Quotes by P. James

• There comes a time when every scientist, even God, has to write off an experiment.
• God gives every bird his worm, but He does not throw it into the nest.
• We English are good at forgiving our enemies; it releases us from the obligation of liking our friends.
• What the detective story is about is not murder but the restoration of order.
• It was one of those perfect English autumnal days which occur more frequently in memory than in life.
• In 1930s mysteries, all sorts of motives were credible which aren't credible today, especially motives of preventing guilty sexual secrets from coming out. Nowadays, people sell their guilty sexual secrets.
• I believe that political correctness can be a form of linguistic fascism, and it sends shivers down the spine of my generation who went to war against fascism.
• Human kindness is like a defective tap, the first gush may be impressive but the stream soon dries up.
• What a child doesn't receive he can seldom later give.