She had been a formidable academic in her day, cleverer, people said, than her husband, her sharp tongue venomous in his defense. After her marriage she taught and published less, talent and personality diminished by the appalling subservience of love.

The Children of Men ~ P.D. James

Feel, he told himself, feel, feel, feel. Even if what you feel is pain, only let your self feel.

The Children of Men ~ P.D. James

I couldn't then say what for nearly forty years I have known to be true.
I don't want anyone to look to me, not for protection, not for happiness, not for love, not for anything.

The Children of Men ~ P.D. James

I didn't love her but I did steal for her. I learned early and at that kitchen table that there are ways of avoiding, without guilt, the commitments of love.

The Children of Men ~ P.D. James

Charm is often despised but I can never see why.
No one has it who isn't capable of genuinely liking others, at least at the actual moment of meeting and speaking.
Charm is always genuine; it may be superficial but it isn't false.

The Children of Men ~ P.D. James

If from infancy you treat children as gods they are liable in adulthood to act as devils.

The Children of Men ~ P.D. James

Pleasure need not be less keen because there will be centuries of springs to come, their blossom unseen by human eyes, the walls will crumble, the trees die and rot, the gardens revert to weeds and grass because all beauty will outlive the human intelligence, which records, enjoys and celebrates it.
I tell myself this, but do I believe it when pleasure comes so rarely and, when it does, is so indistinguishable from pain?

The Children of Men ~ P.D. James

Influence was no substitute for power.

The Children of Men ~ P.D. James

We need our snobberies; equality is a political theory not a practical policy.

The Children of Men ~ P.D. James