The State, that craving rookery of committees and subcommittees. V S Pritchett
London landladies are Britannias armed with helmet, shield, trident, and have faces with the word ‘No’ stamped like a coat of arms on them. V S Pritchett
I shall never be as old as I was between 20 and 30. V S Pritchett
I am under the spell of language, which has ruled me since I was 10. V S Pritchett
It is less the business of the novelist to tell us what happened than to show how it happened. V S Pritchett
All writers – all people – have their stores of private and family legends which lie like a collection of half-forgotten, often violent toys on the floor of memory. V S Pritchett
(Of London) The attitude to foreigners is like the attitude to dogs: Dogs are neither human nor British, but so long as you keep them under control, give them their exercise, feed them, pat them, you will find their wild emotions are amusing, and their characters interesting. V S Pritchett
The mark of genius is an incessant activity of mind. Genius is a spiritual greed. V S Pritchett
The secret of happiness is to find a congenial monotony. V S Pritchett
How extraordinary it is that one feels most guilt about the sins one is unable to commit. V S Pritchett
Life – how curious is that habit that makes us think it is not here, but elsewhere. V S Pritchett
The difference between farce and humour in literature is, I suppose, that farce strums louder and louder on one string, while humour varies its note, changes its key, grows and spreads and deepens until it may indeed reach tragic depths. V S Pritchett
The detective novel is the art-for-art’s-sake of our yawning Philistinism, the classic example of a specialized form of art removed from contact with the life it pretends to build on. V S Pritchett