I'm quite interested in my own mental processes, simply because I'm a failed scientist, and because I'm interested in how the brain and the mind works, and I like to avoid easy descriptions. A. S. Byatt avoidbraindescription Change image and share on social
I like feeling my way into different minds and experiences. It comes naturally and always has. A. S. Byatt experiencefeltmind Change image and share on social
I hated being a novelist when I was 20 - I had nothing to write about. A. S. Byatt hatenovelistwrite Change image and share on social
When I was a child - in wartime, pre-television - books were my life. A. S. Byatt bookchildlife Change image and share on social
You can understand a lot about yourself by working out which fairytale you use to present your world to yourself in. A. S. Byatt fairytalelotpresent Change image and share on social
For a long time, I felt instinctively irritated - sometimes repelled - by scientific friends' automatic use of the word 'mechanism' for automatic bodily processes. A machine was man-made; it was not a sentient being; a man was not a machine. A. S. Byatt automaticbodilyfelt share on social
I'd like to write the way Matisse paints. A. S. Byatt matissepaintwrite Change image and share on social
Books that change you, even later in life, give you a kind of electrical shock as the world takes a different shape. A. S. Byatt bookchangeelectrical Change image and share on social
If a novelist tells you something she knows or thinks, and you believe her, that is not because either of you think she is God, but because she is doing her work - as a novelist. A. S. Byatt godnovelisttell Change image and share on social
I like to write about painting because I think visually. I see my writing as blocks of color before it forms itself. I think I also care about painting because I'm not musical. Painting to me is not a metaphor for writing, but something people do that can never be reduced to words. A. S. Byatt blockcarecolor share on social