Glen Duncan Quotes

Powerful Glen Duncan for Daily Growth

About Glen Duncan

Glen Duncan (born 1956) is a British novelist, essayist, and playwright, whose work spans various genres, including fiction, non-fiction, and drama. Born in Manchester, England, Duncan grew up in a family of academics and was exposed to literature from an early age. He attended Cambridge University, where he studied English Literature, and later went on to teach at the university level himself. Duncan's writing career began in earnest with his debut novel "The Last Werewolf" (2009), a supernatural thriller that was later adapted into a film. This novel marked Duncan's departure from more traditional literary forms and signaled his interest in exploring the boundaries of genre fiction. One of his most critically acclaimed works is "I Have the Right to Kill You" (2013), a philosophical novel that delves into questions of morality, mortality, and the nature of humanity. The book was shortlisted for several prestigious awards, including the Man Booker Prize. Duncan's work often reflects his deep interest in philosophy, science, and art, as well as his keen eye for observing human behavior. He is known for his distinctive prose style, characterized by its wit, intelligence, and lyricism. Duncan's latest novel, "Glamorama" (2018), is a sweeping, satirical examination of the fashion industry and its impact on contemporary society. Throughout his career, Glen Duncan has been recognized for his literary prowess and has received numerous awards and accolades. His work continues to challenge conventional notions of genre and style, offering readers thought-provoking narratives that explore the complexities of the human experience.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"The world is shaped by two things - stories torn from the heart's blood and facts that bleed."

This quote by Glen Duncan suggests that the world is significantly influenced by both emotional, heartfelt narratives (stories) and concrete, factual information (facts). In other words, it implies that our understanding and shaping of reality are not solely based on cold, objective facts, but also on deeply felt stories and experiences. These stories and facts interact, informing and influencing each other, with both being crucial in shaping our worldview and societal development.


"Art, like morality, consists in drawing the line somewhere."

This quote suggests that art, much like moral judgment, requires decision-making and the establishment of boundaries or rules to define what is considered acceptable or aesthetically pleasing. The act of creating art involves making choices about which elements to include, exclude, emphasize, or deemphasize, just as in making ethical decisions, one must choose between right and wrong. Essentially, Glen Duncan's quote highlights the inherent subjectivity in both art and morality, as their value is based on individual perceptions and societal norms.


"The trouble with being sane in an insane world is that you can't shrink it."

This quote emphasizes the challenge of maintaining one's sanity in a chaotic or irrational society. It suggests that even though an individual may have rational thoughts and behave sensibly, they are still living within an environment where absurdity or insanity is prevalent. The implication is that attempting to isolate oneself from this madness (shrink it) isn't possible because the irrational world extends beyond personal boundaries. In other words, even the most sane among us can feel overwhelmed and affected by the insanity around them.


"Everything has a secret, the sea has a deeper secret than all and the further it goes the less one is able to fathom it."

This quote by Glen Duncan suggests that the ocean, with its vastness and complexity, embodies a profound mystery that eludes our full comprehension. No matter how far we delve into its depths, there remains an unattainable, hidden dimension to it - a reflection of life's inherent enigma. It implies that as we explore the world around us, we should be mindful of the unknown and remain curious in pursuit of knowledge.


"Art is an unending exploration of the limits of human consciousness."

This quote by Glen Duncan suggests that art, in its various forms, represents a perpetual journey to probe and expand the boundaries of human cognition. Through creative expression, artists attempt to delve deeper into the complexities of human thought, emotions, perceptions, and experiences, thereby pushing the limits of our collective understanding of consciousness. Essentially, art is a reflection of our quest to comprehend the mysteries that lie within the human mind.


I'm not quite sure when I began to be troubled by the creeping sense of my own ludicrousness, but it persisted - and eventually grew into a fascination. I started writing about it. Thus, in His characteristically mysterious way, the Lord made clear His plans for me.

- Glen Duncan

Own, Lord, About, Creeping

As an Anglo-Indian kid in Bolton, I was basically in a minority of one. That was a source of misery, but at the same time, one of the effects of receiving the message that you don't belong to the club is that you watch the club with detachment. The fact that no one quite knew who I was was a major contributory factor in starting to write.

- Glen Duncan

Fact, Kid, Belong, Detachment

If being a werewolf is really a curse, you've got to treat it honorably. If werewolves are going to carry on, there has to be an incredibly powerful force. There is the business of the craving, the hunger for the kill. It has to be deeply pleasurable and more than an appetite for meat. There has to be a sensual dimension to it.

- Glen Duncan

Treat, Got, Werewolf, Appetite

I find the ideas of Catholicism incredibly rich and inspiring. Bogus, unfortunately, but nonetheless inspiring. I think they always provide an interesting nexus through which to look at the way we are.

- Glen Duncan

Through, Always, Which, Bogus

Until the age of thirteen, I tortured the waiting worlds of book illustration and professional football by shilly-shallying over which of them was going to get the benefit of my inestimable talents.

