Malcolm Bradbury made the point, and I don't know whether it's a valid one or not, that the real English at the moment is not the English spoken in England or in America or even in Canada or Australia or New Zealand. The real English is the English which is a second language, so that it's rather like Latin in the days of the Roman Empire when people had their own languages, but had Latin in order to communicate.
William GoldingI know there isn't no beastโnot with claws and all that, I meanโbut I know there isn't no fear, either." Piggy paused. "Unlessโ" Ralph moved restlessly. "Unless what?" "Unless we get frightened of people.
William GoldingIt wasn't until I was 37 that I grasped the great truth that you've got to write your own books and nobody else's, and then everything followed from there.
William GoldingI think women are foolish to pretend they are equal to men, they are far superior and always have been.
William GoldingUtopias are presented for our inspection as a critique of the human state. If they are to be treated as anything but trivial exercises of the imagination. I suggest there is a simple test we can apply. We must forget the whole paraphernalia of social description, demonstration, expostulation, approbation, condemnation. We have to say to ourselves, How would I myself live in this proposed society? How long would it be before I went stark staring mad?
William Golding