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I don't have ugly ducklings turning into swans in my stories. I have ugly ducklings turning into confident ducks.

Maeve Binchy

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Maeve Binchy
Age: 73 †
Born: 1939
Born: May 29
Died: 2012
Died: July 30
Journalist
Novelist
Playwright
School Teacher
Screenwriter
Short Story Writer
Writer
Maeve Binchy Snell
Stories
Writing
Ducklings
Swans
Ducks
Confident
Turning
Ugly

More quotes by Maeve Binchy

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I had a very happy childhood, which is unsuitable if you're going to be an Irish writer.
Maeve Binchy
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I was the big, bossy older sister, full of enthusiasms, mad fantasies, desperate urges to be famous, and anxious to be a saint - a settled sort of saint, not one who might have to suffer or die for her faith.
Maeve Binchy
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My brother married young, and his is the best marriage I know.
Maeve Binchy
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I believed that old people never laughed. I thought they sighed a lot and groaned. They walked with sticks, and they didn't like children on bicycles or roller skates or with big dogs.
Maeve Binchy
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I am not a member of Fat Liberation, nor do I think that obesity is healthy. But I do believe that in many ways my life has been a more charmed and happy one because I was always large.
Maeve Binchy
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On the first day of school, my father told me I'd be the most popular girl and everyone would love me and want to be my friend. It wasn't so, but it gave me an enormous amount of confidence.
Maeve Binchy
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The great thing about getting older is that you become more mellow. Things aren't as black and white, and you become much more tolerant. You can see the good in things much more easily rather than getting enraged as you used to do when you were young.
Maeve Binchy
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I have an irregular heartbeat, so that means a fair amount of medication - and I have blood pressure pills, too, but no vitamins or supplements.
Maeve Binchy
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The whole art of life is knowing the right time to say things.
Maeve Binchy
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When I was younger, I avoided exercise or anything strenuous. I didn't even enjoy walking. As I got older, I spent so much time marking books or sitting at a desk writing that there was no room for exercise - not that I would have bothered anyway.
Maeve Binchy
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I've been very lucky and I have a happy old age with good family and friends still around.
Maeve Binchy
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You can't lay down laws for what people think and hope.
Maeve Binchy
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I'm particularly fond of boned chicken breasts with a little garlic under the flesh and cooked in a casserole for 40 minutes with a jar of olives, some cherry tomatoes and a spoonful of olive oil.
Maeve Binchy
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Happiness is in our own hearts. I have no regrets of anything in the past. I'm totally cheerful and happy, and I think that a lot of your attitude is not in the circumstances you find yourself in, but in the circumstances you make for yourself.
Maeve Binchy
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When my sister Joan arrived, I asked if I could swap her for a rabbit. When I think what a marvellous friend she's been, I'm so glad my parents didn't take me at my word.
Maeve Binchy
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If you don't go to a dance you can never be rejected but you'll never get to dance either.
Maeve Binchy
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If you write what you know about, you will always be on safe ground. I am very edgy and nervous about going into territories I know nothing about. That's why you don't find much high finance, group sex, or yachting parties in my stories.
Maeve Binchy
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I have been lucky enough to travel a lot, meet great people in many lands. I have liked almost everyone I met along the way.
Maeve Binchy
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Women who start out as ugly ducklings don't become beautiful swans. What they mainly become is confident ducks. They take charge of their lives.
Maeve Binchy
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I thought it must be desperate to be old. To wake up in the morning and remember that you were ancient - and so behave that way. I thought old people were full of aches and pains and horrible illnesses.
Maeve Binchy