Muriel Spark Quotes

I think I really like psychology because my job is all about getting inside another person's mind and thoughts.

I majored in psychology, and I still love listening to people's problems.

I studied psychology in school, and I learned how to understand people's feelings, how to get along with people and relate to people.

When it comes to people -- don't write about who you know; but what you know of human nature.

I learned to observe other people - that’s sort of what it teaches you. To pay attention. Which can also be a really natural human skill so I don’t think I’m better equipped than other human beings.

I have an inate curiosity about people.

I like understanding what's underneath, what's really motivating people. When I was younger, I wanted to be a psychiatrist, so I think it has to do with that.

Every man is a volume if you know how to read him.

I suppose I am interested in the variety of human life - how people live. I am most interested in individuals and how they respond to challenges or to difficulties or just to each other. I am curious about people.

I'm drawn to the psychology of really interesting, flawed people.

I have a deep fascination with human nature, with all its virtues and all its defects.

I'm just totally fascinated by people.

Studying psychology is fun because you're always looking for the same things I think a writer should be looking for, which is the story behind the story.

All of us have a bit of a sociopath inside of us, and it's wrong to think that somebody is just clearly sociopathic, because they're not. It's interesting to explore the shadings and nuances within a person. Those feelings exist within more human beings than people may want to acknowledge.

I think the human mind is fascinating. I love figuring out why people are doing what they do.

People are very complex. And for a psychologist, you get fascinated by the complexity of human beings, and that is what I have lived with, you know, in my career all of my life, is the complexity of human beings.

I think acting and psychology are both looking at what makes human beings tick. I've always found that fascinating.

I have a natural curiosity for people.

If I weren't a writer, I'd be a psychiatrist.

I just like watching people who really are not self-conscious, who aren't aware, because I fear that one could become too self-conscious, too artful, as an actor. Sometimes if you look at somebody, you can extrapolate from their exterior what might be happening in their interior. I'm nosy.

I'm insatiably curious about human nature. I feel very lucky that as a writer I get to learn so much about it just to do my job right.

I don't remember a time when I wasn't acting. I have taken time off to figure out if it's what I really want to do, and it is. The only other job I'd want is to be a psychologist, as I spend most of my time analyzing people and emotions.

I'm curious about people, and I'm curious about getting to the root of where they might be coming from.

I am and always have been fascinated with people, and I have a very good time coming up with the narratives of people's lives, exploring how a person thinks and feels.

I'm interested in character and people and motivations and things like that.