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Exaggeration is the cheapest form of humor.

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
Cheapest
Exaggeration
Humor
Form

More quotes by Barbara Mertz

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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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stereotypes are awfully misleading. There are typical librarians, but not all librarians are typical.
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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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
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Cats always pick the laps of the people who don't like them.
Barbara Mertz
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a church ought to express the joy of religion as well as its majesty.
Barbara Mertz
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Superstition has its practical uses.
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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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
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I don't think she realized how much she cared for him, or he for her, until the end. Hasn't someone said a woman may be known by the men who love her enough to die for her? (If they haven't, I claim the credit myself.)
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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I would never have supposed that inexperienced girl was capable of such cold-blooded, calculating manipulation!
Barbara Mertz
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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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It is easier to counterfeit old age than youth.
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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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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Spring is always cruel, with its false promise of resurrection.
Barbara Mertz
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A lady cannot be blamed if a master criminal takes a fancy to her.
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
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