Alan Bennett Quotes

83 quotes in 1137 categories

• One recipe for happiness is to have to sense of entitlement.' To this she added a star and noted at the bottom of the page:…
• I'm not "happy" but I'm not unhappy about it.
• To read is to withdraw.To make oneself unavailable. One would feel easier about it if the pursuit inself were less...selfish.
• The days weren't long enough for the reading she wanted to do.
• History is a commentary on the various and continuing incapabilities of men. What is history? History is women following behind with the bucket.
• All the effort went into getting there and then I had nothing left. I thought I'd got somewhere, then I found I had to go…
• Reading is untidy, discursive and perpetually inviting.
• It's subjunctive history. You know, the subjunctive? The mood used when something may or may not have happened. When it is imagined.
• One reads for pleasure...it is not a public duty.
• [talking about the Holocaust] 'But to put something in context is a step towards saying it can be understood and that it can be explained.…
• Clichés can be quite fun. That's how they got to be clichés.
• I dont know whether you've ever looked into a miner's eyes for any length of time, that is. Because it is the loveliest blue you've…
• There are more microbes per person than the entire population of the world. Imagine that. Per person. This means that if the time scale is…
• If I am doing nothing, I like to be doing nothing to some purpose. That is what leisure means.
• I always feel over-appreciated but underestimated.
• Teachers need to feel they are trusted. They must be allowed some leeway to use their imagination; otherwise, teaching loses all sense of wonder and…
• The bits I most remember about my school days are those that took place outside the classroom, as we were taken on countless theatre visits…
• I have no nickname, as there has never been any need for one.
• Closing a public library is child abuse, really, because it hinders child development.
• Sometimes, particularly in summers in New York, I have tried to write in shorts or with no shirt on and found myself unable to do…

Browse Alan Bennett Quotes by Category