“It was like removing layers of crumpled brown paper from an awkwardly shaped parcel, and revealing the attractive present which it contained.” — Diana Athill Copy Share Image
An important aspect of the ebbing of sex was that other things became interesting. Sex obliterates the individuality of young women more often than… — Diana Athill Copy Share Image
“I am not sure that digging in our past guilts is a useful occupation for the very old, given that one can do so… — Diana Athill Copy Share Image
“We must always remember that we are only midwives—if we want praise for progeny we must give birth to our own.” — Diana Athill Copy Share Image
“To me it was plain silly. It is so obvious that life works in terms of species rather than individuals. The individual just has… — Diana Athill Copy Share Image
“She was an object lesson on the essential luck, whatever hardships may come their way, of those born able to make things.” — Diana Athill Copy Share Image
“Dwindling energy is one of the most boring things about being old. From time to time you get a day when it seems to… — Diana Athill Copy Share Image
The extension of power offered by a pony, the ease and speed of movement, the tapping of unsuspected courage, the satisfaction of collaboration with… — Diana Athill Copy Share Image
“All through my sixties I felt I was still within hailing distance of middle age, not safe on its shores, perhaps, but navigating its… — Diana Athill Copy Share Image
“Generally office and home were far apart, and home was much more important than office. I was not ashamed of valuing my private life… — Diana Athill Copy Share Image
You don't always have to go so far as to murder your darlings – those turns of phrase or images of which you felt… — Diana Athill Copy Share Image
“I have heard people bewailing man's landing on the moon, as though before it was touched by an astronaut's foot it was made of… — Diana Athill Copy Share Image
“How, then, does the written word work? What part of a reader absorbs it - or should that be a double question: what part… — Diana Athill Copy Share Image
