And it's best if you know a good thing is going to happen, like an eclipse or getting a microscope for Christmas. And it's bad if you know a bad thing is going to happen, like having a filling or going to France. But I think it is worst if you don't know whether it is a good thing or a bad thing which is going to happen.

Mark Haddon

Mark Haddon

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I like poetry when I don't quite understand why I like it. Poetry isn't just a question of wrapping something up and giving it to someone else to unwrap. It just doesn't work like that.

— Mark Haddon

There was a time in my life when I was going in and out of houses that were extraordinarily different - from a working-class terrace in Northampton to the homes of friends who were really very wealthy. It was quite an odd position to be in, I realise looking back, and quite a nice one.

— Mark Haddon

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Use your imagination, and you'll see that even the most narrow, humdrum lives are infinite in scope if you examine them with enough care.

— Mark Haddon

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Appalling things can happen to children. And even a happy childhood is filled with sadnesses.

— Mark Haddon

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