David Mitchell Quotes

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David Mitchell

Profession : Novelist

Birth : January 12, 1969

The words 'maybe' and 'perhaps' are literally the same - the flavor is the same, the educational level is the same. But you just know when to use maybe and when to use perhaps. I think it's because of this: You get to know the tastes or musical tastes of words themselves, and this informs your choice, whether you use them or not.

David Mitchell

I'm not from a milieu where high-register language or philosophical ideas were welcome.

David Mitchell

I can't bear living in this huge beautiful world and not try to imitate it as best I can.

David Mitchell

I'm not a great deep political thinker.

David Mitchell

A novelist needs to know his own strong points and weak points.

David Mitchell

Write something every single day, even if it's just three lines. And it doesn't matter if it's any good - just write something every day.

David Mitchell

Many children are natural fantasists, I think, perhaps because their imaginations have yet to be clobbered into submission by experience.

David Mitchell

The state of childhood resonates with life inside a fantasy novel. If you have no control over how you spend large chunks of your day, or are at the mercy of flawed giant beings, then the desire to bend the laws of the world by magic is strong and deep.

David Mitchell

Sometimes, comics will make the observation that it's not jokes that are funny, it's characters that are funny. And isn't that true! That's why I always kill jokes. I'm terrible at them, because I get the joke right, but I can't get the character right, and it just goes down like a lead balloon.

David Mitchell

I rarely ever put my head above the rampart and see where this big lumbering behemoth called 'global literature' is going.

David Mitchell

I think all writers of my age who are brought up on films probably by the age of 16 have seen many more films than they have read classics of literature. We can't help but be influenced by film. Film has got some great tricks that it's taught writers.

David Mitchell

I love HBO productions, actually, like 'The Wire.'

David Mitchell

I had a happy childhood.

David Mitchell