No ruler in the history of the world has ever been able to afford a war. They're not affordable things. No prince… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
If the monarchy were removed tomorrow, it wouldn't have a huge effect on the national mind-set. The monarchy is mildly interesting and… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
As a writer, you owe it to yourself not to get stuck in a rut of looking at the world in a… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
There is so much else in the world that is more interesting [ than monarchy]. — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
The weight of the old world is stifling, and trying to shovel its weight off your life is tiring just to think… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
You learn nothing about men by snubbing them and crushing their pride. You must ask them what it is they can do… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
When you are writing laws you are testing words to find their utmost power. Like spells, they have to make things happen… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
Busyness, I feel increasingly, is the writer's curse and downfall. You read too much and write too readily, you become cut off… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
The old always think the world is getting worse; it is for the young, equipped with historical facts, to point out that,… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
The fate of peoples is made like this, two men in small rooms. Forget the coronations, the conclaves of cardinals, the pomp… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
My childhood gave me a very powerful sense of being spooked. I didn't know whether what I was seeing were sensory images… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
Like every writer, I'm drawn by unlikely juxtapositions, precisely-dated and once-only collisions between people from different worlds. — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
He is careful to deny responsibility for September, but he does not, you notice, condemn the killings. He also refrains from killing… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
We have a number of very powerful women in the world now - Mrs. [Angela] Merkel, who the Germans call Mutti. What… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
Concentrate your narrative energy on the point of change. This is especially important for historical fiction. When your character is new to… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
People will identify with a persecuted minority without asking themselves what they are identifying with. — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
“The hunter is among the most innocent of men; living in the moment makes him feel pure. When he returns in the evening, his… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
“But what would happen … I mean, what would be so awful … if they did meet up?” “Why, it would be like the… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
When you have committed enough words to paper, you feel you have a spine stiff enough to stand up in the wind. But when… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
At New Year's he had given Anne a present of silver forks with handles of rock crystal. He hopes she will use them to… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
“The story of my own childhood is a complicated sentence that I am always trying to finish, to finish and put behind me. It… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
“He wants to say, because Anne is not a carnal being, she is a calculating being, with a cold slick brain at work behind… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
“Come to that, don't pay out good money for horoscopes. If things are going to go badly for you, is that what you need… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
“But my sins are my strength, he thinks; the sins I have done, that others have not even found the opportunity of committing. I… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
“Mirabeau: “If you have been told to clear us from this hall, you must ask for orders to use force. We shall leave our… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
“Cardinal Campeggio has implored Katherine to bow to the king's will, accept that her marriage is invalid and retire to a convent. Certainly, she… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