- Glen Duncan

Over, Which, Worlds, Illustration

Everyone is obsessed with air fresheners. We associate smell with disgust. But we're all locked into the body; we can't escape it.

- Glen Duncan

Everyone, Air, Obsessed, Locked

Cheney, Rumsfeld - they were Shakespearean in their attitude of impunity.

- Glen Duncan

Rumsfeld, Were, Cheney

We're in the age of the series, trilogy, boxed sets.

- Glen Duncan

Boxed, Sets, Series, Trilogy

We have grown up in an age where there is nothing that cannot now, courtesy of computer-generated imagery, be convincingly rendered in the visual field.

- Glen Duncan

Courtesy, Nothing, Rendered, Computer-Generated

There are two ways to write a werewolf novel - you can examine the genre conventions, or you can say, 'What would it be like if I were a werewolf?'

- Glen Duncan

Like, Examine, Werewolf, Conventions

My parents believe in the happy endings to the stories of their children.

- Glen Duncan

Children, Happy, Stories, Endings

For a long time, I'd wanted to write a book that I would be proud and happy and psychologically and morally comfortable about my parents' reading.

- Glen Duncan

Happy, Book, Proud, Psychologically

I, made in England, felt excluded, miffed, resistant to the idea of even visiting India, a position of increasing absurdity as, one by one, backpacking friends returned from the place with the standard anecdotal combo of nirvanic epiphany and toilet horror.

- Glen Duncan

Idea, Standard, Visiting, Anecdotal

I will waste an extraordinary amount of time, you know. And if it's not watching television, I'll be sitting staring out of the window. And yes, I know there's the idea of the artist, sitting there doing nothing while things are going on, but actually, no. It's vacant space. I'm thinking about the laundry.

- Glen Duncan

Doing, Artist, Idea, Vacant

The winter of 1991 found me stunned and shivering in the aftermath of an imploded love affair. Being 26, I flung myself actorishly on London and, without any intimations of my own ludicrousness, spent two years showing God what I thought of Him by letting myself go.

- Glen Duncan

Love, Thought, London, Affair

Werewolves were far more terrifying than vampires. It is probably the idea of seeing the human within the beast and knowing you can't reach it. It might as well be a great white shark. There is no sitting down and discussing Proust with it, which the traditional vampire model seems to leave room for. You can have a conversation.

- Glen Duncan

Idea, Vampires, Terrifying, Sitting

Fairy tales read before bed tend to make me dream. They're all quite violent stories, as are my dreams.

- Glen Duncan

Bed, Violent, Read, Tales

I haven't won any prizes or had any best sellers.

- Glen Duncan

Best, Won, Had, Prizes

I'm too conceited for therapy.

- Glen Duncan

Therapy, Too, Conceited

There are, I'm depressed to say, many classics I have not yet read and will probably never get around to, though I will not stop short of hospitalizing myself in the attempt.

- Glen Duncan

Classics, Read, Though, Depressed

My position is that you've got to accommodate everything. I don't morally accommodate but imaginatively accommodate.

- Glen Duncan

Everything, Position, Got, Accommodate

I still want magic, I find. The old fashioned kind. I don't believe in it, but I still have a hankering for it.

- Glen Duncan

Magic, Find, Still, Hankering

What I've absorbed of the gothic or paranormal has come mainly from films.

- Glen Duncan

Come, Gothic, Films, Absorb

I read John Irving's novel 'The World According To Garp' when I was about 14 or 15. It was the first grown-up book that I had read. It is the story of a young man who grows up to be a novelist. I finished it, and I wanted to write a book that made the reader feel the way I felt at the end of that, which was sort of both bereft and elated.

- Glen Duncan

Young, Elated, Reader, Bereft

Life would be much easier if I just wrote the same book over and over again. But I'm not interested in doing that.

- Glen Duncan

Doing, Over, Wrote, Not Interested

We have all seen werewolf transformations hundreds of times on screen.

- Glen Duncan

Screen, Times, Werewolf, Hundreds

Nineteenth-century English literature I know; 19th-century sewage systems, not so much.

- Glen Duncan

Literature, English, Systems, 19th-Century

I'm not very good at story. In fact, compared to character and language, I barely care about story at all.

- Glen Duncan

Fact, Very, About, Compared

I'm with Milton and the Rolling Stones: I don't find the Devil an unsympathetic character. But in any case, my fiction is populated as much by people who do good as it is by those who do bad. I'm interested in imaginatively accommodating as much of the human as possible, for which you need both moral extremes and everything in between.

- Glen Duncan

Devil, Bad, Fiction, Rolling Stones

One of the things that seems absolutely clear to me about werewolves - with their canine makeup - is that they would be dogs, as it were.

- Glen Duncan

Makeup, One Of The Things, Werewolves

If you're searching for quotes on a different topic, feel free to browse our Topics page or explore a diverse collection of quotes from various Authors to find inspiration.