Getting to know someone else involves curiosity about where they have come from, who they are.

Quote by Penelope Lively

Topics: Penelope Lively Quotes

I have had to empty two family homes during the last few years - first,...

I have had to empty two family homes during the last few years - first,...

I'm now an agnostic but I grew up on the King James version, which I'm...

I'm now an agnostic but I grew up on the King James version, which I'm...

Every novel generates its own climate, when you get going.

Every novel generates its own climate, when you get going.

Deep down I have this atavistic feeling that really I should be in the country.

Deep down I have this atavistic feeling that really I should be in the country.

It was a combination of an intense interest in children's literature, which I've always had,...

It was a combination of an intense interest in children's literature, which I've always had,...

It seems to me that everything that happens to us is a disconcerting mix of...

It seems to me that everything that happens to us is a disconcerting mix of...

Since then, I have just read and read - but, that said, I suppose there...

Since then, I have just read and read - but, that said, I suppose there...

I've always been fascinated by the operation of memory - the way in which it...

I've always been fascinated by the operation of memory - the way in which it...

We all need a past - that's where our sense of identity comes from.

We all need a past - that's where our sense of identity comes from.

The consideration of change over the century is about loss, though I think that social...

The consideration of change over the century is about loss, though I think that social...

I didn't write anything until I was well over 30.

I didn't write anything until I was well over 30.

The pleasure of writing fiction is that you are always spotting some new approach, an...

The pleasure of writing fiction is that you are always spotting some new approach, an...

I rather like getting away from fiction.

I rather like getting away from fiction.

The Photograph is concerned with the power that the past has to interfere with the...

The Photograph is concerned with the power that the past has to interfere with the...

Equally, we require a collective past - hence the endless reinterpretations of history, frequently to...

Equally, we require a collective past - hence the endless reinterpretations of history, frequently to...

I'm not an historian but I can get interested - obsessively interested - with any...

I'm not an historian but I can get interested - obsessively interested - with any...

We read Greek and Norse mythology until it came out of our ears. And the...

We read Greek and Norse mythology until it came out of our ears. And the...

All I know for certain is that reading is of the most intense importance to...

All I know for certain is that reading is of the most intense importance to...

Conventional forms of narrative allow for different points of view, but for this book I...

Conventional forms of narrative allow for different points of view, but for this book I...

You learn a lot, writing fiction.

You learn a lot, writing fiction.