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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
Occasions
Scruple
Appearance
Mendacity
Female
Fictitious
Scruples
Demand
Incompetence
Employ
Occasion
Demands

More quotes by Barbara Mertz

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I knew the answer, and--of course--so did Ramses. He has superb breath control and always gets in ahead of me.
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If you take a man by surprise, and behave with sufficient arrogance, he will generally do what you ask. -Emerson
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Children, I feel, are as much entitled to privacy as human beings.
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Noble causes have a deplorable effect on the morals of the persons who espouse them.
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A fondness for martyrdom, especially of the verbal variety, is common to the young.
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Emerson,' I said, choosing my words with care, 'it is a sheer drop from the cleft down to the base of the cliff. If you are bent on breaking your arm or your leg or your neck or all three, find a place closer to home so we won't have to carry you such a distance.
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stereotypes are awfully misleading. There are typical librarians, but not all librarians are typical.
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Your trousers are on fire. I would have told you, but you so dislike advice.
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I have learned that particularly clever ideas do not always stand up under close scrutiny.
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But the dust! And the clutter! My housewifely and scholarly instincts were equally offended.
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Cats always made up to the people who hated them the most. Depending on how you chose to look at it, it was a touching manifestation of trust, or a malicious pleasure in human discomfort.
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Nothing looks as self-satisfied as a contented cat.
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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.
Barbara Mertz
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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.
Barbara Mertz
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If all else fails, we will simply have to drug our attendants, overpower the guards, raise the oppressed peasants to arms, and take over the government.
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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The only way to do it is to do it: by writing, writing, writing.
Barbara Mertz
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Spring is always cruel, with its false promise of resurrection.
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