“No one could have called Mr. Standen quick-witted, but the possession of three sisters had considerably sharpened his instinct of self-preservation.”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Cotillion
“What I mean is, like you to have everything you want. Wished it was me, that's all”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Cotillion
“I daresay Freddy might not be a great hand at slaying dragons- but one has not the smallest need of a man who can kill dragons!”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Cotillion
“She succumbed to the eternal feminine passion for bargains.”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Cotillion
“You don't feel you could marry me instead? Got no brains, of course, and I ain't a handsome fellow, like Jack, but I love you. Don't think I could ever love anyone else.”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Cotillion
“Queer creatures, females," mused Mr. Standen, shaking his head. "Fellow's only got to be a rake to have 'em all dangling after him. Silly, really, because it stands to reason---- Well never mind that!”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Cotillion
“That Fish of yours is queer in her attic.'
'Freddy, she is not!'
"Must be. Dash it, wouldn't write to you about Henry VIII if she wasn't! Stands to reason.”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Cotillion
“Well aware that to bring the voice of sober reason to bear upon the exaggerations of agitated females was both fruitless and perilous, Freddy wisely let this pass...”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Cotillion
“You don’t feel you could marry me instead? Got no brains, of course, and I ain’t a handsome fellow, like Jack, but I love you. Don’t think I could ever love anyone else. Daresay it ain’t any use telling you, but—well, there it is!”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Cotillion
“No, no, Kit, don’t cry!’ begged Freddy, putting his arm round her. ‘Can’t bear you not to be happy! I won’t say another word. Never thought there was any hope for me. Just wanted to tell you.”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Cotillion
“How the deuce would you know the right way to go on if you was never taught anything but the wrong way?”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Cotillion
“I daresay Freddy might not be a great hand at slaying dragons, but you may depend upon it none of those knight-errants would be able to rescue one from a social fix, and you must own, Meg, that one has not the smallest need of a man who can kill dragons!”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Cotillion
“I know it, and I wanted so much not to drag you into it!’ said Kitty remorsefully. ‘I thought, if only you knew nothing about it, it would serve as a reason for you to put an end to our engagement!’
‘Yes, I know you did. Told me so, in that letter you wrote me. Dashed cork-brained notion! Stands to reason if you’re in it I must be too.”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Cotillion
“You think I’ve got brains?’ he said, awed. ‘Not confusing me with Charlie?’
‘Charlie?’ uttered Miss Charing contemptuously. ‘I daresay he has book-learning, but you have—you have address, Freddy!’
‘Well, by Jove!’ said Mr Standen, dazzled by this new vision of himself.”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Cotillion
“What brings you here, Kit? No wish to offend you, but not quite the thing, you know!’
Her lip trembled. She replied with a catch in her voice: ‘I am running away!’
‘Oh, running away!’ said Mr Standen, satisfied.”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Cotillion
“No one could have called Mr Standen quick-witted, but the possession of three sisters had considerably sharpened his instinct of self-preservation.”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Cotillion
“It might have been supposed that Freddy, whose intellect was not of the first order, would have found it impossible to grasp the gist of an extremely tangled and discursive story, but once more the possession of three volatile and excitable sisters stood him in good stead.”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Cotillion
“Upon Mrs Scorton's reappearance, she found herself confronted, not by the fool of his family, but by the Honourable Frederick Standen, a Pink of the Pinks, who knew to a nicety how to blend courtesy with hauteur, and who informed her, with exquisite politeness, that he rather fancied his cousin was tired, and would like to be taken home. One of the uninvited guests, entering the box in Eliza's wake, ventured on a warm sally, found himself being inspected from head to foot through a quizzing-glass, and stammered an apology.”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Cotillion
“Meg, as good-natured as her mother and brother, would have been amiable to anyone for whom her kindness had been solicited. Had she found herself confronted by a dazzling blonde she would not have spurned Kitty; but it could not be denied that the discovery that Miss Charing was a brunette immediately confirmed her in her conviction that she would like her prodigiously.”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Cotillion
“If someone would have the goodness to inform me whether I am assisting at a tragedy or a farce I should be grateful,”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Cotillion
