Emerson,’ I said, choosing my words with care, ‘it is a sheer drop from the cleft down to the base of the cliff. If you are bent on breaking your arm or your leg or your neck or all three, find a place closer to home so we won’t have to carry you such a distance.
BARBARA MERTZThere is nothing sadder than the cheerful letters of the dead, expressing hopes that were never fulfilled, ambitions that were never achieved, dreams cut off before they could come to fruition.
More Barbara Mertz Quotes
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When men start talking about ‘honor’, there is sure to be trouble ahead.
BARBARA MERTZ -
The opportunity to lecture had restored my good humor.
BARBARA MERTZ -
Your trousers are on fire. I would have told you, but you so dislike advice.
BARBARA MERTZ -
I knew the answer, and–of course–so did Ramses. He has superb breath control and always gets in ahead of me.
BARBARA MERTZ -
I have no writing habit. I work when I feel like it, and I work when I have to – mostly the latter.
BARBARA MERTZ -
I would never have supposed that inexperienced girl was capable of such cold-blooded, calculating manipulation!
BARBARA MERTZ -
I don’t think she realized how much she cared for him, or he for her, until the end. Hasn’t someone said a woman may be known by the men who love her enough to die for her? (If they haven’t, I claim the credit myself.)
BARBARA MERTZ -
In the silence I heard Bastet, who had retreated under the bed, carrying on a mumbling, profane monologue. (If you ask how I knew it was profane, I presume you have never owned a cat.)
BARBARA MERTZ -
Reputations are shaped not by facts but by prejudices.
BARBARA MERTZ -
The only people who are not in awe of Emerson’s powerful voice and well-nigh superhuman strength are the members of his own family. He is aware of this, and often complains about it; so from time to time I like to put on a little show of being intimidated. ‘Proceed, my dear,’ I said apologetically.
BARBARA MERTZ -
Dogs can be made to feel guilty about anything, including the sins of their owners. Cats refuse to take the blame for anything – including their own sins.
BARBARA MERTZ -
I can do a book in three months if I spend all day, seven days a week at it and, in fact, I work better that way.
BARBARA MERTZ -
I do, however, think it would be difficult to write books I don’t like to read.
BARBARA MERTZ -
Giving other people advice is one of the most irritating and useless activities known to man.
BARBARA MERTZ -
No woman really wants a man to carry her off; she only wants him to want to do it.
BARBARA MERTZ






