---
title: "1 Hilary Mantel Quotes By David Starkey"
description: "1 Hilary Mantel quotes by David Starkey. Plus more from David Starkey and more Hilary Mantel sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/574/david-starkey-4242_dream_i-wouldn-t-dream-of-commenting-on-hilary_1271052.png"
---

> [I wouldn't dream of commenting on Hilary Mantel as a novelist, frankly I'd be grateful if she stayed off my patch as a historian. She is intelligent, she is bright, she is an admirable writer. I happen to find her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-starkey/i-wouldn-t-dream-of-commenting-on-hilary-mantel-as-a-novelist-frankly/)

[David Starkey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-starkey/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/574/david-starkey-4242_dream_i-wouldn-t-dream-of-commenting-on-hilary_1271052.png)

## More by David Starkey

> [I enjoy cooking, but stick to modern dishes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-starkey/i-enjoy-cooking-but-stick-to-modern-dishes/)

[David Starkey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-starkey/)

> [Only bad teachers lecture at a tutorial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-starkey/only-bad-teachers-lecture-at-a-tutorial/)

[David Starkey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-starkey/)

> [I was born in a council house, my father left school at the age of 11, had his teeth out without anaesthetic at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-starkey/i-was-born-in-a-council-house-my-father-left-school-at-the-age-of-11/)

[David Starkey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-starkey/)

> [I was a complete and typical only child. I was bookish, and sport was out of the question anyway. I had read all of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-starkey/i-was-a-complete-and-typical-only-child-i-was-bookish-and-sport-was/)

[David Starkey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-starkey/)

> [I hate niceness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-starkey/i-hate-niceness/)

[David Starkey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-starkey/)

> [Compare the scale and magnifcence of Versailles with St James's - the brick-built hovel in which the 18th-century kings of England lived. What was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-starkey/compare-the-scale-and-magnifcence-of-versailles-with-st-james-s-the/)

[David Starkey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-starkey/)

> [Churchill may have made some horrendous mistakes - Gallipoli, for one - but he had a sense of the profundity and integrity of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-starkey/churchill-may-have-made-some-horrendous-mistakes-gallipoli-for-one/)

[David Starkey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-starkey/)

> [We have this extraordinarily unbalanced constitution, in which we have an elected dictatorship of the prime minister.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-starkey/we-have-this-extraordinarily-unbalanced-constitution-in-which-we-have/)

[David Starkey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-starkey/)

> [Historians have become far too precious. Their work has become ever more specialised and, as they steadily lose the context of their studies, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-starkey/historians-have-become-far-too-precious-their-work-has-become-ever/)

[David Starkey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-starkey/)

> [Floating the idea that every kid in Brixton can become a whizkid at information technology is dishonest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-starkey/floating-the-idea-that-every-kid-in-brixton-can-become-a-whizkid-at/)

[David Starkey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-starkey/)

> [The reign of Henry VIII is the axis around which England turns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-starkey/the-reign-of-henry-viii-is-the-axis-around-which-england-turns/)

[David Starkey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-starkey/)

> [What I love doing is creating a room, with attractive paintings and colours and furnishings - very much my mother.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-starkey/what-i-love-doing-is-creating-a-room-with-attractive-paintings-and/)

[David Starkey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-starkey/)

> [I mean, really, compared to a senior civil servant, I'm very modestly paid!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-starkey/i-mean-really-compared-to-a-senior-civil-servant-i-m-very-modestly/)

[David Starkey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-starkey/)

> [I'm not a completely envy-free zone - I envy 25-year-old men with magnificent bodies - but when I look at my colleagues on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-starkey/i-m-not-a-completely-envy-free-zone-i-envy-25-year-old-men-with/)

[David Starkey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-starkey/)

> [What Black Lives Matter is doing is a deliberate inversion of the proper processes of historical analysis. It is beginning with a conclusion. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-starkey/what-black-lives-matter-is-doing-is-a-deliberate-inversion-of-the/)

[David Starkey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-starkey/)

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