Quotes from Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

“Odd, said Miss Pettigrew conversationally, 'the undermining effect of flowers on a woman's common sense.”
― Winifred Watson, quote from Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

“All the men send you orchids because they're expensive and they know that you know they are. But I always kind of think they're cheap, don't you, just because they're expensive. Like telling someone how much you paid for something to show off.”
― Winifred Watson, quote from Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

“All these years she had never had the wicked thrill of powdering her nose. Others had experienced that joy. Never she. And all because she lacked courage.”
― Winifred Watson, quote from Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

“The psychology of silk underclothes has not yet been fully considered," mused Miss Pettigrew happily.”
― Winifred Watson, quote from Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

“You've gone all red. It's cooking over a hot stove. That's why I've never cultivated the art. It simply ruins the complexion. I'm terribly sorry."
"It's all right," said miss Pettigrew with resignation. "I've reached the age when... when complexions don't matter."
"Not matter!" said miss LaFosse, shocked. "Complexions always matter.”
― Winifred Watson, quote from Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

“her destination. It was a very exclusive, very opulent, very intimidating block of flats. Miss Pettigrew was conscious of her shabby clothes, her faded gentility, her courage lost through weeks of facing the workhouse. She stood a moment.”
― Winifred Watson, quote from Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

“It’s my last chance. You know it. I know it.”
― Winifred Watson, quote from Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

“If you act “ marriage or nothing” they generally give you marriage. I”
― Winifred Watson, quote from Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

“If you act “ marriage or nothing” they generally give you marriage. I was very lucky. I went to his head, but he couldn’t stand the pace. He got a nice tombstone and I got the parlour.”
― Winifred Watson, quote from Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

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Popular quotes

“Such are the ways of politics, where the crusade of the hour often blocks out everything else, at least until another crusade comes along and takes over the same monopoly of our minds.”
― Thomas Sowell, quote from Black Rednecks and White Liberals

“I’ve been lost, Elsie. Lost and drowning since I was a kid … Then I saw you. I saw you and you brought me back to me … Elsie, you brought me life.”
― Tillie Cole, quote from Sweet Soul

“While there was still water in the middle of the pools, animals attempted to reach it through the silt but would get bogged. We spent day after day checking dams, finding about eight to ten animals hopelessly mired in the silt at each and every dam, primarily kangaroos and wallabies.
We had to get to the dams early in the morning. Some of the kangaroos had been struggling all night. Steve engineered planks and straps to rescue the animals. The silt would suck us down just as fast, so we had to be careful going out to rescue the roos. Because of the lactic acid buildup in their tissues (a product of their all-night exertions to free themselves), some of the kangaroos were too far gone and couldn’t recover. But we saved quite a few.
At one point, Bob came out to lend a hand. I was at the homestead, and the ovulation strip turned bright blue. I hustled over to the creek bed where Steve and his dad were working.
I motioned to Steve. “The strip is blue,” I said. He looked around nervously.
“I’m out here working with me dad,” he said. “What do you want me to do?”
“Just come on,” I whispered impatiently.
“But my dad’s right here!”
I smiled and took his hand. We headed up the dry creek bed and spent some quality time with the biting ants and the prickles.
It was after this trip to our conservation property in the Brigalow Belt that I discovered I was pregnant. I tried to let Steve know by sitting down at the table and tucking into a bowl of ice cream and pickles.
“What are you doing?” asked a totally confused Steve. I explained, and we were both totally overjoyed, keeping our fingers crossed for a boy to go along with our darling daughter.”
― Terri Irwin, quote from Steve & Me

“I'm not a person who thinks they can have it all, but I certainly feel that with a bit of effort and guile I should be able to have more than my fair share.”
― George Carlin, quote from When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?

“I never had, or wished for, power over you. That isn't true, of course. I wanted the greatest power of all. but not advantage, or authority.”
― Shirley Hazzard, quote from The Transit of Venus

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About BookQuoters

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.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.