Well,' said Mrs Smiling, 'it sounds an appalling place, but in a different way from all the others. I mean, it does sound interesting and appalling, while the others just sound appalling.

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.

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

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?

So Nikki came aboard as Jaqueline's spare cat, presumably in case our prime cat, Eliza, goes on vacation, takes industrial action, or requests a personal day.

Drop Pants, Not Bombs. Break Dance, Not Hearts. Draft Beer, Not People. Make LOVE, Not WAR.

Give me a child and I'll shape him into anything.

A thing that nobody believes cannot be proved too often.

Then clear on a flute of purest gold A sweet little fairy played. And wonderful fairy tales she told and marvelous music made.

Were it not for shadows, there would be no beauty.

We remind ourselves that it's a hobby [The Esemblist]; nobody is setting these deadlines for us, except us.

Adde, quod ingénues didicisse fideliter artes Emollit mores, nec sinit esse fervos. To be instructed in the arts, softens the manners and makes men gentle.

Don't just talk about it, do it.

There's times when I just have to quit thinking... and the only way I can quit thinking is by shopping.