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Reputations are shaped not by facts but by prejudices.

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
Shaped
Reputation
Prejudice
Facts
Reputations
Prejudices

More quotes by 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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Martyrdom is often the result of excessive gullibility.
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 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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When one is striding bravely into the future one cannot watch one's footing.
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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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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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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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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kissing someone out of pity is always a mistake.
Barbara Mertz
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Nothing looks as self-satisfied as a contented cat.
Barbara Mertz
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Exaggeration is the cheapest form of humor.
Barbara Mertz
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The approval of a cat cannot but flatter the recipient.
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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It is easier to counterfeit old age than youth.
Barbara Mertz
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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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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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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
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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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Humor is an excellent method of keeping a tight rein on unproductive displays of emotion.
Barbara Mertz