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13 Top J. B. Priestley Quotes & Sayings

Famous As: Novelist and Playwright
Born On: September 13, 1894
Died On: August 14, 1984
Born In: Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Died At Age: 89
John Boynton Priestley was a famous novelist, playwright and social commentator known for his play ‘An Inspector Calls’. During the initial days of his career, he worked as a clerk while writing articles for local newspapers. After serving as a soldier during the First World War he completed his graduation from the University of Cambridge during which he published his debut novel titled ‘Adam in Moonshine’. This was followed by another novel before his first notable novel titled ‘The Good Companions’. This book turned out to be a huge success and brought him the ‘James Tait Black Memorial Prize Award’ which helped him become famous nationally. He further wrote various successful novels and plays starting with ‘Dangerous Corner’ that helped enhance his reputation as a writer as well as a playwright. During the Second World War, he became a broadcaster for a show called ‘Postscript’ which brought him great fame and encouraged him to become the co-founder of the ‘Common Wealth Party’. His later years dropped down his pace of writing and he limited himself to publishing a single book a year. He recorded his lifetime experiences in his autobiography titled ‘Margin Released’ which helped the masses to peep into his life to know the real person behind such a big name. The below collection of J. B. Priestley’s most famous quotes have been excerpted from his writings, plays, books, novels and thoughts. We bring to you a collection of sayings and quotes by J. B. Priestley.
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I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning.

I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning.

J. B. Priestley
Like its politicians and its wars, society has the teenagers it deserves.

Like its politicians and its wars, society has the teenagers it deserves.

J. B. Priestley
We must beware the revenge of the starved senses, the embittered animal in its prison.

We must beware the revenge of the starved senses, the embittered animal in its prison.

J. B. Priestley
The more elaborate our means of communication, the less we communicate.

The more elaborate our means of communication, the less we communicate.

J. B. Priestley
To show a child what has once delighted you, to find the child's delight added to your own, so that there is now a double delight seen in the glow of trust and affection, this is happiness.

To show a child what has once delighted you, to find the child's delight added to your own, so that there is now a double delight seen in the glow of trust and affection, this is happiness.

J. B. Priestley
To say that these men paid their shillings to watch twenty-two hirelings kick a ball is merely to say that a violin is wood and catgut, that Hamlet is so much paper and ink.

To say that these men paid their shillings to watch twenty-two hirelings kick a ball is merely to say that a violin is wood and catgut, that Hamlet is so much paper and ink.

J. B. Priestley
Most writers enjoy two periods of happiness—when a glorious idea comes to mind, and when a last page has been written and you haven't had time to know how much better it ought to be

Most writers enjoy two periods of happiness—when a glorious idea comes to mind, and when a last page has been written and you haven't had time to know how much better it ought to be

J. B. Priestley
The way to write a book is the application of the seat of one's pants to the seat of one's chair

The way to write a book is the application of the seat of one's pants to the seat of one's chair

J. B. Priestley
No matter how piercing and appalling his insights, the desolation
creeping over his outer world, the lurid lights and shadows of his inner
world, the writer must live with hope, work in faith

No matter how piercing and appalling his insights, the desolation creeping over his outer world, the lurid lights and shadows of his inner world, the writer must live with hope, work in faith

J. B. Priestley
Public men, Mr Birling, have responsibilities as well as privileges.

Public men, Mr Birling, have responsibilities as well as privileges.

J. B. Priestley
The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event. You go to bed in one kind of a world and wake up in another quite different, and if this is not enchantment then where is it to be found?

The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event. You go to bed in one kind of a world and wake up in another quite different, and if this is not enchantment then where is it to be found?

J. B. Priestley
She was a handsome woman of forty-five and would remain so for many years.

She was a handsome woman of forty-five and would remain so for many years.

J. B. Priestley
There was no respect for youth when I was young, and now that I am old, there is no respect for age. I missed it coming and going.

There was no respect for youth when I was young, and now that I am old, there is no respect for age. I missed it coming and going.

J. B. Priestley