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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
Unsuitable
Irish
Childhood
Writer
Happy
Going

More quotes by Maeve Binchy

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I never wanted to write. I just wrote letters home from a kibbutz in Israel to reassure my parents that I was still alive and well fed and having a great time. They thought these letters were brilliant and sent them to a newspaper. So I became a writer by accident.
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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The most important thing to realize is that everyone is capable of telling a story.
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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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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Of course I wanted children. Bright, gorgeous, loving children. I could almost see them.
Maeve Binchy
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I remember watching myself on video and being so disappointed with myself because I was constantly moving around the place and laughing. I thought, 'I must be so much louder than I think I am. From inside it feels fine.'
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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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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Because I saw my parents relaxing in armchairs and reading and liking it, I thought it was a peaceful grown-up thing to do, and I still think that.
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 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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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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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 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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I love thriller writers. My favourites are Harlan Coban, Lee Child, Ian Rankin, Kathy Reichs and Ed McBain.
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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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
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I'm getting better, happier, and nicer as I grow older, so I would be terrific in a couple of hundred years time.
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