“Oh, yes, she's unusual!" he said bitterly. "She blurts out whatever may come into her head; she tumbles from one outrageous escapade into another; she's happier grooming horses and hobnobbing with stable-hands than going to parties; she's impertinent; you daren't catch her eye for fear she should start to giggle; she hasn't any accomplishments; I never saw anyone with less dignity; she's abominable, and damnably hot at hand, frank to a fault, and – a darling!”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Sylvester
“The charm of your society, my Sparrow, lies in not knowing what you will say next – though one rapidly learns to expect the worst!”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Sylvester
“[He was aware] of the value of the word of praise dropped at exactly the right moment; and he would have thought himself extremely stupid to withhold what cost him so little and was productive of such desirable results.”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Sylvester
“You have a genius for bringing trouble upon yourself”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Sylvester
“Eccentricity may be diverting, Mama, but it is out of place in a wife: certainly in my wife!”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Sylvester
“Don't you dare call me arrogant!If ever I had any at all-which I deny!- how much could I possibly have left after having been ridden over rough-shod by you and Thomas, do you imagine?”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Sylvester
“O God, Mama, I’ve made such a mull of it! What am I to do?”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Sylvester
“He paused and then said, as though the words were wrung out of him: ‘O God, Mama, I’ve made such a mull of it! What am I to do?”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Sylvester
“He has probably gnawed his nails down to the quick, or murdered poor Mr. Orde.”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Sylvester
“Besides, it was a well-known maxim that maniacs must be humoured.”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Sylvester
“He then, with great presence of mind, put a stop to any further recriminations by kissing her; and his indignant betrothed, apparently feeling that he was too deeply sunk in depravity to be reclaimable, abandoned (for the time being, at all events) any further attempt to bring him to a sense of his iniquity.”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Sylvester
“He had a singularly charming smile, and it ensured for him, no matter how exacting might be his demands, the uncomplaining exertions of his servants. He was perfectly well aware of that, just as he was aware of the value of the word of praise dropped at exactly the right moment; and he would have thought himself extremely stupid to withhold what cost him so little and was productive of such desirable results.”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Sylvester
“Some day, Prince Kheldar, you will fall in love," the queen said with a little smirk, "and the twelve kingdoms will stand around and chortle over the fall of so notorious a bachelor.”
― David Eddings, quote from The Belgariad, Vol. 1: Pawn of Prophecy / Queen of Sorcery / Magician's Gambit
“We completely need him. Who else comes up with the plans?"
"Demos?"
"Yes, but he isn't hot, Nate. We talked about is.”
― Sarah Alderson, quote from Losing Lila
“For it is not what happens to me that makes me great, but it is what I do.”
― Søren Kierkegaard, quote from Fear and Trembling
“none of the agony it had caused her, the terror, or the heartbreak. “But”
― Danielle Steel, quote from The Gift
“I felt that the metal of my spirit, like a bar of iron that is softened and bent by a persistent flame, was being gradually softened and bent by the troubles that oppressed it. In spite of myself, I was conscious of a feeling of envy for those who did not suffer from such troubles, for the wealthy and the privileged; and this envy, I observed, was accompanied—still against my will—by a feeling of bitterness towards them, which, in turn, did not limit its aim to particular persons or situations, but, as if by an uncontrollable bias, tended to assume the general, abstract character of a whole conception of life. In fact, during those difficult days, I came very gradually to feel that my irritation and my intolerance of poverty were turning into a revolt against injustice, and not only against the injustice which struck at me personally but the injustice from which so many others like me suffered. I was quite aware of this almost imperceptible transformation of my subjective resentments into objective reflections and states of mind, owing to the bent of my thoughts which led always and irresistibly in the same direction: owing also to my conversation, which, without my intending it, alway harped upon the same subject. I also noticed in myself a growing sympathy for those political parties which proclaimed their struggle against the evils and infamies of the society to which, in the end I had attributed the troubles that beset me—a society which, as I thought, in reference to myself, allowed its best sons to languish and protected its worst ones. Usually, and in the simpler, less cultivated people, this process occurs without their knowing it, in the dark depths of consciousness where, by a kind of mysterious alchemy, egoism is transmuted into altruism, hatred into love, fear into courage; but to me, accustomed as I was to observing and studying myself, the whole thing was clear and visible, as though I were watching it happen in someone else; and yet I was aware the whole time that I was being swayed by material subjective factors, that I was transforming purely personal motives into universal reasons.”
― Alberto Moravia, quote from Contempt
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