Elizabeth Peters Quotes

I will tell you a little secret about archaeologists, dear Reader. They all pretend t be very high-minded. They claim that their sole aim in excavation is to uncover the mysteries of the past and add to the store of human knowledge. They lie. What they really want is a spectacular discovery, so they can get their names in the newspapers and inspire envy and hatred in the hearts of their rivals.

Either the War Office had recruited Ramses - in which case I would have General Spencer's head on a platter - or Ramses had come across something that, in his opinion, merited investigation ... I am never guilty of idle speculation, so I kept an open mind on that. Except that once I caught up with him, I would have Ramses' head on another platter.

Reputable scholars might have denied its authenticity, but there are always other scholars who disagree
and people will believe what they want to believe, never mind the evidence. If there is anything life has taught me, it is that there is no idea so absurd that someone will not accept it as truth, and no action so bizarre that it will not be justified in the eyes of a true believer.

Nefret said with a gusty sigh, 'Well, that's done it. We may as well join in, Ramses, family arguments are the favorite form of amusement here and this looks like being a loud one.

A lady cannot be blamed if a master criminal takes a fancy to her.

I disapprove of matrimony as a matter of principle ... Why should any independent, intelligent female choose to subject herself to the whims and tyrannies of a husband? I assure you, I have yet to meet a man as sensible as myself! (Amelia Peabody)

Eavesdropping, Mother?' Ramses inquired.
'It is a shameful habit, but cursed useful,' I said, quoting something he had once said, and was rewarded by one of his rare and rather engaging smiles.

You know how your eyes can deceive you at times
how a group of shapes and shadows can take on a certain form and then shift into another? It wasn't really like that; there was no physical change in him, he was exactly the same as he'd always been. I knew every line of his long body and every curl on his disheveled black head. I'd just never seen him before. you know what I'm trying to say, don't you? The change is in the heart.

The trouble with unknown enemies is that they are so difficult to identify.

As Ramses did the same for his mother, he saw that her eyes were fixed on him. She had been unusually silent. She had not needed his father's tactless comment to understand the full implications of Farouk's death. As he met her unblinking gaze he was reminded of one of Nefret's more vivid descriptions. 'When she's angry, her eyes look like polished steel balls.' That's done it, he thought. She's made up her mind to get David and me out of this if she has to take on every German and Turkish agent in the Middle East.

The approval of a cat cannot but flatter the recipient.

There is no creature better at delicate rudeness than a cat...

I would never have supposed that inexperienced girl was capable of such cold-blooded, calculating manipulation!

Bless the ladies and their charming inconsistency! They demand to be treated like men, but they react like women.

I myself have no objection to comfort so long as it does not interfere with more important activities.

Marriage, in my view, should be a balanced stalemate between equal adversaries.

for, failing to capture the attention of a waiter, I hooked one of them by the arm and ordered a whiskey and soda. The buzz of conversation,

The combination of physical strength and moral sincerity combined with tenderness of heart is exactly what is wanted in a husband.
Ameila Peabody

When, oh when will justice and reason prevail, and Woman descend from the pedestal on which Man has placed her (in order to prevent her from doing anything except standing perfectly still) and take her rightful place beside him?

Americans have many admirable characteristics, but literary taste is rare among them.

I couldn't help overhearing," he went on. "Grrr," said Emerson. (I assure you, there is really no other way of reproducing this sound.) "Honestly.

Men are frail creatures, of course; one does not expect them to exhibit the steadfastness of women.

Cats are not susceptible to the sort of persuasion one uses on human beings.

Emerson abandoned irony for blunt and passionate speech.
'This war has been a monumental blunder from the start! Britain is not solely responsible, but by God, gentlemen, she must share the blame, and she will pay a heavy price: the best of her young men, future scholars and scientists and statesmen, and ordinary, decent men who might have led ordinary, decent lives. And how will it end, when you tire of your game of soldiers? A few boundaries redrawn, a few transitory political advantages, in exchange for an entire continent laid waste and a million graves! What I do may be of minor importance in the total accumulation of knowledge, but at least I don't have blood on my hands.

