Angus Wilson Quotes

• Envy has the ugliness of a trapped rat that has gnawed its own foot in its effort to escape.

  Angus Wilson

  Feet, Envy, Effort

  Angus Wilson (1962). “The seven deadly sins”, Beaufort Books

  49 Copy quote

• The novelist must be his own most harsh critic and also his own most loving admirer and about both he must say nothing.

  Angus Wilson

  Writing, Novelists, Admirer

  24 Copy quote

• The opportunities for heroism are limited in this kind of world: the most people can do is sometimes not to be as weak as they've been at other times.

  Angus Wilson

  Hero, Opportunity, People

  "Writers at Work: The Paris Review Interviews". Book edited by Malcolm Cowley, First Series, New York: Viking Press, p. 261, 1959.

  19 Copy quote

• All the seven deadly sins are self destroying, morbid appetites, but in their early stages at least, lust and gluttony, averice and sloth know some gratification, while anger and pride have power, even though that power eventually destroys itself. Envy is impotent, numbed with fear, never ceasing in its appetite, and it knows no gratification, but endless self torment. It has the ugliness of a trapped rat, which gnaws its own foot in an effort to escape.

  Angus Wilson

  Pride, Feet, Self

  15 Copy quote

• People are able to live with only half a heart, to live without real compassion, because they are able to use words that are only forms.

  Angus Wilson

  Real, Heart, Compassion

  Angus Wilson, Kerry McSweeney (1984). “Diversity and Depth in Fiction: Selected Critical Writings of Angus Wilson”, Viking Adult

  9 Copy quote

• The roots of art and play lie very close together.

  Angus Wilson

  Art, Lying, Play

  Angus Wilson (2012). “No Laughing Matter”, p.46, Faber & Faber

  5 Copy quote

• I have no concern for the common man except that he should not be so common.

  Angus Wilson

  Men, Common, Should

  Angus Wilson (2012). “No Laughing Matter”, p.422, Faber & Faber

  8 Copy quote

• Life isn't just to be found, you have to work for it.

  Angus Wilson

  Found You, Found

  8 Copy quote

• All fiction for me is a kind of magic and trickery, a confidence trick, trying to make people believe something is true that isn't.

  Angus Wilson

  Believe, People, Magic

  4 Copy quote

• The impulse to write a novel comes from a momentary unified vision of life.

  Angus Wilson

  Writing, Vision, Impulse

  Angus Wilson (1963). “The Wild Garden: Or, Speaking of Writing”, p.149, Univ of California Press

  5 Copy quote

• Once a Catholic always a Catholic.

  Angus Wilson

  Catholic

  'The Wrong Set' (1949) p. 168

  7 Copy quote

• I opened the large central window of my office room to its full on the fine early May morning. Then I stood for a few moments, breathing in the soft, warm air that was charged with the scent of white lilacs below.

  Angus Wilson

  Morning, Air, Breathing

  Angus Wilson (2015). “The Old Men at the Zoo”, p.7, Faber & Faber

  43 Copy quote

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