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

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
Scrutiny
Clever
Particularly
Close
Learned
Stand
Ideas
Always

More quotes by Barbara Mertz

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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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Most men are reasonably useful in a crisis. The difficulty lies in convincing them that the situation has reached a critical point
Barbara Mertz
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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)
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Children, I feel, are as much entitled to privacy as human beings.
Barbara Mertz
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Superstition has its practical uses.
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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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.
Barbara Mertz
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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
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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
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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).
Barbara Mertz
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I would never have supposed that inexperienced girl was capable of such cold-blooded, calculating manipulation!
Barbara Mertz
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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
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I sometimes wonder what it would be like to be the respected patriarch of an ordinary English family. Very boring, Emerson.
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.
Barbara Mertz
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there is nothing like a garden to rest the soul.
Barbara Mertz
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..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
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It is easier to counterfeit old age than youth.
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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Many persons lead lives of crushing boredom.
Barbara Mertz
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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.
Barbara Mertz