At 11, 12, I thought I was clumsy, ugly, a mess, an unappealing person, but I did have the gift of the gab. I had the school record at Haberdashers for consecutive detentions for simply speaking out of turn. Simon Schama clumsyconsecutivedetention share on social
The default mode of modern writing about art is to despise any notion of singularity as so much overheated genius-fetishism. Simon Schama artdefaultdespise Change image and share on social
If someone asks me to go to speak at, say, Princeton, I might or might not go. But if someone asks me from Norman, Oklahoma, I certainly will go. Simon Schama asknormanoklahoma Change image and share on social
I am not very relaxed about bad reviews. But I am resilient. I grieve, curse and swear, put on loud music, and get on with the next job. Simon Schama badcursegrieve Change image and share on social
I understood when I was quite small that there were two special things about the Jews. That we'd endured for over 3,000 years despite everything that had been thrown at us, and that we had an extraordinarily dramatic story to tell. Simon Schama 000dramaticendure share on social
The most gloomy prognosis about Jewish life is that it will disappear between the two extremes of ultra-Orthodoxy on the one hand and total assimilation on the other. But those are very exaggerated scenarios. Simon Schama assimilationdisappearexaggerate share on social
It was the Sephardi Jews who brought fish and chips to Britain, actually, believe it or not, from the Mediterranean world. Apart from actually eating and selling fish and chips, they were kind of debt enforcers. Simon Schama bringbritainchip share on social
As a schoolboy, poetry seemed defined by preciousness. It was all very rarefied. Simon Schama definepoetrypreciousness Change image and share on social
I would want the British reader to feel that religion in America isn't an absurd thing - a sign of a pin head athwart a gigantic body. Simon Schama absurdamericaathwart Change image and share on social
Silence, this will surprise you not, isn't really a Jewish concept. Simon Schama conceptjewishsilence Change image and share on social
