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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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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
Irish
Childhood
Writer
Happy
Going
Unsuitable

More quotes by Maeve Binchy

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I'm a great will maker. I've made my will every year since I was 21.
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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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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The biggest influence on my books was the fact that I had worked in a newspaper for so long. In a daily paper, you learn to write very quickly there is no time to sit and brood about what you are going to say.
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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In my stories, whenever there's somebody wonderful and charming and bright and intelligent, that's me!
Maeve Binchy
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You're much more believable if you talk in your own voice.
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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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 try to make my characters kind of ordinary, somebody that anybody could be. Because we've all had loves, perhaps love and loss, people can relate to my characters.
Maeve Binchy
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The most important thing to realize is that everyone is capable of telling a story.
Maeve Binchy
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I have been luckier than anyone I know or even heard of. I had a very happy childhood, a good education, I enjoyed working as a teacher, journalist and author. I have loved a wonderful man for over 33 years, and I believe he loves me, too.
Maeve Binchy
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I think I'm brave because I've made decisions based - I hope not entirely selfishly - on what I think is right for me to do next.
Maeve Binchy
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I have no idea whether what I write will be of the remotest interest to anyone else. Some mornings when I read what I wrote the previous day I think it's fairly entertaining other times I think it's pure rubbish. The main thing is not to take any notice, not to be elated or upset, just keep going.
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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If I had my life to live all over again, I really think I would have been a fit person. Looking around me, I realise that the men and women who walked and ran and swam and played sport look better and feel better than the rest of us.
Maeve Binchy
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Of course, I should have done what doctors said and walked for miles every day and not eaten great amounts of butter. But then, life is life, and if we all did what they said we should do, it would be a different world.
Maeve Binchy
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I do try to live every day as if it were my last, and it has worked for me so far.
Maeve Binchy
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I think you've got to play the hand that you're dealt and stop wishing for another hand.
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