I'm not an historian but I can get interested - obsessively interested - with any aspect of the past, whether it's palaeontology or archaeology or the very recent past.

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,...

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...

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...

I rather like getting away from fiction.

I rather like getting away from fiction.

I'm not an historian and I'm not wanting to write about how I perceive the...

I'm not an historian and I'm not wanting to write about how I perceive the...

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 history, of course, is the history of wars

All history, of course, is the history of wars

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.

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;...

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...

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 have long been interested in landscape history, and when younger and more robust I...

I have long been interested in landscape history, and when younger and more robust I...

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...

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.

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...

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...

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...

We make choices but are constantly foiled by happenstance.

We make choices but are constantly foiled by happenstance.

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...

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...