“I do think,’ said Kitty fervently, ‘that Freddy is the most truly chivalrous person imaginable!’ Freddy’s sister, regarding her with awe, opened her mouth, shut it again, swallowed, and managed to say, though in a faint voice: ‘Do you, indeed?’ ‘Yes, and a great deal more to the purpose than all the people one was taught to revere, like Sir Lancelot, and Sir Galahad, and Young Lochinvar, and—and that kind of man! I daresay Freddy might not be a great hand at slaying dragons, but you may depend upon it none of those knight-errants would be able to rescue one from a social fix, and you must own, Meg, that one has not the smallest need of a man who can kill dragons!”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Cotillion
“Lord Biddenden’s instincts were patriarchal. He liked to see his brothers and sisters under his roof, and to feel that they depended upon him for guidance; and he was almost as anxious for their advancement as his own.”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Cotillion
“That Hugh’s presence within walking distance of Biddenden Manor might not be conducive either to his happiness or to his self-esteem he did not allow to weigh with him, for he was a man with a strong sense of propriety, and he knew that it was his duty to feel affection for all his brothers and sisters.”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Cotillion
“she was generally considered to be a pretty woman; and, since she was as good-natured as she was foolish, she was almost universally liked.”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Cotillion
“It was seldom that Mr Standen, a peace-loving young gentleman, was conscious of a wish to come to blows with his fellow-men, but a wistful desire to land his cousin a facer did for an instant flicker in his mind.”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Cotillion
“Dear Papa, it seemed, had not left his family in affluent circumstances; but he had certainly endowed them with good looks, a commodity in which they had been bred from earliest youth to trade to the best advantage.”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Cotillion
“It seemed to Kitty a pity that her new friend’s mind was set so irrevocably upon marriage, but her suggestion that Olivia might seek an eligible situation as a governess met with no favour at all. Olivia stared at her with dismay in her big eyes, and unequivocally stated her preference for death.”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Cotillion
“That sort of thing always leads to trouble! It is all kindness, and I am sure I am quite as sorry for Miss Broughty as anyone, but one cannot make a friend of everybody in distressing circumstances!”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Cotillion
“I am sure I do not know why a man should not be a gamester, if his talents make it an eligible profession for him!”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Cotillion
“Dashed if I didn’t receive a letter from him this morning! Yes, and what’s more, I had to pay sixpence for it, which I’d as lief not have done. It ain’t that I grudge sixpence, but what I mean is, why the deuce should I have to give sixpence for a thing I’d as soon not have?”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Cotillion
Georgette Heyer
Born place: in The United Kingdom
Born date August 16, 1902
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“The clouds floating white and restless in the sky were those you see only in May or June. They were innocent companions, still young and flighty, who ran playfully across the blue road to hide suddenly behind high mountains, linking arms and running away, sometimes crumpling up like handkerchiefs, sometimes unravelling into streamers, and eventually playing a practical joke by setting themselves down on the mountain like white caps.”
― Stefan Zweig, quote from Burning Secret
“Casey meant it when she said, 'Forgive us for our debts as we forgive our debtors,' because they were for her the hardest words to live by, and by saying them, she hoped they'd become possible. Like Ted, Casey would never discuss her ambivalent views on religion. She was honest enough to admit that her privacy cloaked a fear: the fear of being found out as a hypocrite" (Free Food For Millionaires, p.100-101.)”
― Min Jin Lee, quote from Free Food for Millionaires
“Mr. Langton one day asked him [Samuel Johnson] how he had acquired so accurate a knowledge of Latin, in which, I believe, he was exceeded by no man of his time; he said, 'My master whipt me very well. Without that, Sir, I should have done nothing.' He told Mr. Langton, that while Hunter was flogging his boys unmercifully, he used to say, 'And this I do to save you from the gallows.' Johnson, upon all occasions, expressed his approbation of enforcing instruction by means of the rod. 'I would rather (said he) have the rod to be the general terrour to all, to make them learn, than tell a child, if you do thus, or thus, you will be more esteemed than your brothers or sisters. The rod produces an effect which terminates in itself. A child is afraid of being whipped, and gets his task, and there's an end on't; whereas, by exciting emulation and comparisons of superiority, you lay the foundation of lasting mischief; you make brothers and sisters hate each other.”
― James Boswell, quote from The Life of Samuel Johnson
“Already there was black rain inside me.”
― Jacquelyn Mitchard, quote from Cage of Stars
“He doesn’t like making others uncomfortable.”
-Helen to Sophia about Alistair”
― Elizabeth Hoyt, quote from To Beguile a Beast
After You'd Gone
Brooklyn
The Descendants
The Ghost Writer
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