P. D. James
P. D. James
Phyllis Dorothy James, Baroness James of Holland Park, OBE, FRSA, FRSL, known as P. D. James, was an English crime writer. She rose to fame for her series of detective novels starring police commander and poet Adam Dalgliesh...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth3 August 1920
eye writing voice
Learn to write by doing it. Read widely and wisely. Increase your word power. Find your own individual voice though practicing constantly. Go through the world with your eyes and ears open and learn to express that experience in words.
eye mass-extinction light
Of the four billion life forms which have existed on this planet, three billion, nine hundred and sixty million are now extinct. We don't know why. Some by wanton extinction, some through natural catastrophe, some destroyed by meteorites and asteroids. In the light of these mass extinctions it really does seem unreasonable to suppose that Homo sapiens should be exempt. Our species will have been one of the shortest-lived of all, a mere blink, you may say, in the eye of time.
new-experiences people mind
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.
writing world language
We who write in English are fortunate to have the richest and most versatile language in the world. Respect it.
alzheimers tragedy disease
The great tragedy of Alzheimer's disease, and the reason why we dread it, is that it leaves us with no defence, not even against those who love us.
writing bad-writing discrimination
Read widely and with discrimination. Bad writing is contagious.
kindness may firsts
Human kindness is like a defective tap, the first gush may be impressive but the stream soon dries up.
years literature care
Great literature cannot grow from a neglected or impoverished soil. Only if we actually tend or care will it transpire that every hundred years or so we might get a Middlemarch.
healthy development surveillance
A regime which combines perpetual surveillance with total indulgence is hardly conducive to healthy development.
government safety people
Generosity is a virtue for individuals, not governments. When governments are generous it is with other people’s money, other people’s safety, other people’s future.
raw-materials crafts increase
Increase your word power. Words are the raw material of our craft.
sex religion modern
The modern holy trinity is money, sex and celebrity.
breathing metaphysical speculation
Metaphysical speculation is about as pointless as a discussion on the meaning of one's lungs. They're for breathing.
stupid voting slavery
I can understand the poor and stupid voting for Marxism or one of its fashionable variants. If you've no hope of being other than a slave, you may as well opt for the most efficient form of slavery.