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

Quote by Penelope Lively

Topics: Penelope Lively Quotes

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

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

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'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;...

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...

I didn't want it to be a book that made pronouncements.

I didn't want it to be a book that made pronouncements.

I rather like getting away from fiction.

I rather like getting away from fiction.

I'm writing another novel and I know what I'm going to do after, which may...

I'm writing another novel and I know what I'm going to do after, which may...

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 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...

You learn a lot, writing fiction.

You learn a lot, writing fiction.

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

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

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...

We make choices but are constantly foiled by happenstance.

We make choices but are constantly foiled by happenstance.

All history, of course, is the history of wars

All history, of course, is the history of wars

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...

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...

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...

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...