J.G. Priestly Quotes

September 13, 1894 – August 14, 1984

John Boynton Priestley OM (13 September 1894 – 14 August 1984) was an English playwright, novelist, social commentator, biographer, literary critic, screenwriter and broadcaster. Though now rather unfashionable, in his heyday he was one of the best-known British writers of his generation, combining popular success with critical respect.

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Living in age of advertisement, we are perpetually disillusioned. The perfect life is spread before us every day, but it changes and withers at a touch.

"The Disillusioned", in The Balconinny, and Other Essays ([1929] 1969) p. 30.

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Those no-sooner-have-I-touched-the-pillow people are past my comprehension. There is something suspiciously bovine about them.

J.G. Priestly
— "The Dark Hours", in Too Many People, and Other Reflections (1928).

Tags: people, past, comprehension, There, something, suspiciously, bovine

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I can't help feeling wary when I hear anything said about the masses. First you take their faces from 'em by calling 'em the masses and then you accuse 'em of not having any faces.

J.G. Priestly
— Saturn Over the Water (1961) ch. 2.

Tags: can't, help, feeling, wary, when, hear, anything, masses, First

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Our great-grand-children, when they learn how we began this war by snatching glory out of defeat, and then swept on to victory, may also learn how the little holiday steamers made an excursion to hell and came back glorious.

J.G. Priestly
— "Postscript to the News", broadcast on BBC radio, June 5, 1940; published in The Listener, June 13, 1940.

Tags: Our, when, learn, we, war, snatching, glory, defeat, then

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In spite of recent jazzed-up one-day matches, cricket to be fully appreciated demands leisure, some sunny warm days and an understanding of its finer points.

J.G. Priestly
— The English (1973)

Tags: spite, recent, oneday, matches, cricket, fully, appreciated, demands, leisure

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Most writers enjoy two periods of happiness – when a glorious idea comes to mind and, secondly, when a last page has been written and you haven’t had time to know how much better it ought to be.

J.G. Priestly
— International Herald Tribune, January 3, 1978.

Tags: Most, writers, enjoy, two, periods, when, glorious, idea, mind

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Much of writing might be described as mental pregnancy with successive difficult deliveries.

J.G. Priestly
— International Herald Tribune, January 3, 1978.

Tags: writing, described, mental, pregnancy, successive, difficult

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