Scarlett Thomas Quotes

Quotes about:

• People make events into stories. Stories give events meaning.

  Scarlett Thomas

  People, Giving, Events

  Scarlett Thomas (2012). “Going Out”, p.20, Canongate Books

  46 Copy quote

• What folly takes light through ether to each eye from every horizon.

  Scarlett Thomas

  Eye, Light, Horizon

  Scarlett Thomas (2008). “The End Of Mr. Y”, p.30, Canongate Books

  8 Copy quote

• Homeopathy seemed . . . both mathematical and poetic.

  Scarlett Thomas

  Poetic, Mathematical, Homeopathy

  15 Copy quote

• Routine kills creative thought.

  Scarlett Thomas

  Creative, Routine, Creative Thought

  Scarlett Thomas (2009). “PopCo”, p.15, Canongate Books

  15 Copy quote

• I always got a bit pissed off with those broadsheet sceptics who make their living being passionately angry about homeopathy, God, synchronicity or whatever, because it's as if they can't get past their emotions, and in their rage they become as faith-driven as the beliefs they criticise. I always said they give scientists a bad name. After all, science has to be about asking unthinkable questions, not closing down debate.

  Scarlett Thomas

  Past, Names, Giving

  22 Copy quote

• Some writers, notably Anton Chekov, argue that all characters must be admirable, because once we've looked at anyone deeply enough and understood their motivation we must identify with them rather than judge them.

  Scarlett Thomas

  Motivation, Character, Judging

  Scarlett Thomas (2012). “Monkeys with Typewriters: How to Write Fiction and Unlock the Secret Power of Stories”, p.36, Canongate Books

  8 Copy quote

• For other people, love is like some rare orchid that can only grow in one place under a certain set of conditions. For me it's like bindweed. It grows with no encouragement at all, under any conditions, and just strangles everything else.

  Scarlett Thomas

  Encouragement, Love Is, Orchids

  Scarlett Thomas (2010). “Our Tragic Universe”, p.105, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

  111 Copy quote

• I erased the thought from my mind, but I couldn't undo the fact that I'd had the thought in the first place.

  Scarlett Thomas

  Mind, Firsts, Facts

  Scarlett Thomas (2010). “Our Tragic Universe”, p.152, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

  4 Copy quote

• The sky was the colour of sad weddings.

  Scarlett Thomas

  Sky, Colour

  4 Copy quote

• Over to my left is the big grey wall in front of the church. Are we the Thoughts of God? a poster asks. No, I realise. It's the reverse.

  Scarlett Thomas

  Wall, Church, Posters

  Scarlett Thomas (2008). “The End Of Mr. Y”, p.363, Canongate Books

  4 Copy quote

• If something wants to be a story, it will be.

  Scarlett Thomas

  Stories, Want, Ifs

  Scarlett Thomas (2008). “The End Of Mr. Y”, p.292, Canongate Books

  4 Copy quote

• I wonder if the reason I tend to say yes to everything is because I deeply believe that I can survive anything.

  Scarlett Thomas

  Believe, Wonder, Reason

  Scarlett Thomas (2008). “The End Of Mr. Y”, p.102, Canongate Books

  6 Copy quote

• But I quite like the way you can talk about science without necessarily using mathematics, but using metaphors instead.

  Scarlett Thomas

  Way, Metaphor, Mathematics

  Scarlett Thomas (2008). “The End Of Mr. Y”, p.26, Canongate Books

  4 Copy quote

• I hate stereotypes and I hate cliche.

  Scarlett Thomas

  Hate, Stereotype, Cliche

  4 Copy quote

• Honesty and authenticity are a big deal for me.

  Scarlett Thomas

  Honesty, Authenticity, Bigs

  4 Copy quote

• I think about stories and their logic and wonder if there can be any such thing as simply "there is a book.

  Scarlett Thomas

  Book, Thinking, Stories

  Scarlett Thomas (2008). “The End Of Mr. Y”, p.55, Canongate Books

  4 Copy quote

• Real life is physical. Give me books instead. Give me the invisibility of the contents of books, the thoughts, the ideas, the images. Let me become part of a book. . . . an intertextual being: a book cyborg, or, considering that books aren't cybernetic, perhaps a bibliorg.

  Scarlett Thomas

  Real, Book, Ideas

  Scarlett Thomas (2008). “The End Of Mr. Y”, p.134, Canongate Books

  4 Copy quote

• One of the biggest problems for beginning writers is this need to over-explain.

  Scarlett Thomas

  Needs, Problem, Beginning Writers

  Scarlett Thomas (2012). “Monkeys with Typewriters: How to Write Fiction and Unlock the Secret Power of Stories”, p.215, Canongate Books

  5 Copy quote

• Most people would look at an animal in a cage and instinctively feel that it should be set free. . . . It's a dangerous world out there, filled with predators. . . . What would you prefer? A comfortable, safe, warm, cosy life in a cage, or an uncertain life of freedom.

  Scarlett Thomas

  Animal, Dangerous World, People

  Scarlett Thomas (2012). “Going Out”, p.6, Canongate Books

  4 Copy quote

• In real life nothing means anything. Stuff happens and there just is no structure.

  Scarlett Thomas

  Real, Mean, Stuff Happens

  Scarlett Thomas (2012). “Going Out”, p.20, Canongate Books

  4 Copy quote

• One minute I was playing chess and doing maths all the time, the next I had been rerouted into more 'normal' girls' activities: reading, writing stories and worrying about my clothes.

  Scarlett Thomas

  Girl, Reading, Writing

  4 Copy quote

• I wonder at what point my life swerved to avoid that, and if that life would have been nicer than the one I've got.

  Scarlett Thomas

  Wonder, Has Beens, Ifs

  Scarlett Thomas (2008). “The End Of Mr. Y”, p.103, Canongate Books

  4 Copy quote

• One of the paradoxes of writing is that when you write non-fiction everyone tries to prove that it's wrong, and when you publish fiction, everyone tries to see the truth in it.

  Scarlett Thomas

  Writing, Trying, Fiction

  Scarlett Thomas (2010). “Our Tragic Universe”, p.351, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

  4 Copy quote

• So if we're all quarks and electrons ..." he begins. What?" We could make love and it would be nothing more than quarks and electrons rubbing together." Better than that," I say. "Nothing really 'rubs together' in the microscopic world. Matter never really touches other matter, so we could make love without any of our atoms touching at all. Remember that electrons sit on the outside of atoms, repelling other electrons. So we could make love and actually repel each other at the same time.

  Scarlett Thomas

  Making Love, Touching, Together

  4 Copy quote

• Homeopaths argue that water has a memory.

  Scarlett Thomas

  Memories, Water, Arguing

  4 Copy quote

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