Why should any independent, intelligent female choose to subject herself to the whims and tyrannies of a husband? I assure you, I have yet to meet a man as sensible as myself!

I was beginning to fear that you had turned into one of those boring females who can only say 'Yes, my dear' ... You know very well, Peabody, that our little discussions are the spice of life
'The pepper in the soup of marriage'
Very aptly put, Peabody. If you become meek and acquiescent, I will put an advertisement in the Times telling Sethos to drop by and collect you. Promise me you will never stop scolding ...

I felt obligated by friendship as well as duty to make certain they were comfortably housed. Since men seem to measure comfort by the degree of dirt and confusion that prevails, I deduced that they were very comfortable.

Have I mentioned to you, Peabody, that one of the reasons I adore you is that you are more inclined to beat people with your umbrella than fall weeping on your bed?

The secret of happiness is to enjoy the moment, without allowing unhappy memories or fear of the future to shadow the shining present.

I was not certain what social rules applied to the delayed discovery of one's wife's mummified body,

I believe you would square off at Satan if he came around and inconvenienced you!

I shudder to think what unimaginable horror can have reduced him to such straights.'

'No, you don't,' said Emerson. 'You revel in unimaginable horrors.

My feelings are a fact, not a personal delusion. They are valid for me. What business have you got trying to tell me how I ought to feel?

Another dead body. Every year it is the same. Every year, another dead body ...

Is is difficult to be angry with a gentleman who pays you compliments, even impertinent compliments. Especially impertinent compliments.

I had had my night of weeping ... I had purged myself of useless emotions that terrible night, now every nerve every sinew, every thought was bent on a single purpose

The roar of an angry crowd is one of the most terrifying sounds in the world.

God help the poor mummy who encounters you, Peabody," he said bitterly. "We ought to supply it with a pistol, to even the odds.

I hope I number patience among my virtues, but shilly-shallying, when nothing is to be gained by delay, is not a virtue.

E continues to cling to the forlorn hope that I will turn into one of those swooning females ... and fling myself squeeling at him whenever anything happens. Like all men, he clings to his illusions.

I love you, he said flatly. I
love
you. Shall I elaborate? I have loved you. I do love you. I will love you. I didn't want to love you. I tried not to love you. I will undoubtably regret loving you, but
God help me
I love you
so much.

The sun is born again from the womb of night," he said. "See how the light spreads, remaking the world.

Semaphored warning as well as I could. He took the hint.

Selim, you will speak with your kin and your friends in Gurneh; perhaps some of them will respond to direct threats--questions, I mean to say.

The cat Horus shot out from under the table and headed for the door, his ears flattened and his tail straight out. There he encountered Abdullah, who had been waiting for us on the verandah and who had, I supposed, been alarmed by Emerson's shouts and hurried to discover what disaster had prompted them. The cat got entangled in Abdullah's skirts and a brief interval of staggering (by Abdullah), scratching (by Horus) and swearing (by both parties) ensued before Horus freed himself and departed.

Nefret had always had an uncanny ability to read his thoughts. 'Did she cry?' she asked sweetly. 'And then you kissed her? You shouldn't have done that. I'm sure you meant well, but kissing someone out of pity is always a mistake.

Goodness, what a nasty suspicious mind the boy has, I thought. He must have got it from me.

...the giving of tea parties is by no means my favorite amusement. In fact, I would prefer to be pursued across the desert by a band of savage Dervishes brandishing spears and howling for my blood. I would rather be chased up a tree by a mad dog, or face a mummy risen from its grave. I would rather be threatened by knives, pistols, poisonous snakes, and the curse of a long-dead king....

That was Evelyn's weakness. She was too kind, and too truthful. Both, I have found, are inconvenient character traits.

Fists and rocks and clubs can do a limited amount of harm, but a gun is entirely different. It makes a weak man feel like a hero and a strong man feel as if he is immortal, and it removes the last inhibition a killer might feel. You don't have to be close to a man to put a bullet in him. You don't have to have to see his face.

