Behind each biography there should always be a rich treasury of unformulated knowledge, a tapestry that has not been unrolled.
Iris OrigoThe biographer's real business - if it is not too arrogant to say so - is simply this: to bring the dead to life.
Iris Origo[On writing biography:] If you wish to see a person you must not start by seeing through him.
Iris OrigoI write because, exacting as it may be to do so, it is still more difficult to refrain, and because - however conscious of one's limitations one may be - there is always at the back of one's mind an irrational hope that this next book will be different: it will be the rounded achievement, the complete fulfilment. It never has been: yet I am still writing.
Iris OrigoJust as, in travel, one may miss seeing the sunset because one cannot find the ticket-office or is afraid of missing the train, so in even the closest human relationships a vast amount of time and of affection is drained away in minor misunderstandings, missed opportunities, and failures in consideration or understanding.
Iris Origo