Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by P. D. James

Quote by P. D. James

Work

Original Sin

This novel explores themes of guilt, deception, and the consequences of one's actions through the lens of a gripping narrative. more

Author

P. D. James
P. D. James

P. D. James, born on August 3, 1920 and died on November 27, 2014, was a distinguished member of the House of Lords. She was a highly acclaimed author of detective fiction, recognized for her intricate plots and complex characters. more

You May Also Like

“There are two options for any society: total prohibition as in a totalitarian state, or total license. Both avoid the ardours of decision. Both have the attraction of certainty. The difficult option is to decide where the line should be drawn and this, surely, is the responsiblity of any civilized and democratic country.”

ShouldTwoCountryStatesDifficultLinesDecisionDemocraticAttractionCertaintyCivilizedLicenseProhibitionTotalitarian StateDemocratic CountryTwo Options
Book:Time to Be in Earnest
Create image

“A letter is paradoxically the most revealing and the most deceptive of confessional revelations. We all have our inconsistencies, prejudices, irrationalities which, although strongly felt at the time, may be transitory. A letter captures the mood of the moment. The transitory becomes immutably fixed, part of the evidence for the prosecution or the defence.”

MayMomentsFeltEvidenceLettersPrejudiceMoodFixedRevelationsCaptureRevealingDefenceDeceptiveTransitoryInconsistencyIrrationalityProsecution
Book:Time to Be in Earnest
Create image

“A picnic may well be a metaphor for life. The essentials for happiness are the right company, moderate if sanguine expectations and a reasonable standard of physical sustenance and comfort, the whole being bedeviled by the belief that there is always something better to be had if only one presses on.”

IfsWellsMayWholeBeliefCompanyComfortEssentialsStandardsExpectationsPressesMetaphorReasonableModeratesSomething BetterSustenancePicnicsSanguine
Author:P. D. James
Create image

“Comedy is an intellectual affair, and deals chiefly with logic. Tragedy is an emotional affair, and deals chiefly with value. Horace Walpole once said that "life is a comedy to the man who thinks and a tragedy to the man who feels." Comedy is negative; it is a criticism of limitations and an unwillingness to accept them. Tragedy is positive; it is an uncritical acceptance of the positive content of that which is delimited. Since comedy deals with the limitations of actual situations and tragedy with their positive content, comedy must ridicule and tragedy must endorse.”

ThinkingMenFeelsSaidLife IsValuesDealsSituationAcceptingComedyAcceptanceEmotionalHe ManIntellectualNegativeCriticismLogicTragedyAffairLimitationRidicule
Author:James Kern Feibleman
Create image