Quotes by A. N. Wilson

About A. N. Wilson:

Andrew Norman Wilson is an English writer and newspaper columnist, known for his critical biographies, novels, works of popular history and religious views. He is an occasional columnist for the Daily Mail and former columnist for the London Evening Standard, and has been an occasional contributor to the Times Literary Supplement, New Statesman, The Spectator and The Observer.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Brain power improves by brain use, just as our bodily strength grows with exercise. And there is no doubt that a large proportion of the female population, from school days to late middle age, now have very complicated lives indeed.

A. N. Wilson

It is eerie being all but alone in Westminster Abbey. Without the tourists, there are only the dead, many of them kings and queens. They speak powerfully and put my thoughts into vivid perspective.

A. N. Wilson

I think that if you can't be loyal to the Church, it's best to get out.

A. N. Wilson

The death of any man aged 56 is very sad for his widow and family. And no one would deny that Steve Jobs was a brilliant and highly innovative technician, with great business flair and marketing ability.

A. N. Wilson

I suppose if I'd got a brilliant first and done research I might still be a don today, but I hope not. People become dons because they are incapable of doing anything else in life.

A. N. Wilson

The approach of death certainly concentrates the mind.

A. N. Wilson

Fear of death has never played a large part in my consciousness - perhaps unimaginative of me.

A. N. Wilson

I might be deceiving myself but I do not think that I do have an inordinate fear of death.

A. N. Wilson

If you read about Mussolini or Stalin or some of these other great monsters of history, they were at it all the time, that they were getting up in the morning very early. They were physically very active. They didn't eat lunch.

A. N. Wilson

On the rare occasions when I spend a night in Oxford, the keeping of the hours by the clock towers in New College, and Merton, and the great booming of Tom tolling 101 times at 9 pm at Christ Church are inextricably interwoven with memories and regre...

A. N. Wilson

Iris Murdoch did influence my early novels very much, and influence is never entirely good.

A. N. Wilson

The Royal Family are not like you and me. They live in houses so big that you can walk round all day and never need to meet your spouse. The Queen and Prince Philip have never shared a bedroom in their lives. They don't even have breakfast together.

A. N. Wilson

I am shy to admit that I have followed the advice given all those years ago by a wise archbishop to a bewildered young man: that moments of unbelief 'don't matter,' that if you return to a practice of the faith, faith will return.

A. N. Wilson

I had lost faith in biography.

A. N. Wilson

When Christians start thinking about Jesus, things start breaking down, they lose their faith. It's perfectly possible to go to church every Sunday and not ask any questions, just because you like it as a way of life. They fear that if they ask quest...

A. N. Wilson

In the past, I used to counter any such notions by asking myself: 'Would you really want President Hattersley?' I now find that possibility rather cheers me up. With his chubby, Dickensian features and his knowledge of T.H. Green and other harmless l...

A. N. Wilson

'In Memoriam' has been my companion for all my grownup life.

A. N. Wilson

I've never had a study in my life. I'm like Jane Austen - I work on the corner of the dining table.

A. N. Wilson

IQ in general has improved since tests first began. Psychologists think that this is because modern life becomes ever more complicated.

A. N. Wilson

Of all liars the most arrogant are biographers: those who would have us believe, having surveyed a few boxes full of letters, diaries, bank statements and photographs, that they can play at the recording angel and tell the whole truth about another h...

A. N. Wilson

Author Bio

  • NameA. N. Wilson
  • DescriptionEnglish writer
  • BornOctober 27, 1950
  • ProfessionHistorian
  • AwardsJohn Llewellyn Rhys Prize