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 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
I know that part of the reason I read Tolkien when I'm ill is that there is an almost total absence of sexuality in his world, which is restful. A. S. Byatt absenceillpart Change image and share on social
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
You learn different things through fiction. Historians are always making a plot about how certain things came to happen. Whereas a novelist looks at tiny little things and builds up a sort of map, like a painting, so that you see the shapes of things. A. S. Byatt buildfictionhappen 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
Where would we be without inhibitions? They're quite useful things when you look at some of the things humans do if they lose them. A. S. Byatt humaninhibitionlose Change image and share on social
Never stop paying attention to things. Never make your mind up finally. Do not hold beliefs. A. S. Byatt attentionbelieffinally Change image and share on social
Reading a newspaper is like reading someone's letters, as opposed to a biography or a history. The writer really does not know what will happen. A novelist needs to feel what that is like. A. S. Byatt biographyfeelhappen Change image and share on social
Human beings love stories because they safely show us beginnings, middles and ends. A. S. Byatt beginningbeingend Change image and share on social
