I think that novels are tools of thought. They are moral philosophy with the theory left out, with just the examples of the moral situations left standing.

You can't deduce the personality of the potter from the pots. It's a thingy you've made and offered to somebody else for their use, and, believe me, a novel is like that. It's a made thing and ought not to contain a direct self-expression of the writer.

If you want to express yourself, you need the services of a lover or a psychiatrist; if you want to express a book, you might conceivably manage it.

Jill Paton Walsh Quotes