“One of the disadvantages of almost universal education was the fact that all kinds of persons acquired a familiarity with one's favorite writers. It gave one a curious feeling; it was like seeing a drunken stranger wrapped in one's dressing gown.”
― Stella Gibbons, quote from Cold Comfort Farm
“I saw something nasty in the woodshed.”
― Stella Gibbons, quote from Cold Comfort Farm
“Well, when I am fifty-three or so I would like to write a novel as good as Persuasion but with a modern setting, of course. For the next thirty years or so I shall be collecting material for it. If anyone asks me what I work at, I shall say, 'Collecting material'. No one can object to that.”
― Stella Gibbons, quote from Cold Comfort Farm
“She liked Victorian novels. They were the only kind of novel you could read while eating an apple.”
― Stella Gibbons, quote from Cold Comfort Farm
“That would be delightful,' agreed Flora, thinking how nasty and boring it would be.”
― Stella Gibbons, quote from Cold Comfort Farm
“Mary, you know I hate parties. My idea of hell is a very large party in a cold room where everybody has to play hockey properly.”
― Stella Gibbons, quote from Cold Comfort Farm
“Like all really strong-minded women, on whom everybody flops, she adored being bossed about. It was so restful.”
― Stella Gibbons, quote from Cold Comfort Farm
“Surely she had endured enough for one evening without having to listen to intelligent conversation?”
― Stella Gibbons, quote from Cold Comfort Farm
“You have the most revolting Florence Nightingale complex,' said Mrs. Smiling.
It is not that at all, and well you know it. On the whole, I dislike my fellow beings; I find them so difficult to understand. But I have a tidy mind and untidy lives irritate me. Also, they are uncivilized.”
― Stella Gibbons, quote from Cold Comfort Farm
“The education bestowed on Flora Poste by her parents had been expensive, athletic and prolonged; and when they died within a few weeks of one another during the annual epidemic of the influenza or Spanish Plague which occurred in her twentieth year, she was discovered to possess every art and grace save that of earning her own living.”
― Stella Gibbons, quote from Cold Comfort Farm
“Flora sighed. It was curious that persons who lived what the novelists called a rich emotional life always seemed to be a bit slow on the uptake.”
― Stella Gibbons, quote from Cold Comfort Farm
“Here was an occasion, she thought, for indulging in that deliberate rudeness which only persons with habitually good manners have the right to commit...”
― Stella Gibbons, quote from Cold Comfort Farm
“Well,' said Mrs Smiling, 'it sounds an appalling place, but in a different way from all the others. I mean, it does sound interesting and appalling, while the others just sound appalling.”
― Stella Gibbons, quote from Cold Comfort Farm
“Women are all alike-- aye fussin' over their fal-lals and bedazin' a man's eyes, when all they really want is man's blood and his heart out of his body and his soul and his pride....”
― Stella Gibbons, quote from Cold Comfort Farm
“On the whole, Flora liked it better when they were silent, though it did rather give her the feeling that she was acting in one of the less cheerful German highbrow films.”
― Stella Gibbons, quote from Cold Comfort Farm
“Haven't you enough money?'
For she knew that this is what is the matter with nearly everybody over twenty-five.”
― Stella Gibbons, quote from Cold Comfort Farm
“After another minute Reuben brought forth the following sentence:
"I ha' scranleted two hundred furrows come five o'clock down i' the bute."
It was a difficult remark, Flora felt, to which to reply.”
― Stella Gibbons, quote from Cold Comfort Farm
“I do not object to the phenomena, but I do object to the parrot.”
― Stella Gibbons, quote from Cold Comfort Farm
“There are some things (like first love and one’s first reviews) at which a woman in her middle years does not care to look too closely.”
― Stella Gibbons, quote from Cold Comfort Farm
“The audience had run to beards and magenta shirts and original ways of arranging its neckwear; and not content with the ravages produced in its over-excitable nervous system by the remorseless workings of its critical intelligence, it had sat through a film of Japanese life called 'Yes,' made by a Norwegian film company in 1915 with Japanese actors, which lasted an hour and three-quarters and contained twelve close-ups of water-lilies lying perfectly still on a scummy pond and four suicides, all done extremely slowly.”
― Stella Gibbons, quote from Cold Comfort Farm
“He was, she reflected, almost rudely like a tortoise; and she was glad her friend kept none as pets or they might have suspected mockery.”
