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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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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
Excellent
Keeping
Method
Rein
Humor
Displays
Emotion
Unproductive
Reins
Tight
Display

More quotes by Barbara Mertz

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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.
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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But the dust! And the clutter! My housewifely and scholarly instincts were equally offended.
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
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Noble causes have a deplorable effect on the morals of the persons who espouse them.
Barbara Mertz
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Spring is always cruel, with its false promise of resurrection.
Barbara Mertz
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Nothing looks as self-satisfied as a contented cat.
Barbara Mertz
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there is nothing like a garden to rest the soul.
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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The combination of physical strength and moral sincerity combined with tenderness of heart is exactly what is wanted in a husband.--Ameila Peabody
Barbara Mertz
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Martyrdom is often the result of excessive gullibility.
Barbara Mertz
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love has a very dulling effect on the brain
Barbara Mertz
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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
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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)
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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Many persons lead lives of crushing boredom.
Barbara Mertz
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Now, Mama, Papa, and sir, said Ramses, please withdraw to the farthest corner and crouch down with your backs turned. It is as I feared we will never break through by this method. The walls are eight feet thick. Fortunately I brought along a little nitroglycerin-- Oh, good Gad, shrieked Inspector Cuff.
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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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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The approval of a cat cannot but flatter the recipient.
Barbara Mertz