I have a dreadful fear that the more you try to prevent revealing the self, the more you do. A. S. Byatt dreadfulfearprevent Change image and share on social
I'd like to write the way Matisse paints. A. S. Byatt matissepaintwrite Change image and share on social
In my mind's eye, Shakespeare is a huge, hot sea-beast, with fire in his veins and ice on his claws and inscrutable eyes, who looks like an inchoate hump under the encrustations of live barnacle-commentaries, limpets and trailing weeds. A. S. Byatt barnaclebeastclaw 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 think the virtue I prize above all others is curiosity. If you look really hard at almost anybody, and try to see why they're doing what they're doing, taking a dig at them ceases to be what you want to do even if you hate them. A. S. Byatt ceasecuriositydig 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
The point of painting is not really deception or imitation. A. S. Byatt deceptionimitationpaint Change image and share on social
In novels in general - and also on the television - we do live in a world where bodies is what we are. We do not talk about the spirit or the soul, and there is a sense that we no longer talk about beliefs, either Freudian or Marxist. A. S. Byatt beliefbodyfreudian share on social
I'm more interested in books than people, and I always expect everybody else to be, but they're not. A. S. Byatt bookexpectinterest Change image and share on social
I grew up with that completely fictive idea of motherhood, where the mother never strayed from the kitchen. All the women in my books are very afraid that if they do anything with their minds they won't be complete women. I don't think my daughters' generation has that feeling. A. S. Byatt afraidbookcomplete share on social
