I didn't think I had anything particular to say, but I thought I might have something to say to children.

Quote by Penelope Lively

Topics: Penelope Lively Quotes

I rather like getting away from fiction.

I rather like getting away from fiction.

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...

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...

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...

I do like to embed a fictional character firmly in an occupation.

I do like to embed a fictional character firmly in an occupation.

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...

The present hardly exists, after all-it becomes the past even as it happens. A tricky...

The present hardly exists, after all-it becomes the past even as it happens. A tricky...

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...

There's a preoccupation with memory and the operation of memory and a rather rapacious interest...

There's a preoccupation with memory and the operation of memory and a rather rapacious interest...

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...

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...

We make choices but are constantly foiled by happenstance.

We make choices but are constantly foiled by happenstance.

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

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

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

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

I'm intrigued by the way in which physical appearance can often direct a person's life;...

I'm intrigued by the way in which physical appearance can often direct a person's life;...

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...

You learn a lot, writing fiction.

You learn a lot, writing fiction.