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Doris Lessing Quotes

Powerful Doris Lessing for Daily Growth

About Doris Lessing

Doris May Murray Lessing, born on October 22, 1919, in Kishinev (present-day Moldova), was a novelist, short story writer, essayist, and playwright, who emerged as one of the most important British writers of the second half of the 20th century. Raised in what is now Zimbabwe (then Southern Rhodesia), Lessing's early life was marked by her parents' tumultuous relationship and subsequent divorce. This experience, coupled with her exposure to diverse cultures and political upheavals, significantly influenced her writing. Her first major work, "The Grass Is Singing" (1950), is a raw exploration of the tension between colonizer and colonized in African society. In 1949, Lessing moved to London where she began writing full-time. Influenced by Marxist ideologies, her works from this period, such as "Martha Quest" series (1952-1963), explored themes of identity, alienation, and human freedom within a political context. Lessing's most renowned work is the "Canopus in Argos: Archives" series (1974-1983), often referred to as the 'Shikasta' series. These science fiction novels combine philosophical and sociological concepts with elements of fantasy, reflecting Lessing's interest in psychology and the human condition. Lessing was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2007 "who, that through her books she fired the imaginations of her readers and thereby expanded our understanding of ourselves and the world around us." Despite battling cancer, she continued to write until her death on November 17, 2013. Her works continue to resonate with readers today, offering profound insights into the human condition and the complexities of modern life.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"Written words are poor, echoes of echoes."

Doris Lessing suggests that written words are mere reflections or remnants of deeper, original expressions, experiences, or emotions. They are 'echoes' because they reflect something that has already been said or felt, often falling short of capturing the full essence or impact of the original thought or feeling. This quote highlights the limitation and inadequacy of written language to convey meaning in its entirety, emphasizing the importance of empathy and interpretation when reading or understanding written words.

"To be a human being is to be a fragment of the Universe endowed with consciousness."

Doris Lessing's quote emphasizes the interconnectedness between humanity and the universe. It suggests that humans, as conscious beings, are intrinsic parts of the cosmos. We possess awareness, allowing us to perceive and interact with the world around us, thereby mirroring the vast expanse of the universe in our individual consciousness. This insight underscores our shared role within the grand cosmic scheme, highlighting our interdependence on the universe and reminding us that we are not separate entities but integral components of its unfolding narrative.

"We are all prisoners of what we have become."

Doris Lessing's quote suggests that our past experiences, choices, and personal growth shape who we are today, and often limit or restrict us in certain ways. We may feel confined by these self-constructed prisons due to the habits, beliefs, and mindsets we have adopted over time. The quote serves as a reminder that self-awareness, understanding, and transformation can lead to personal freedom from these self-imposed limitations.

"The world cannot be changed; it can only be perceived changed."

This quote by Doris Lessing suggests that while we may not have the power to physically change the world, our perception of it can undergo transformation. In other words, we can shift our perspectives, grow as individuals, and bring about a personal change that indirectly impacts the world around us. It's a call to focus on self-awareness and understanding as a means of contributing to a broader, positive change in society.

"Without discomfort, without even short-term pain or fear, we grow neither mentally nor morally."

This quote suggests that personal growth, both intellectually and ethically, is often stimulated by challenging experiences that provoke discomfort, fear, or pain - either temporary or long-term. Embracing such hardships allows individuals to expand their capabilities, learn resilience, and develop a deeper understanding of themselves and the world around them.

You know, when I was a girl, the idea that the British Empire could ever end was absolutely inconceivable. And it just disappeared, like all the other empires.

- Doris Lessing

Other, Like, Inconceivable, British

The great secret that all old people share is that you really haven't changed in seventy or eighty years. Your body changes, but you don't change at all. And that, of course, causes great confusion.

- Doris Lessing

Age, Seventy, Old, Your Body

Pleasure resorts are like film stars and royalty... embarrassed by the figures they cut in the fantasies of people who have never met them.

- Doris Lessing

Like, Cut, Figures, Film Stars

What's terrible is to pretend that second-rate is first-rate. To pretend that you don't need love when you do; or you like your work when you know quite well you're capable of better.

