# Quote — Jasper Fforde, Something Rotten

> For centuries I’ve been worrying about audiences seeing me as a mouthy spoiled brat who can’t make up his mind about anything, but, having seen the real world, I can understand the appeal. My play is popular because my failings are your failings, my indecision the indecision of you all. We all know what has to be done; it’s just that sometimes we don’t know how to get there. Acting without thought doesn’t really help in the long run. I might dither for a while, but at least I make the right decision in the end: I bear my troubles and take arms against them. And thereby lies a message for all mankind, although I’m not exactly sure what it is. Perhaps there’s no message. I don’t really know. Besides, if I don’t dither, there’s no play.

- Author: [Jasper Fforde](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jasper-fforde.md)
- Book: [Something Rotten](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jasper-fforde/something-rotten.md)
- Page: 371
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jasper_Fforde#Something_Rotten_(2004)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/jasper-fforde/something-rotten/for-centuries-ive

## More from this book

> Whatever. As far as I can see, there is one state of dead and that’s ‘not living.’ Now, do you have anything useful to add to this investigation or not?”

p. 238 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jasper-fforde/something-rotten/whatever-as-far.md)

> If the real world were a book, it would never find a publisher. Overlong, detailed to the point of distraction—and ultimately, without a major resolution.

p. 76 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jasper-fforde/something-rotten/if-the-real.md)

> My father always argued that time was far and away the most valuable commodity we had and that temporal profligacy should be a criminal offense—which kind of makes watching Celebrity Kidney Swap or reading Daphne Farquitt novels a crime straightaway.

p. 96 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jasper-fforde/something-rotten/my-father-always.md)