The paradox of the English country house is that its state of permanent decline, the fact that its heyday is always behind it, is part of the seduction, just as it is part of the seduction of books in general.

He wasn't surprised. He was used to this anticlimactic feeling, where by the time you've done all the work to get something you don't even want it anymore.

She tortured everybody around her, but only because she was more tortured than anyone.

It's natural for a child to assume that his or her own childhood is unremarkable.

My ultimate goal is to drive people back to the books, when I think of an adaptation.

Though the funny thing about never being asked for anything is that after a while you start to feel like maybe you don’t have anything worth giving.

Do you promise to hate my parents as much as I do?" "Oh, absolutely," Quentin said. "Maybe even more.