Nature is all very well in her place, but she must not be allowed to make things untidy.

I saw something nasty in the woodshed.

There have always been Starkadders at Cold Comfort Farm

She liked Victorian novels. They were the only kind of novel you could read while eating an apple.

The life of a journalist is poor, nasty, brutish, and short. So is his style

He was, she reflected, almost rudely like a tortoise; and she was glad her friend kept none as pets or they might have suspected mockery.

Happiness can never hope to command so much interest as distress.

I do not object to the phenomena, but I do object to the parrot.

That would be delightful,' agreed Flora, thinking how nasty and boring it would be.

Surely she had endured enough for one evening without having to listen to intelligent conversation?

Like all really strong-minded women, on whom everybody flops, she adored being bossed about. It was so restful.

At least it would have been perfect, if it wasn't for my mother.

What is a bore? Maxwell definition: a vacuum cleaner of society, sucking up everything and giving nothing. How do you spot one? Bores are always anxious to be seen talking to you.

I just think some women aren't made to be mothers. And some women aren't made to be daughters.

If you had a dime for every excuse you made, I wouldn't have to be here right now.

I've enjoyed the pleasures of working since I was 12 and earned all my own spending money since I was 14.

It's a scientific fact that gratitude reciprocates.

This thing in society that you have to be a stick will always be in my mind, but that's just something I have to deal with.

Every season is a journey. Every journey is a lifetime.

Avoid all mystery. There is no mystery in religion.

And I simply decided to be happy again.