---
title: "1 Real Historical Quotes By Pat Barker"
description: "1 Real Historical quotes by Pat Barker. Plus more from Pat Barker and more Real Historical sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9af/pat-barker-12512_about_when-writing-about-historical-characters_100594.jpg"
---

> [When writing about historical characters I try to be as accurate as possible, and in particular not to misrepresent the view they held. With a real historical figure you have to be fair, and this is not an obligation you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-barker/when-writing-about-historical-characters-i-try-to-be-as-accurate-as/)

[Pat Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-barker/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9af/pat-barker-12512_about_when-writing-about-historical-characters_100594.jpg)

## More by Pat Barker

> [“But I shot the dog myself. I took him into the barn holding on to his collar. He knew something bad was going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-barker/but-i-shot-the-dog-myself-i-took-him-into-the-barn-holding-on-to-his/)

[Pat Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-barker/)

> [When I'm writing the first draft, I'm writing in a very slovenly way: anything to get the outline of the story on paper.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-barker/when-i-m-writing-the-first-draft-i-m-writing-in-a-very-slovenly-way/)

[Pat Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-barker/)

> [When writing about historical characters I try to be as accurate as possible, and in particular not to misrepresent the view they held. With…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-barker/when-writing-about-historical-characters-i-try-to-be-as-accurate-as/)

[Pat Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-barker/)

> [That balance between involvement and detachment is what novelists do. It's the ideal relationship between a novelist and a character, I think, total involvement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-barker/that-balance-between-involvement-and-detachment-is-what-novelists-do/)

[Pat Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-barker/)

> [Murder is only killing in the wrong place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-barker/murder-is-only-killing-in-the-wrong-place/)

[Pat Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-barker/)

> [The sky darkened, the air grew colder, but he didn't mind. It didn't occur to him to move. This was the right place. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-barker/the-sky-darkened-the-air-grew-colder-but-he-didn-t-mind-it-didn-t/)

[Pat Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-barker/)

> ['Undertones of War' by Edmund Blunden seems to get less attention than the memoirs of Siegfried Sassoon and Robert Graves, but it is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-barker/undertones-of-war-by-edmund-blunden-seems-to-get-less-attention-than/)

[Pat Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-barker/)

> [I don't think it's possible to c-call yourself a C-Christian and... and j-just leave out the awkward bits.' -Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-barker/i-don-t-think-it-s-possible-to-c-call-yourself-a-c-christian-and-and/)

[Pat Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-barker/)

> [The way I see it, when you put the uniform on, in effect you sign a contract. And you don't back out of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-barker/the-way-i-see-it-when-you-put-the-uniform-on-in-effect-you-sign-a/)

[Pat Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-barker/)

> [“Half the world's work's done by hopeless neurotics.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-barker/half-the-world-s-work-s-done-by-hopeless-neurotics/)

[Pat Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-barker/)

> [Culturally, the First World War is the war that stands in for other wars,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-barker/culturally-the-first-world-war-is-the-war-that-stands-in-for-other/)

[Pat Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-barker/)

> [Fiction should be about moral dilemmas that are so bloody difficult that the author doesn't know the answer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-barker/fiction-should-be-about-moral-dilemmas-that-are-so-bloody-difficult/)

[Pat Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-barker/)

> [My grandmother's first husband was a spiritualist medium. What fascinates me about that is the balance between conviction and sincerity and trickery, which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-barker/my-grandmother-s-first-husband-was-a-spiritualist-medium-what/)

[Pat Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-barker/)

> [“It was... the Great White God de-throned, I suppose. Because we did, we quite unselfconsciously assumed we were the measure of all things. That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-barker/it-was-the-great-white-god-de-throned-i-suppose-because-we-did-we/)

[Pat Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-barker/)

> [Sometimes, in the trenches, you get the sense of something, ancient. One trench we held, it had skulls in the side, embedded, like mushrooms.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-barker/sometimes-in-the-trenches-you-get-the-sense-of-something-ancient-one/)

[Pat Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-barker/)

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