John Darnielle Quotes

I would like to attribute my range of interests to being an independent intellectual, but although I'm independent, I'm not sure I qualify as an intellectual. Basically, I'm an old-fashioned amateur.

I like learning new stuff, also, and I can sit there and watch shows on National Geographic and the Discovery Channel or stuff like that and learn something new. I think once you've gone through such a long stage of learning one thing, you're not as well-rounded as you'd like to be.

The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor

Our culture has kind of let the concept of the Renaissance Man die out. We don't really tell the kids that it's okay to bounce around the world, work odd jobs, and do six different things.

The older I get, the more my curiosity grows, and every book I write is a new exploration.

I wasn't a big science-fiction fan growing up. But I loved Jules Verne and Sherlock Holmes. Both came into play on 'The X-Files.'

A lot of high-level scientists are in fact people of almost universal interest.

When Sir Arthur Conan Doyle conceived Sherlock Holmes, why didn't he give the famous consulting detective a few more quirks: a wooden leg, say, and an Oedipus complex? Well, Holmes didn't need many physical tics or personality disorders; the very concept of a consulting detective was still fresh and original in 1887.

Books have become our dearest companions, yielding exquisite delights and inspiring lofty aims.

There are various sorts of curiosity; one is from interest, which makes us desire to know that which may be useful to us; and the other, from pride which comes from the wish to know what others are ignorant of.

People who read my books have an open mind when it comes to new, bizarre, interesting and exciting ideas.

More than 100 years after he first appeared, Holmes remains the template for the fictional detective.

Going after the unknown is always fascinating, I think. It becomes part of your life, this desire to know.

An intellectual is a person who's found one thing that's more interesting than sex.

I can still remember. I was ill, and I was seven, and my father didn't want me to just read children's books. He came with Conan Doyle. I tried, and I liked it. I think the first I read was 'The Sign of the Four'; 'Study in Scarlet' was the next one. Then I guess I stayed home a few extra days from school to read.

It is like a voyage of discovery into unknown lands, seeking not for new territory but for new knowledge. It should appeal to those with a good sense of adventure.

You can only maintain your interest if you're travelling more in ignorance than knowledge.

If there's one thing I've learned in my life, it's that curiosity might kill cats, but it doesn't kill people.

When I left home after graduating high school, I left as a migrant agricultural worker with a Modern Library edition of Plato in my duffel bag. It sounds kind of crazy, but I loved it. I loved the stuff. Before I knew there was a subject called philosophy, I loved it.

What you know is always a little less attractive to you than what you don't know.

One characteristic that I hope I never relinquish is an intense curiosity about the world around me.

It'd be nice to be what they call a Renaissance man.

One of my secret nerdy things is that I love education.

I read a book every night. I really am that nerd, so when I get to go to the Smithsonian and get to go in the back rooms and play with stuff, things like that, for a guy like me, that's amazing.

My dad was a miner, but he was very much an intellectual. He loved to read.