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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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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
Lifetime
Vulnerability
Condemns
Disease
Fragile
Bundles
Conscious
Billions
Painfully
Fear
Vulnerable
Germs
Someone
Bones
Grounds
Become
Horrible
Breeding
People
Flesh
Diseases
Loving
Deadly
Brittle

More quotes by Barbara Mertz

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Noble causes have a deplorable effect on the morals of the persons who espouse them.
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Humor is an excellent method of keeping a tight rein on unproductive displays of emotion.
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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.)
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The opportunity to lecture had restored my good humor.
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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.
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But the dust! And the clutter! My housewifely and scholarly instincts were equally offended.
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The only way to do it is to do it: by writing, writing, writing.
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Nothing looks as self-satisfied as a contented cat.
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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.)
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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.
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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.
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kissing someone out of pity is always a mistake.
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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Giving other people advice is one of the most irritating and useless activities known to man.
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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love has a very dulling effect on the brain
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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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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A fondness for martyrdom, especially of the verbal variety, is common to the young.
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