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I do not scruple to employ mendacity and a fictitious appearance of female incompetence when the occasion demands it.

Barbara Mertz

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Barbara Mertz
Age: 85 †
Born: 1927
Born: September 29
Died: 2013
Died: August 8
Archaeologist
Author
Egyptologist
Novelist
Writer
Canton
Illinois
Elizabeth Peters
Barbara Michaels
Barbara Louise Mertz
Incompetence
Employ
Occasion
Demands
Occasions
Scruple
Appearance
Mendacity
Female
Fictitious
Demand
Scruples

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But the dust! And the clutter! My housewifely and scholarly instincts were equally offended.
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I can do a book in three months if I spend all day, seven days a week at it and, in fact, I work better that way.
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It's not unsporting to thrash a cowardly cad,' said Simmons. 'Everyone knows you don't fight like a gentleman.' 'That might be called an oxymoron,' Ramses said. 'Oh--sorry. Bad form to use long words. Look it up when you get home.' The poor devil didn't know how to fight, like a gentleman or otherwise.
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The opportunity to lecture had restored my good humor.
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stereotypes are awfully misleading. There are typical librarians, but not all librarians are typical.
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I would not be at all surprised to find that it was for gold that Cain committed the first murder. (It happened a very long time ago, and Holy Writ, though no doubt divinely inspired, is a trifle careless about details. God is not a historian).
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...Nefret said with a gusty sigh, 'Well, that's done it. We may as well join in, Ramses, family arguments are the favorite form of amusement here and this looks like being a loud one.
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Nefret had always had an uncanny ability to read his thoughts. 'Did she cry?' she asked sweetly. 'And then you kissed her? You shouldn't have done that. I'm sure you meant well, but kissing someone out of pity is always a mistake.
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Martyrdom is often the result of excessive gullibility.
Barbara Mertz
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When one is striding bravely into the future one cannot watch one's footing.
Barbara Mertz
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It is easier to counterfeit old age than youth.
Barbara Mertz
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If someone lies down and invites you to trample upon him, you are a remarkable individual if you decline the invitation.
Barbara Mertz
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That's maturity-when you realize that you've finally arrived at a state of ignorance as profound as your parents.
Barbara Mertz
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A fondness for martyrdom, especially of the verbal variety, is common to the young.
Barbara Mertz
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Humor is an excellent method of keeping a tight rein on unproductive displays of emotion.
Barbara Mertz
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Is is difficult to be angry with a gentleman who pays you compliments, even impertinent compliments. Especially impertinent compliments.
Barbara Mertz
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Reputations are shaped not by facts but by prejudices.
Barbara Mertz
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kissing someone out of pity is always a mistake.
Barbara Mertz
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Cats always pick the laps of the people who don't like them.
Barbara Mertz
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Getting an idea for a book is not the problem, but you need 300 ideas - an idea a page.
Barbara Mertz