset by something I was writing, but it's quite rare: I keep my writing very separate from my life.

The treatment of patients with contaminated blood has been described as one of the most tragic episodes in the history of the NHS.

I started by writing short stories, but they weren't very good; I tried them on various magazines, and none of them was published. People were nicer then about turning you down, and so I didn't lose heart - I kept on writing and wrote a lot of books, one or two of which I finished, and others I didn't.

I've never met a murderer as far as I know. I would hate to.

I've never really been satisfied with a book. I always want it to be better.

The things I write about are completely removed from my own life, but people want to know the characters better.