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
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.
gives god throw
God gives every bird his worm, but He does not throw it into the nest.
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.
couple unhappy proud
There are few couples as unhappy as those who are too proud to admit their unhappiness.
people secret today
In 1930s mysteries, all sorts of motives were credible which aren't credible today, especially motives of preventing guilty sexual secrets from coming out. Nowadays, people sell their guilty sexual secrets.
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.
men cities violence
A man who lives with nature is used to violence and is companionable with death. There is more violence in an English hedgerow than in the meanest streets of a great city.
men self world
The world is changed not by the self-regarding, but by men and women prepared to make fools of themselves.
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.
struggle book wine
I still occasionally need to struggle but I now fear it less. The weapons I fight it with are also my consolations: books, music, food, wine, nature.