Quotes from To Sir Phillip, With Love

Julia Quinn ·  372 pages

Rating: (25.7K votes)


“Men. The day they learned to admit to a mistake was the day they became women.”
― Julia Quinn, quote from To Sir Phillip, With Love


“If one didn't have love, was it better, then, to be alone?”
― Julia Quinn, quote from To Sir Phillip, With Love


“He shook his head in wonder. "You are magnificent."

"I keep telling everyone that," she said with a nonchalant shrug, "But you seem to be the only one to believe me.”
― Julia Quinn, quote from To Sir Phillip, With Love


“There is so much I hope to teach you, little one. I hope that I may do so by example, but I feel the need
to put the words to
paper as well. It is a quirk of mine, one which I expect you will recognize and find amusing by the time
you read this letter.
Be strong.
Be diligent.
Be conscientious. There is never anything to be gained by taking the easy road. (Unless, of course, the
road is an easy one to begin with. Roads sometimes are. If that should be the case, do not forge a new,
more difficult one. Only martyrs go out
looking for trouble.)
Love your siblings. You have two already, and God willing, there will be more. Love them well, for they
are your blood,
and when you are unsure, or times are difficult, they will be the ones to stand by your side.
Laugh. Laugh out loud, and laugh often. And when circumstances call for silence, turn your laugh into a
smile.
Don't settle. Know what you want and reach for it. And if you don't know what you want, be patient.
The answers will
come to you in time, and you may find that your heart s desire has been right under your nose all the
while.
And remember, always remember that you have a mother and a father who love each other and love
you.
I feel you growing restless. Your father is making strange gasping sounds and will surely lose his temper
altogether if I
do not move from my escritoire to my bed.
Welcome to the world, little one. We are all so delighted to make your acquaintance.”
― Julia Quinn, quote from To Sir Phillip, With Love


“I had to do something," she said. "I couldn't just sit and wait for life to happen to me any longer.”
― Julia Quinn, quote from To Sir Phillip, With Love



“. . . I do not tell you often enough, dear Mother, how very grateful I am that I am yours. It is a rare parent who would offer a child such latitude and understanding. It is an even rarer one who calls a daughter friend. I do love you, dear Mama.”
― Julia Quinn, quote from To Sir Phillip, With Love


“Phillip looked to Eloise. "Perhaps introductions are in order?"
"Oh," Eloise said, gulping. "Yes, of course. These are my brothers."
"I'd gathered," he said, his voice as dry as dust.
She shot him an apologetic look, which, Phillip thought, was really the least she could do after nearly
getting him tortured and
killed, then turned to her brothers and motioned to each in turn, saying, "Anthony, Benedict, Colin,
Gregory. These three," she added, motioning to A, B, and C, "are my elders. This one"—she waved
dismissively at Gregory—"is an infant.”
― Julia Quinn, quote from To Sir Phillip, With Love


“Until you've lived through all that," he said, "don't you ever complain about what we have. Because to me... to me..." He choked on the words, but he barely paused before he continued. "This - us - is heaven. I can't bear to hear you say otherwise.”
― Julia Quinn, quote from To Sir Phillip, With Love


“A lot could happen in a week.
Just look at the last one.”
― Julia Quinn, quote from To Sir Phillip, With Love


“You’re very impatient,” Violet said, facing the door. “You always have been.”

“I know,” Eloise said, wondering if this was a scolding, and if so, why was her mother choosing to do it now?

“I always loved that about you,” Violet said. “I always loved everything about you, of course, but for some reason I always found your impatience especially charming. It was never because you wanted more, it was because you wanted everything.”

Eloise wasn’t so sure that sounded like such a good trait.

“You wanted everything for everyone, and you wanted to know it all and learn it all, and . . .”

For a moment Eloise thought her mother might be done, but then Violet turned around and added, “You’ve never been satisfied with second-best, and that’s good, Eloise. I’m glad you never married any of those men who proposed in London. None of them would have made you happy. Content, maybe, but not happy.”

Eloise felt her eyes widen with surprise.

“But don’t let your impatience become all that you are,” Violet said softly. “Because it isn’t, you know. There’s a great deal more to you, but I think sometimes you forget that.” She smiled, the gentle, wise smile of a mother saying goodbye to her daughter.”
― Julia Quinn, quote from To Sir Phillip, With Love



“It was nearly impossible to keep anything a secret, especially from her
sisters, the youngest of whom—Hyacinth—could probably have won the war against Napoleon in half
the time if His Majesty had only thought to draft her into the espionage service.”
― Julia Quinn, quote from To Sir Phillip, With Love


“This was killing her. She had to break the silence. This was not natural. It was too awful. People were
meant to talk.”
― Julia Quinn, quote from To Sir Phillip, With Love


“She looked up at him, wondering when it was that this man, her brother, had become so wise. If he'd yelled one more word, spent one more minute speaking to her in that mocking voice, she would have broke. She would have broke, or she would have hardened, but either way, something between them would have been ruined.
But here he was, Anthony of all people, who was arrogant and proud and every inch the arch nobleman he'd been born to be, kneeling at her side, placing his hand on hers, and speaking with a kindness that nearly broke her heart.”
― Julia Quinn, quote from To Sir Phillip, With Love


“Love your siblings. Love them well,
for they are your blood, and when you are unsure,or times are difficult, they will be the ones to stand by your side.”
― Julia Quinn, quote from To Sir Phillip, With Love