― Stella Gibbons, quote from Cold Comfort Farm
“The life of a journalist is poor, nasty, brutish, and short. So is his style”
― Stella Gibbons, quote from Cold Comfort Farm
“By the way, I adore my bedroom, but do you think I could have the curtains washed? I believe they are red; and I should so like to make sure.'
Judith had sunk into a reverie.
'Curtains?' she asked, vacantly, lifting her magnificent head. 'Child, child, it is many years since such trifles broke across the web of my solitude'.”
― Stella Gibbons, quote from Cold Comfort Farm
“I think it's degrading of you, Flora,' cried Mrs Smiling at breakfast. 'Do you truly mean that you don't ever want to work at anything?'
Her friend replied after some thought: 'Well, when I am fifty-three or so I would like to write a novel as good as "Persuasion", but with a modern setting, of course. For the next thirty years or so I shall be collecting material for it. If anyone asks me what I work at, I shall say "Collecting material." No one can object to that. Besides, I shall be.'
Mrs Smiling drank some coffee in silent disapproval.
'If you ask me,' continued Flora, 'I think I have much in common with Miss Austen. She liked everything to be tidy and pleasant and comfortable around her, and so do I. You see Mary,' - and here Flora began to grow earnest and to wave one finger about - 'unless everything is tidy and pleasant and comfortable all about one, people cannot even begin to enjoy life. I cannot endure messes.”
― Stella Gibbons, quote from Cold Comfort Farm
“A straight nose is a great help if one wishes to look serious'.”
― Stella Gibbons, quote from Cold Comfort Farm
“Curious how Love destroys every vestige of that politeness which the human race, in its years of evolution, has so painfully acquired.”
― Stella Gibbons, quote from Cold Comfort Farm
“She glanced upwards for a second at the soft blue vault of the midsummer night sky. Not a cloud misted its solemn depths. Tomorrow would be a beautiful day.”
― Stella Gibbons, quote from Cold Comfort Farm
“Flora inherited, however, from her father a strong will and from her mother a slender ankle.”
― Stella Gibbons, quote from Cold Comfort Farm
“Richard had realized, not that Elfine was beautiful, but that he loved Elfine. (Young men frequently need this fact pointing out to them, as Flora knew by observing the antics of her friends.)”
― Stella Gibbons, quote from Cold Comfort Farm
Stella Gibbons
Born place: in London, The United Kingdom
Born date January 5, 1902
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“I'd Like to See
-----------------
I'd like to see the red
Of the roses in full bloom.
I'd like to see the silver
Of sun's reflection on the moon.
I'd like to see the blue
Of the ocean when it's roaring.
I'd like to see the brown
Of the eagle when it's soaring.
I'd like to see the purple
Of grapes hanging on the vine.
I'd like to see the yellow
Of the sun in summertime.
I'd like to see the russet
Of the chestnuts on the tree.
I'd like to see the faces
Of those that smile at me.”
― Lucinda Riley, quote from The Light Behind the Window
“The Americans live in a democratic state of society, which has naturally suggested to them certain laws and a certain political character. This”
― Alexis de Tocqueville, quote from De la Démocratie en Amérique, tome II
“When you know the knower within, you don't need to know further. When you know the meditator within, you don't need to meditate further. When you truly know the worshiper in you, you are to be worshiped.”
― Amit Ray, quote from Nonviolence: The Transforming Power
“Ask me what else I remember."
She started to run away, but his hand touched her arm.
"Ask me," he commanded.
Emma shook her head feeling both terrified and the most alive she'd felt in years.
He waited patiently until her eyes met his. "I remember us, Emma.”
― Lauren Layne, quote from The Trouble with Love
“Charlotte!” he calls out, waving to her. “Did you get the balloons?”
He pulls up next to us, barely making eye contact with me.
“They didn’t fit in the elevator, but it really doesn’t matter. You need to stop sending me gifts. It’s over with us. In fact,” she says, and reaches out to grab my free hand, threading her fingers through mine and surprising the fuck out of me, since she’s not a hand-holder, “I’m engaged to Spencer now.”
Whoa.
That surprise over her holding my hand? It’s nothing compared to the surprise from what comes next.
She thrusts her coffee cup at Bradley, and in the blink of an eye she wraps her hands around my neck, and presses her lips to mine.”
― Lauren Blakely, quote from Big Rock
Testimony
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Hold the Dream
Nicholas and Alexand...
A Spy in the House o...
A Short History of D...BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.
We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.
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