Noble causes have a deplorable effect on the morals of the persons who espouse them.
BARBARA MERTZGetting an idea for a book is not the problem, but you need 300 ideas – an idea a page.
More Barbara Mertz Quotes
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People who relate what they believe to be new and startling information like to have such information received with exclamations of astonishment and admiration.
BARBARA MERTZ -
It is easier to counterfeit old age than youth.
BARBARA MERTZ -
I do hope you have some money. I’m getting tired of hitting people.
BARBARA MERTZ -
A man asking for help ought to at least give directions.
BARBARA MERTZ -
I never meant to marry. In my opinion, a woman born in the last half of the nineteenth century of the Christian era suffered from enough disadvantages without willfully embracing another.
BARBARA MERTZ -
It is much more sensible to be an optimist instead of a pessimist, for if one is doomed to disappointment, why experience it in advance?
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 -
Marriage, in my view, should be a balanced stalemate between equal adversaries.
BARBARA MERTZ -
..he continues to cling to the forlorn hope that I will turn into one of those swooning females…and fling myself squeeling at him whenever anything happens. Like all men, he clings to his illusions.
BARBARA MERTZ -
Love has a very dulling effect on the brain
BARBARA MERTZ -
When one is striding bravely into the future one cannot watch one’s footing.
BARBARA MERTZ -
Many persons lead lives of crushing boredom.
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 -
there is nothing like a garden to rest the soul.
BARBARA MERTZ -
Husbands do not care to be contradicted. Indeed, I do not know anyone who does.
BARBARA MERTZ -
I have learned that particularly clever ideas do not always stand up under close scrutiny.
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 -
Money was the manure of politics.
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 do not scruple to employ mendacity and a fictitious appearance of female incompetence when the occasion demands it.
BARBARA MERTZ -
It’s not unsporting to thrash a cowardly cad,’ said Simmons. ‘Everyone knows you don’t fight like a gentleman.’ ‘That might be called an oxymoron,’ Ramses said. ‘Oh–sorry. Bad form to use long words. Look it up when you get home.’ The poor devil didn’t know how to fight, like a gentleman or otherwise.
BARBARA MERTZ -
The approval of a cat cannot but flatter the recipient.
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 -
A lady cannot be blamed if a master criminal takes a fancy to her.
BARBARA MERTZ -
It was hate at first sight, clean, pure and strong as grain alcohol.
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