“Are you certain you'll be happy?" she asked.
Eloise smiled ruefully. "It's a little late to wonder, don't you think?"
"It might be too late to do anything about it, but it's never too late to wonder.”
― Julia Quinn, quote from To Sir Phillip, With Love



“Neither one of you is going to kill, maim, attack, or even hug the other for at least thirty minutes.”
― Julia Quinn, quote from To Sir Phillip, With Love


“Shall we return to the dining room?" Anthony queried. "I imagine you're hungry, and if we tarry much
longer, Colin is sure to
have eaten our host out of house and home."
Eloise nodded. "Either that, or they've all killed him by now."
Anthony paused to consider that. "It would save me the expense of a wedding."
"Anthony!"
"It's a joke, Eloise," he said, giving his head a weary shake. "Come along, now. Let's make sure your Sir
Phillip still resides
among the ranks of the living.”
― Julia Quinn, quote from To Sir Phillip, With Love


“Were you tempted?"

"Of course not! Kate would slit my throat."

"I'm not talking about what Kate would do to you if you strayed, although I'm of the opinion that she would not start at your throat.”
― Julia Quinn, quote from To Sir Phillip, With Love


“I never thought I would be left behind."
He chuckled. "Eloise Bridgerton, I don't think anyone wouldever make the mistake of leaving you
behind.”
― Julia Quinn, quote from To Sir Phillip, With Love


“Phillip muttered something under his breath.
"What did you say?" she asked.
"Nothing."
"You said something."
He gave her an impatient look. "If I'd meant for you to hear it, I would have said it out loud."
She sucked in her breath. "Then you shouldn't have said it at all."
"Some things," Phillip muttered, "are impossible to keep inside."
"What did yousay?" she demanded.
Phillip raked his hand through his hair. "Eloise—"
"Did you insult me?"
"Do you really want to know?"
"Since it appears we are to be wed," she bit off, "yes."
"I don't recall my exact words," Phillip shot back, "but I believe I may have uttered the wordswomen
andlack of sense in
the same breath.”
― Julia Quinn, quote from To Sir Phillip, With Love



“Be strong. Be diligent. Be conscientious. There is never anything to be gained by taking the easy road.”
― Julia Quinn, quote from To Sir Phillip, With Love


“Don’t settle. Know what you want and reach for it. And if you don’t know what you want, be patient. The answers will come to you in time, and you may find that your heart’s desire has been right under your nose all the while. And”
― Julia Quinn, quote from To Sir Phillip, With Love


“when he found her, upstairs in the hall outside her bedchamber, her hair had gone white.
As, it seemed, had the rest of her.
Bloody hell. 'Oliver!' he bellowed. 'Amanda!'
'Oh, they're long gone,' Eloisa bit off. She looked up at him with fuming eyes. Fuming eyes which, he couldn't help but note, were the only part of her not covered with a remarkably thick coating of flour.
Well, good for her for closing them in time. He'd always admired quick reflexes in a woman.
'Miss Bridgerton,' he said, his hand moving forward to help her, then retracting as he realized there *was* no helping her. 'I cannot begin to express-'
'*Don't* apologize for them,' she snapped ...
He took a self-preservational step back. 'I gather the twins paid you a visit,' he said.
'Oh, yes,' she replied, with no small measure of sarcasm. 'And then scampered away. The little cowards themselves are nowhere to be found.'
'Well, they wouldn't be far,' he mused ... 'They'd want to see the results, of course ... I don't suppose you heard any laughter when the flour came down? Cackling, perhaps?' ...
'It was difficult,' she said, so tightly he wondered if her jaw might snap, 'to hear anything but the sound of the bucket hitting my head.”
― Julia Quinn, quote from To Sir Phillip, With Love


“For the first time in recent memory, he'd handled his daughter *exactly* right. Something about Eloise's presence had calmed him, lent him a clarity of thought he usually lacked when it came to his children. He was able to see the humor in the situation, where he usually saw nothing but his own frustration.”
― Julia Quinn, quote from To Sir Phillip, With Love


“Eloise?' Phillip asked, his brows shooting up when they both heard someone bellow her name.
She felt the blood drain from her body. Positively felt it, *knew* it had happened, even though she couldn't see it pooling about her feet. There was no way she could survive a moment such as this, no way she could make it through without killing someone, preferably someone to whom she was quite closely related.”
― Julia Quinn, quote from To Sir Phillip, With Love



“Do you have any idea how mortifying this is?'
Her brothers stared at her, quite rightly, in Phillip's opinion, as if she'd gone mad.
'You lost the right,' Anthony bit off, 'to feel mortified, embarrassed, chagrined, or in fact any emotion other than blindingly stupid when you ran off without a word.”
― Julia Quinn, quote from To Sir Phillip, With Love


“Laugh. Laugh out loud, and laugh often. And when circumstances call for silence, turn your laugh into a smile. Don”
― Julia Quinn, quote from To Sir Phillip, With Love


“Don't tell me you've been harboring secret fantasies about the farm laborers.'
'Of course not,' she said, 'although...'
There was no way he was going to let those words trail off into oblivion. 'Although?' he prompted.
She looked a bit sheepish. 'Well, they do look terribly...*elemental*...out there in the sun, toiling away.'
He smiled. Slowly, like a man about to feast upon his dream come true.”
― Julia Quinn, quote from To Sir Phillip, With Love


“Soru soran bir kadından kork,çünkü asla doğru cevap veremezsin.”
― Julia Quinn, quote from To Sir Phillip, With Love


About the author

Julia Quinn
Born place: New York City, NY, The United States
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