- Doris Lessing

Love, Need, Like, First-Rate

Borrowing is not much better than begging; just as lending with interest is not much better than stealing.

- Doris Lessing

Better, Lending, Interest, Stealing

I got married and I had children because of the Second World War, as all of us did, exclaiming, 'Oh, no, we are never going to bring a child into this wicked world,' but we had children by the dozen and got married.

- Doris Lessing

Bring, Had, World War, Wicked

Small things amuse small minds.

- Doris Lessing

Small Things, Small, Minds, Amuse

Any human anywhere will blossom in a hundred unexpected talents and capacities simply by being given the opportunity to do so.

- Doris Lessing

Blossom, Given, Hundred, Capacities

The critics slap labels on you and then expect you to talk inside their terms.

- Doris Lessing

Expect, Critics, Terms, Slap

It is the mark of great people to treat trifles as trifles and important matters as important.

- Doris Lessing

Treat, Important, Trifles

Sentimentality is intolerable because it is false feeling.

- Doris Lessing

Feeling, Because, False, Intolerable

What society doesn't realize is that in the past, ordinary people respected learning. They respected books, and they don't now, or not very much. That whole respect for serious literature and learning has disappeared.

- Doris Lessing

Past, In The Past, Very, Respected

I'm compulsive.

- Doris Lessing

Compulsive

In the writing process, the more a story cooks, the better.

- Doris Lessing

Process, Better, More, Writing Process

The Nobel Prize is run by a self-perpetuated committee. They vote for themselves and get the world's publishing industry to jump to their tune.

- Doris Lessing

Run, Committee, Nobel, Nobel Prize

As soon as I got the Nobel Prize my back collapsed and I was in hospital.

- Doris Lessing

Back, Collapsed, Nobel, Nobel Prize

When I was bringing up a child, I taught myself to write in very short, concentrated bursts. If I had a weekend, or a week, I'd do unbelievable amounts of work.

- Doris Lessing

Week, Very, Unbelievable, Bursts

I do not think writers ought ever to sit down and think they must write about some cause, or theme, or something. If they write about their own experiences, something true is going to emerge.

- Doris Lessing

Think, Some, Going, Sit

When young I did my best to undo that bit of the British Empire I found myself in: that is, old Southern Rhodesia.

- Doris Lessing

British Empire, Southern, Undo

In university they don't tell you that the greater part of the law is learning to tolerate fools.

- Doris Lessing

Law, Tell, University, Fools

You should write, first of all, to please yourself. You shouldn't care a damn about anybody else at all. But writing can't be a way of life; the important part of writing is living. You have to live in such a way that your writing emerges from it.

- Doris Lessing

Anybody, Part, About, Such A Way

We use our parents like recurring dreams, to be entered into when needed.

- Doris Lessing

Like, Needed, Use, Recurring

For the last third of life there remains only work. It alone is always stimulating, rejuvenating, exciting and satisfying.

- Doris Lessing

Alone, Always, Last, Satisfying

Space or science fiction has become a dialect for our time.

- Doris Lessing

Fiction, Our Time, Dialect, Science Fiction

I see every book as a problem that you have to solve. That is what dictates the form you use. It's not that you say, 'I want to write a science fiction book.' You start from the other end, and what you have to say dictates the form of it.

- Doris Lessing

Other, Fiction, Use, Science Fiction

When there's a war, people get married.

- Doris Lessing

War, People, Get, Get Married

You know, looking at it objectively, I've written one or two good books.

- Doris Lessing

Looking, Know, Books, Objectively

I was writing all my childhood. And I wrote two novels when I was 17, which were terrible. And I'm not sorry I threw them out. So, I wrote. I had to write. You know, the thing was, I had no education.

- Doris Lessing

Education, Two, Had, Novels

When I started, there were no big interviews, no television, no profiles and all that. The publishers were quite shockingly uncommercial, but they did look after their writers.

- Doris Lessing

Television, Big, Started, Profiles

What really fascinates me is this need that is so strong now that if you read a work of the imagination you instantly have to say, 'Oh, what this really is is so-and-so,' reducing it to a simple formula.

- Doris Lessing

Strong, Need, Read, Fascinates

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