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

Quote by Penelope Lively

Topics: Penelope Lively Quotes

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...

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

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

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...

We make choices but are constantly foiled by happenstance.

We make choices but are constantly foiled by happenstance.

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

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

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 can walk about London and see a society that seems an absolutely revolutionary change...

I can walk about London and see a society that seems an absolutely revolutionary change...

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...

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 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...

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

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

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'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...

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'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...

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...

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 rather like getting away from fiction.

I rather like getting away from fiction.

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...