Penelope Fitzgerald quotes

Helping other people is a drug so dangerous that there is no cure, short of total abstention. (Penelope Fitzgerald)
If they don't depend on true evidence, scientists are no better than gossips. View quote
Penelope Fitzgerald
The frame of mind, however, is everything. Given that, one can have a very satisfactory party all by oneself. View quote
Penelope Fitzgerald
There are dilettantes in human relationships just as there are, let's say, in politics. View quote
Penelope Fitzgerald
However, no two people see the external world in exactly the same way. To every separate person a thing is what he thinks it is - in other words, not a thing, but a think. View quote
Penelope Fitzgerald
A serious thinking adult had no defence against innocence because he was obliged to respect it, whereas the innocent scarcely knows what respect is, or seriousness either. View quote
Penelope Fitzgerald