“ The root of narcissism lies in anxiety, and the fear of fragmentation, which may be assuaged by the sight of the reflection. Peter Ackroyd
“ It is one of the attributes of capitalist enterprise that an object is no longer significant for its essence but for its exchange value. Peter Ackroyd
“ Everything grows out of the soil of contingent circumstance. Convenience, rather than the shibboleth of progress of evolution, is the agent of change. Error and misjudgment therefore play a large part… Peter Ackroyd
“ DYER. No, I am not of your Mind, for the Dialogue was fitted up with too much Facility. Words must be pluckt from Obscurity and nourished with Care, improved with Art and corrected with Application. L… Peter Ackroyd
“ Yet, of course, and more especially, the executioners themselves became notorious. The first known public hangman was one Bull, who was followed by the more celebrated Derrick. And Derrick must be his… Peter Ackroyd
“ Who can give more heat to the fire, or joy to heaven, or pain to hell? A ring upon a nun is like a ring in a sow’s nose. Your best friend is still alive. Who is that? You. The sun is none the worse fo… Peter Ackroyd
“ There is one person who can save you, sire.’ ‘Who is that?’ ‘Merlin. The great magician. He is the man who made the abbey church of Derby disappear into the earth. He will know how to heal you. He wil… Peter Ackroyd
“ The ordinary routines of life are never chronicled by the historian, but they make up almost the whole of experience. Peter Ackroyd
“ So we may use our books to form a barricade against the world,interweaving their words with our own to ward off the heat of the day. Peter Ackroyd
“ Now his work-mates pitied him, although they tried not to show it, and it was generally arranged that he was given jobs which allowed him to work alone. The smell of ink, and the steady rhythm of the… Peter Ackroyd
“ I would have no need for the Memory Of Things past if those which were Present were more agreeable Peter Ackroyd
“ He was walking around in circles, the smell of the old furniture suddenly very distinct. There was a newspaper in his hand and he started reading it, paying particular attention to the headlines which… Peter Ackroyd
“ Ah,’ Arthur cried out, ‘I have never known one month of repose since I took up the crown. I have lost the key to contentment. Peter Ackroyd
“ My great fear has always been complete and utter failure. Hence, you see, all the dispossessed people in my fiction, and why I try to earn as much money as I can. It's a defense. I don't enjoy it or d… Peter Ackroyd
“ Lonely and isolated people who feel their solitude more intensely within the busy life of the streets. They are what George Gissing called the anchorites of daily life, who return unhappy to their sol… Peter Ackroyd
“ Dyer. (Looking at him scornfully) So that is why Wits swarm like Egypt's Frogs. If I were a Writer now, I would wish to thicken the water of my Discourse so that it was no longer easy or familiar. I w… Peter Ackroyd
“ The land was left vacant, and fewer men were available to defend it. So the Angles, and the Saxons, moved westward. Anglo-Saxon civilization was created by a pandemic. Peter Ackroyd
“ The embrace of present and past time, in which English antiquarianism becomes a form of alchemy, engenders a strange timelessness. It is as if the little bird which flew through the Anglo-Saxon banque… Peter Ackroyd
