Muriel Spark · 150 pages
Rating: (33.9K votes)
“To me education is a leading out of what is already there in the pupil's soul.”
― Muriel Spark, quote from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
“The word "education" comes from the root e from ex, out, and duco, I lead. It means a leading out. To me education is a leading out of what is already there in the pupil's soul.”
― Muriel Spark, quote from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
“Allow me, in conclusion, to congratulate you warmly upon your sexual intercourse, as well as your singing.”
― Muriel Spark, quote from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
“For those who like that sort of thing," said Miss Brodie in her best Edinburgh voice, "That is the sort of thing they like.”
― Muriel Spark, quote from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
“It is well, when in difficulties, to say never a word, neither black nor white. Speech is silver but silence is golden.”
― Muriel Spark, quote from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
“Give me a girl at an impressionable age and she is mine for life.”
― Muriel Spark, quote from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
“These years are still the years of my prime. It is important to recognise the years of one's prime, always remember that.”
― Muriel Spark, quote from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
“The word 'education' comes from the root e from ex, out, and duco, I lead. It means a leading out. To me education is a leading out of what is already there in the pupil's soul. To Miss Mackay it is a putting in of something that is not there, and that is not what I call education, I call it intrusion, from the Latin root prefix in meaning in and the stem trudo, I thrust.”
― Muriel Spark, quote from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
“One’s prime is elusive. You little girls, when you grow up, must be on the alert to recognise your prime at whatever time of your life it may occur. You must then live it to the full.”
― Muriel Spark, quote from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
“4:15. Not 4 not 4:30 but 4:15. She thought to intimidate me with the use of quarter hours.”
― Muriel Spark, quote from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
“Miss Brodie was easily the equal of both sisters together, she was the square on the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle and they were only the squares on the other two sides.”
― Muriel Spark, quote from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
“... flattening their scorn underneath the chariot wheels of her superiority.”
― Muriel Spark, quote from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
“The Brodie set did not for a moment doubt that she would prevail. As soon expect Julius Caesar to apply for a job at a crank school as Miss Brodie. She would never resign. If the authorities wanted to get rid of her she would have to be assassinated.”
― Muriel Spark, quote from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
“Phrases like 'the team spirit' are always employed to cut across individualism, love and personal loyalties.”
― Muriel Spark, quote from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
“Six years previously, Miss Brodie had led her new class into the garden for a history lesson underneath the big elm. On the way through the school corridors they passed the headmistress's study. The door was wide open, the room was empty.
'Little girls,' said Miss Brodie, 'come and observe this.'
They clustered round the open door while she pointed to a large poster pinned with drawing-pins on the opposite wall within the room. It depicted a man's big face. Underneath were the words 'Safety First'.
'This is Stanley Baldwin who got in as Prime Minister and got out again ere long,' said Miss Brodie. 'Miss Mackay retains him on the wall because she believes in the slogan "Safety First". But Safety does not come first. Goodness, Truth and Beauty come first. Follow me.”
― Muriel Spark, quote from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
“Do you know, Sandy dear, all my ambitions are for you and Rose. You have got insight, perhaps not quite spiritual, but you're a deep one, and Rose has got instinct.'
'Perhaps not quite spiritual' said Sandy.
'Yes,' said Miss Brodie, 'you're right. Rose has got a future by virtue of her instinct.'
...
'I ought to know because my prime has brought me instinct and insight, both.”
― Muriel Spark, quote from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
“I am putting old heads on your young shoulders,' Miss Brodie had told them at the time.”
― Muriel Spark, quote from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
“I'm not saying anything against the Modern side.
Modern and Classical, they are equal, and each provides for a function in life. You must make your free choice. Not everyone is capable of a Classical education. You must make your choice quite freely.”
― Muriel Spark, quote from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
“[...] there were other people's Edinburghs quite different from hers [...]”
― Muriel Spark, quote from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
“Sandy felt warmly towards Miss Brodie at these times when she saw how she was misled in her idea of Rose. It was then that Miss Brodie looked beautiful and fragile, just as dark heavy Edinburgh itself could suddenly be changed into a floating city when the light was a special pearly white and fell upon one of the gracefully fashioned streets. In the same way Miss Brodie's masterful features became clear and sweet to Sandy when viewed in the curious light of the woman's folly, and she never felt more affection for her in her later years than when she thought upon Miss Brodie silly.”
― Muriel Spark, quote from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
“Why do men always resort to calling women bitches when we kick their asses?”
― Christine Feehan, quote from Murder Game
“Horses are of a breed unique to Fantasyland. They are capable of galloping full-tilt all day without a rest. Sometimes they do not require food or water. They never cast shoes, go lame or put their hooves down holes, except when the Management deems it necessary, as when the forces of the Dark Lord are only half an hour behind. They never otherwise stumble. Nor do they ever make life difficult for Tourists by biting or kicking their riders or one another. They never resist being mounted or blow out so that their girths slip, or do any of the other things that make horses so chancy in this world. For instance, they never shy and seldom whinny or demand sugar at inopportune moments. But for some reason you cannot hold a conversation while riding them. If you want to say anything to another Tourist (or vice versa), both of you will have to rein to a stop and stand staring out over a valley while you talk. Apart from this inexplicable quirk, horses can be used just like bicycles, and usually are. Much research into how these exemplary animals come to exist has resulted in the following: no mare ever comes into season on the Tour and no stallion ever shows an interest in a mare; and few horses are described as geldings. It therefore seems probable that they breed by pollination. This theory seems to account for everything, since it is clear that the creatures do behave more like vegetables than mammals. Nomads appears to have a monopoly on horse-breeding. They alone possess the secret of how to pollinate them.”
― Diana Wynne Jones, quote from The Tough Guide to Fantasyland
“الخطأ الوحيد الذي على رجل متمتع بالسلطة والنفوذ ألا يقترفه في حياته مرة واحدة هو أن يفرض أمرا من دون أن يكون متيقنا من إطاعته.”
― Gabriel García Márquez, quote from The Autumn of the Patriarch
“It was the touch that made him realize he loved her. Warmth from her scalp. Grease from her locks. He entwined his hand in her hair. It shrank through his moving fingers like sand. They lay together for a long time. Somewhere outside, a dog barked. He could barely believe he had lived so long without wanting to touch. Photography had made him forget the necessity of this feeling.”
― Ali Shaw, quote from The Girl With Glass Feet
“Forgiveness was a strange gift. One that had to be shared in order to be kept.”
― Tamera Alexander, quote from Rekindled
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