Quote

I have learned that particularly clever ideas do not always stand up under close scrutiny.

Barbara Mertz

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

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
Close
Learned
Stand
Ideas
Always
Scrutiny
Clever
Particularly

More quotes by Barbara Mertz

Image
But the dust! And the clutter! My housewifely and scholarly instincts were equally offended.
Barbara Mertz
Image
I do not scruple to employ mendacity and a fictitious appearance of female incompetence when the occasion demands it.
Barbara Mertz
Image
It is easier to counterfeit old age than youth.
Barbara Mertz
Image
I sometimes wonder what it would be like to be the respected patriarch of an ordinary English family. Very boring, Emerson.
Barbara Mertz
Image
..he continues to cling to the forlorn hope that I will turn into one of those swooning females...and fling myself squeeling at him whenever anything happens. Like all men, he clings to his illusions.
Barbara Mertz
Image
Dogs can be made to feel guilty about anything, including the sins of their owners. Cats refuse to take the blame for anything - including their own sins.
Barbara Mertz
Image
The approval of a cat cannot but flatter the recipient.
Barbara Mertz
Image
I disapprove of matrimony as a matter of principle.... Why should any independent, intelligent female choose to subject herself to the whims and tyrannies of a husband? I assure you, I have yet to meet a man as sensible as myself! (Amelia Peabody)
Barbara Mertz
Image
A fondness for martyrdom, especially of the verbal variety, is common to the young.
Barbara Mertz
Image
The only people who are not in awe of Emerson's powerful voice and well-nigh superhuman strength are the members of his own family. He is aware of this, and often complains about it so from time to time I like to put on a little show of being intimidated. 'Proceed, my dear,' I said apologetically.
Barbara Mertz
Image
In the silence I heard Bastet, who had retreated under the bed, carrying on a mumbling, profane monologue. (If you ask how I knew it was profane, I presume you have never owned a cat.)
Barbara Mertz
Image
Sometimes the characters develop almost without your knowing it. You find them doing things you hadn't planned on, and then I have to go back to page 42 and fix things. I'm not recommending it as a way to write. It's very sloppy, but it works for me.
Barbara Mertz
Image
The only way to do it is to do it: by writing, writing, writing.
Barbara Mertz
Image
Loving someone condemns you to a lifetime of fear. You become painfully conscious of how fragile people are - bundles of brittle bones and vulnerable flesh, breeding grounds for billions of deadly germs and horrible diseases.
Barbara Mertz
Image
The opportunity to lecture had restored my good humor.
Barbara Mertz
Image
You are softening toward the young rascal because he is ill, and because he says he likes cats. It is an engaging quality, Emerson. That depends, said Emerson darkly, on how he likes them.
Barbara Mertz
Image
Humor is an excellent method of keeping a tight rein on unproductive displays of emotion.
Barbara Mertz
Image
Exaggeration is the cheapest form of humor.
Barbara Mertz
Image
I would never have supposed that inexperienced girl was capable of such cold-blooded, calculating manipulation!
Barbara Mertz
Image
I knew the answer, and--of course--so did Ramses. He has superb breath control and always gets in ahead of me.
Barbara Mertz