A. S. Byatt Quotes & Sayings

“I think vestigially there's a synesthete in me, but not like a real one who immediately knows what colour Wednesday is.”

“There are things I take sides about, like capital punishment, which it seems to me there is only one side about: it is evil. But there are two or three sides to sexual harassment, and the moment you get into particular cases, there is injustice in every conceivable direction. It's a mess.”

“Where would we be without inhibitions? They're quite useful things when you look at some of the things humans do if they lose them.”

“I am a profound pessimist both about life and about human relations and about politics and ecology. Humans are inadequate and stupid creatures who sooner or later make a mess, and those who are trying to do good do a lot more damage than those who are muddling along.”

“You can understand a lot about yourself by working out which fairytale you use to present your world to yourself in.”

“I don't only write about English literature; I also write about chaos theory and... ants. I can understand ants.”

“Biographies are no longer written to explain or explore the greatness of the great. They redress balances, explore secret weaknesses, demolish legends.”

“Books that change you, even later in life, give you a kind of electrical shock as the world takes a different shape.”

“Why do we take pleasure in gruesome death, neatly packaged as a puzzle to which we may find a satisfactory solution through clues - or if we are not clever enough, have it revealed by the all-powerful tale-teller at the end of the book? It is something to do with being reduced to, and comforted by, playing by the rules.”

“I acquired a hunger for fairy tales in the dark days of blackout and blitz in the Second World War.”