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List of Doris Lessing Quotes

Explore our hand-picked selection of 328 inspiring quotes by Doris Lessing.

About Doris Lessing

  • Born: October 22, 1919
  • Died: November 17, 2013
  • Occupation: Novelist
    • The 1960s was probably the first time in history that young people were recognized as a big group of consumers and as a commercial proposition for madison avenue. advertising played a major role in creating the ethos of that era - the idea that, "here it is, and you can have it now." i know that many kids thought that the ethos of the 1960s was due to their own peculiar virtues, but, in fact, it had a lot to do with the realities of the marketplace and commerce.
    Kids Reality People
    I have kept diaries, of course, but they can't be read for quite a long time. i'm always curious about people who are fascinated by writers' lives. it seems to me that we're always in our books, quite nakedly. i wonder, too, does the private life really matter? who cares what is known about you and what isn't? even when you make public something that's been private, most people don't get it - not unless they're the same generation and have gone through more or less the same experiences. so, in a sense, we're all private, by definition.
    Book Long People
    I often feel like a dinosaur. i don't get the technology thing at all. i was on the internet not long ago for barnes and noble, and people were ringing up from all over the world - australia, canada, france. i experienced it as an informal chat, which was pleasant, but i couldn't quite take it in. it had a strong element of unreality. i can't be bothered to switch to a computer at my age, though i might get along with e-mail, which sounds appealing.
    Strong Technology Long
    Recently, the science fiction writer arthur c. clarke talked about the ways the lives of human beings will be changed in the next century. at least half of them i didn't understand at all, though i'm sure that kids today would know exactly what he meant. i'm somewhere in the past. i do think, however, that our brains have been damaged by technology. i meet kids who don't seem to be capable of reading a long sentence, much less a long book.
    Book Reading Kids
    When the print revolution occurred 400 years ago, human beings lost a certain mental capacity, including a sense of memory. in africa today, you meet people who still carry everything in their heads, the way we used to. we rely on telephone books, address books. we have to look up everything.
    Memories Book People
    I think i am at the end of a certain phase of my life. what i'm on the lookout for now is the unexpected, for things that come from outside and that i never thought might happen. sometimes you have to watch for them so you don't automatically say no to the new, simply because you're in the habit of saying no to everything that comes along. i'm constantly changing my perspective on my own life. i see the past differently, and that's a wonderful thing.
    Past Thinking Perspective
    All politicians are not the same. i've never felt that way. what is the same is that voters get very excited about new faces, like clinton and blair - and they have unrealistic expectations that the world will change overnight. a cynical old hand like myself knows that it won't.
    Expectations Cynical World
    America can be a very hysterical country intellectually and very puritanical, too. you probably have fun in private, but to the rest of the world you seem to hate fun - to be big on agendas and short on spontaneity. the image you present is one of appalling conformity. the thought police is what you are ruled by.
    Country Fun Hate
    I wonder why do wars suddenly start and suddenly stop, and why do we brits and you americans get involved in some of them and not in others? is it possible that the arms manufacturers quietly foment wars without us knowing? dropping bombs is a very profitable business for them. gore vidal was talking about this the other day, and he made a lot of sense. whenever american policy seems inscrutable, he said, remember the military-industrial complex. he's the one who should have been president.
    War President Remember
    In shanghai, i saw great contrasts. on one street there would be impressive shops selling copies of the latest word in glamorous european fashion, and around the corner on a back street there were poor families crammed into one room with a naked light bulb. one evening i heard a chinese family singing "happy birthday." it was weird. you would have thought that they'd have their own happy birthday song. every dominant society in the world - whether it's french or british or american - imposes its culture on less developed societies.
    Fashion Song Chinese
    There are many feminists who work in the media, and they think that feminism is very important. it is in their own lives, but mostly feminism has had an impact among privileged women in the advanced western countries. for the most part, it hasn't begun to touch the lives of poor and working women in the third world, and that distresses me.
    Country Thinking Feminist
    I have a daughter and two grand-daughters and a great grandson in africa, in cape town.
    Daughter Two Capes
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