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 am suspicious of writers who go looking for issues to address. Writers are neither preachers nor journalists. Journalists know much more than most writers about what's going on in the world. And if you want to change things, you do journalism. A. S. Byatt addresschangeissue share on social
As a little girl, I didn't like stories about little girls. I liked stories about dragons and beasts and princes and princesses and fear and terror and the Four Musketeers and almost anything other than nice little girls making moral decisions about whether to tell the teacher about what the other little girl did or did not do. A. S. Byatt beastdecisiondragon share on social
There is a certain aesthetic pleasure in trying to imagine the unimaginable and failing, if you are a reader. A. S. Byatt aestheticfailimagine Change image and 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 think that most of the children's writers live in the world that they've created, and their children are kind of phantoms that wander around the edge of it in the world, but actually the children's writers are the children. A. S. Byatt childcreateedge share on social
You learn a lot about love before you ever get there. You learn at least as much about love from books as you do from watching your parents. A. S. Byatt booklearnlot 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
I watch a lot of sport on television. I only watch certain sports, and I only watch them live - I don't think I've ever been able to watch a replay of a match or game of which the result was already decided. I feel bound to cheat and look up what can be looked up. A. S. Byatt bindcheatdecide share on social
One of the reasons I've gotten so attached to talking to scientists is that... they know there is a reality. A. S. Byatt attachhavereality Change image and share on social