I have no writing habit. I work when I feel like it, and I work when I have to – mostly the latter.
BARBARA MERTZGiving other people advice is one of the most irritating and useless activities known to man.
More Barbara Mertz Quotes
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If all else fails, we will simply have to drug our attendants, overpower the guards, raise the oppressed peasants to arms, and take over the government.
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When one is striding bravely into the future one cannot watch one’s footing.
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I do, however, think it would be difficult to write books I don’t like to read.
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I disapprove of matrimony as a matter of principle…. Why should any independent, intelligent female choose to subject herself to the whims and tyrannies of a husband? I assure you, I have yet to meet a man as sensible as myself! (Amelia Peabody)
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Your trousers are on fire. I would have told you, but you so dislike advice.
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A fondness for martyrdom, especially of the verbal variety, is common to the young.
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Spring is always cruel, with its false promise of resurrection.
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To argue without knowledge is like trying to weave without thread.
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Husbands do not care to be contradicted. Indeed, I do not know anyone who does.
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It was hate at first sight, clean, pure and strong as grain alcohol.
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Noble causes have a deplorable effect on the morals of the persons who espouse them.
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There are too many people in the world as it is, but the supply of ancient manuscripts is severely limited.
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Nothing looks as self-satisfied as a contented cat.
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a church ought to express the joy of religion as well as its majesty.
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Loving someone condemns you to a lifetime of fear. You become painfully conscious of how fragile people are – bundles of brittle bones and vulnerable flesh, breeding grounds for billions of deadly germs and horrible diseases.
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I have learned that particularly clever ideas do not always stand up under close scrutiny.
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Getting an idea for a book is not the problem, but you need 300 ideas – an idea a page.
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The opportunity to lecture had restored my good humor.
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When men start talking about ‘honor’, there is sure to be trouble ahead.
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I would not be at all surprised to find that it was for gold that Cain committed the first murder. (It happened a very long time ago, and Holy Writ, though no doubt divinely inspired, is a trifle careless about details. God is not a historian).
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stereotypes are awfully misleading. There are typical librarians, but not all librarians are typical.
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I sometimes wonder what it would be like to be the respected patriarch of an ordinary English family.” “Very boring, Emerson.
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kissing someone out of pity is always a mistake.
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there is nothing like a garden to rest the soul.
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Writing is like a bird-watcher watching for birds: the stories are there: you just have to train yourself to look for them.
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Cats always made up to the people who hated them the most. Depending on how you chose to look at it, it was a touching manifestation of trust, or a malicious pleasure in human discomfort.
BARBARA MERTZ