WIST Quotations

James, P. D. -- “Mortal Consequences,” A Taste for Death (1986)

Dave — Thu, 24 Feb 2022 17:26:51 +0000

One of the things he deplored about the loss of religion, it meant that people elevated politics into a religious faith and that was dangerous.

P. D. James (1920-2014) British mystery writer [Phyllis Dorothy James White]
“Mortal Consequences,” A Taste for Death (1986)
(Source)

James, P. D. -- “Rhesus Positive,” A Taste for Death (1986)

Dave — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 09:15:01 +0000

It was one of those perfect English autumnal days which occur more frequently in memory than in life.

P. D. James (1920-2014) British mystery writer [Phyllis Dorothy James White]
“Rhesus Positive,” A Taste for Death (1986)

James, P. D. -- Devices and Desires, Book 6, ch. 10 (1990)

Dave — Thu, 31 Mar 2022 16:19:34 +0000

Once you have discovered what is happening, you can’t pretend not to know, you can’t abdicate responsibility. Knowledge always brings responsibility.

P. D. James (1920-2014) British mystery writer [Phyllis Dorothy James White]
Devices and Desires, Book 6, ch. 10 (1990)
(Source)

James, P. D. -- Time To Be in Earnest: A Fragment of Autobiography, “Diary 1997” (1999)

Dave — Wed, 13 Mar 2024 14:36:51 +0000

Children live in occupied territory. The brave and the foolhardy openly rebel against authority, whether harsh or benign. But most tread warily, outwardly accommodating themselves to alien mores and edicts while living in secret their iconoclastic and subversive lives.

P. D. James (1920-2014) British mystery writer [Phyllis Dorothy James White]
Time To Be in Earnest: A Fragment of Autobiography, “Diary 1997” (1999)
(Source)

James, P. D. -- Time To Be in Earnest: A Fragment of Autobiography, “Diary 1997” (1999)

Dave — Wed, 03 Apr 2024 14:08:47 +0000

I don’t think he had known much demonstrative love in his childhood and what a child doesn’t receive he can seldom later give.

P. D. James (1920-2014) British mystery writer [Phyllis Dorothy James White]
Time To Be in Earnest: A Fragment of Autobiography, “Diary 1997” (1999)
(Source)

Writing of her father. Often just the last half of this quote is given ("What a child ...").

James, P. D. -- In “Ten Rules for Writing Fiction,” The Guardian (20 Feb 2010)

Dave — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 14:28:57 +0000

Open your mind to new experiences, particularly to the study of other people. Nothing that happens to a writer — however happy, however tragic — is ever wasted.

P. D. James (1920-2014) British mystery writer [Phyllis Dorothy James White]
In “Ten Rules for Writing Fiction,” The Guardian (20 Feb 2010)
(Source)

James, P. D. -- Interview with Jake Kerridge (Sep 2009)

Dave — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 14:12:24 +0000

I don’t think writers choose their genre, the genre chooses us. I wrote out of a wish to create order out of disorder. The liking of pattern.

P. D. James (1920-2014) British mystery writer [Phyllis Dorothy James White]
Interview with Jake Kerridge (Sep 2009)

James, P. D. -- Interview, Face (Dec 1986)

Dave — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 12:06:39 +0000

What the detective story is about is not murder but the restoration of order.

P. D. James (1920-2014) British mystery writer [Phyllis Dorothy James White]
Interview, Face (Dec 1986)