Ramses had always been fond of Helen, in his peculiar fashion, but if he had looked at me as he was looking at her, I would have sent for a constable.
BARBARA MERTZThere was no warning, not even a knock. The door flew open, and he forgot his present aches and pains in anticipation of what lay in store. The figure that stood in the door was not that of an enemy. It was worse. It was his mother.
More Barbara Mertz Quotes
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The opportunity to lecture had restored my good humor.
BARBARA MERTZ -
The approval of a cat cannot but flatter the recipient.
BARBARA MERTZ -
Money was the manure of politics.
BARBARA MERTZ -
I’ve been reading ghost stories ever since I could read. I’m immensely curious about ghosts and UFOs and all that stuff, but I’m a very hard-headed person.
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 -
kissing someone out of pity is always a mistake.
BARBARA MERTZ -
Superstition has its practical uses.
BARBARA MERTZ -
I do hope you have some money. I’m getting tired of hitting people.
BARBARA MERTZ -
Giving other people advice is one of the most irritating and useless activities known to man.
BARBARA MERTZ -
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 -
I am so tired of ruggedly handsome heroes. I don’t know too many ruggedly handsome people who are necessarily nice people. In fact, the beautiful people have a big handicap because they rely too much on their appearance and don’t bother to become interesting.
BARBARA MERTZ -
Nefret had always had an uncanny ability to read his thoughts. ‘Did she cry?’ she asked sweetly. ‘And then you kissed her? You shouldn’t have done that. I’m sure you meant well, but kissing someone out of pity is always a mistake.
BARBARA MERTZ -
To argue without knowledge is like trying to weave without thread.
BARBARA MERTZ -
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)
BARBARA MERTZ -
I sometimes wonder what it would be like to be the respected patriarch of an ordinary English family.” “Very boring, Emerson.
BARBARA MERTZ -
Reputations are shaped not by facts but by prejudices.
BARBARA MERTZ -
If you take a man by surprise, and behave with sufficient arrogance, he will generally do what you ask. -Emerson
BARBARA MERTZ -
Sometimes the characters develop almost without your knowing it. You find them doing things you hadn’t planned on, and then I have to go back to page 42 and fix things. I’m not recommending it as a way to write. It’s very sloppy, but it works for me.
BARBARA MERTZ -
He hesitated for a moment. Then he said softly, “I love you, Mother.” He took my hand and kissed it, and folded my fingers round the stem of the rose. He had stripped it of its thorns.
BARBARA MERTZ -
But the dust! And the clutter! My housewifely and scholarly instincts were equally offended.
BARBARA MERTZ -
Since I am not as stupid as my children believe I am, I had immediately realized this might be a ruse, but I was not at all averse to a confrontation. In fact, I had been hoping for some such thing.
BARBARA MERTZ -
There are too many people in the world as it is, but the supply of ancient manuscripts is severely limited.
BARBARA MERTZ -
When men start talking about ‘honor’, there is sure to be trouble ahead.
BARBARA MERTZ -
When emotion supersedes reason … gullibility must follow.
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 -
It is easier to counterfeit old age than youth.
BARBARA MERTZ