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Because English is spoken and written in so many forms for a variety of purposes throughout the world it is surely important that English in its highest form should be taught, spoken and valued in this country. Yet few would deny that standards of written and spoken English are in decline among all sections of the community and that we are in real danger of becoming an illiterate society.

— P. D. James

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More quotes by P. D. James

"But what is the use of making the world more beautiful if the people who live in it can't love one another?"

An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (1972)

"Old age can be very frightening, Commander. A lawyer whose mind is apt to go blank isn't just inefficient, he's dangerous."

A Certain Justice (1997)

Every novelist write what he or she needs to write, a subconscious compulsion to express and explain his unique view of reality.

Time to be Earnest – a Fragment of Biography (1999)

"Hunch is a good servant but a poor master."

An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (1972)

If from infancy you treat children as gods they are liable in adulthood to act as devils.

The Children of Men (1992)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: P. D. James (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.