Doris Lessing Quotes

203 quotes in 2298 categories

• Intelligence forbids tears.
• I'm always astounded at the way we automatically look at what divides and separates us. We never look at what people have in common.
• The older I get the more secrets I have, never to be revealed and this, I know, is a common condition of people my age.…
• I am so happy to be communicating with people on this newest of new wavelengths which to some older people must seem like a kind…
• I treasure solitude. One doesn't have to have human contact.
• And then, not expecting it, you become middle-aged and anonymous. No one notices you. You achieve a wonderful freedom. It is a positive thing. You…
• Sometimes I think what I write is funny in its quiet way.
• It has become a kind of religion that you can't criticise because then you become a traitor to the great cause, which I am not.…
• ... if you have nothing, you are free to choose among dreams and fantasies.
• The human community is evolving... . We can survive anything you care to mention. We are supremely equipped to survive, to adapt and even in…
• I don't think San Francisco needs defending. I never meet anyone who doesn't love the place, Americans or others.
• Women are the cowards they are because they have been semi-slaves for so long. The number of women prepared to stand up for what they…
• What of October, that ambiguous month, the month of tension, the unendurable month?
• The freedom of women was achieved by two things: One, the Pill. Two... by labour-saving devices like the washing machine. By science, not feminism.
• We, as a society, can't tolerate very much difference.
• Cats mean kittens, plentiful and frequent.
• Humanity's legacy of stories and storytelling is the most precious we have. All wisdom is in our stories and songs. A story is how we…
• People who love literature have at least part of their minds immune from indoctrination. If you read, you can learn to think for yourself.
• A simple grateful thought turned heavenwards is the most perfect prayer.
• With a library you are free, not confined by temporary political climates. It is the most democratic of institutions because no one - but no…

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