Most men are reasonably useful in a crisis. The difficulty lies in convincing them that the situation has reached a critical point

The man had no more romance in his soul than a codfish

There are occasions upon which a candid expression of opinion may be not only rude, but counterproductive. L

Bah,' said Emerson. 'It relieved my feelings, but it had not the

If she hasn't learned to appreciate my sterling character and spectacular good looks by this time, it's not likely she will.

I felt about him as I might feel about a friendly, dimwitted dog that had decided to move in with us. He could not be cast out into the street, but he was shedding all over the furniture.

I am not at all alarmed," I said calmly. "Except for your friend's health. He seems about to have a fit. Is he commonly subject to weakness of the brain?" The

He hesitated for a moment. Then he said softly, 'I love you, Mother.' He took my hand and kissed it, and folded my fingers round the stem of the rose. He had stripped it of its thorns.
I was too moved to speak. But maternal affection was not the only emotion that prevented utterance; as I watched him walk away, his head high and his step firm, anger boiled within me. I knew I had to conquer it before I saw Nefret again, or I would take her by the shoulders and shake her, and demand that she love my son!

He managed to create an atmosphere of sticky sentimentality that disgusted me.

Since I am not as stupid as my children believe I am, I had immediately realized this might be a ruse, but I was not at all averse to a confrontation. In fact, I had been hoping for some such thing.

Burckhardt fumbled through his notes. "Dakin and

Stokes is running a little late this morning, ma'am. Like, an emergency, you know. Being a woman of moderate expectations, Jacqueline accepted the stumbling

Our adventures were often more enjoyable in retrospect than in actuality, but if I must choose between danger and boredom I will always choose the former.

Peculiar or not, it is my idea of pleasure. Why, why else do you lead this life you don't enjoy it? Don't talk of duty to me; you men always have some high-sounding excuse for indulging yourselves. You go gallivanting over the earth, climbing mountains, looking for the sources of the Nile; and expect women to sit dully at home embroidering. I embroider very badly. I think I would excavate rather well.

There is nothing more abominable than being in a state of bodily exhaustion and mental irritation; I was too lethargic to get up and seek some means of occupying my mind, but I was too uneasy to fall asleep.

In the gloomy corridor of that sepulchre I had felt Emerson's arms about me for the first time; along the rubble-strewn floor of the wadi we had raced by moonlight to save those we loved from a hideous death. Every foot of the way was familiar to me, and the spot was as fraught with romance as a garden of roses might be to one who had led a more boring life.

Prejudice of one sort or another seems to be a universal human weakness. Few individuals are completely free of it, including the ones who pride themselves on being open-minded.'
'The Professor isn't like that.'
'Father despises people quite impartially and without prejudice,' Ramses said.

I always carry the book of Holy Writ ... and something to read ...

For some reason his parents had a low opinion of his common sense.

That must be why some people like dogs; they can be made to feel guilty about anything, including the sins of their owners. Cats refuse to take the blame for anything - including their own sins.

We should call it a draw. You tried to shoot me, I tried to poison you. As I said before Peabody, we are well matched.

Moon dipped low over the dark outlines of the mountains, and the sable sky blazed with stars. There

We all know how ruthlessly these American millionaires crush their rivals as they climb to power.

Bucolic peace is not my ambience,

I do not scruple to employ mendacity and a fictitious appearance of female incompetence when the occasion demands it.

Stop," he ordered, in a low but compelling voice. "Do not take another step, or I fire! Dash it," he added vexedly, "does the monstrosity understand English? How absurd this is!"

"It understands the gesture, at least," I called, thrusting head and shoulders through the window. "Lucas, for pity's sake, seize it! Don't stand there deriding its linguistic inadequacies!

Emerson, do you mean it?' 'It is only your due, my dear Peabody. Spite and selfishness alone kept me from beginning on them long ago. You deserve pyramids, and pyramids you will have!

Twilight crept along the ground like a woman trailing long gray veils.

A man is at a decided disadvantage when he receives irate brothers and indignant lovers wrapped in a sheet.

Why were moral questions so often cloudy, no clear-cut right and wrong?

Emerson, we are going to have a hard time solving this case if we hope to do it by using you as bait. There are too many people in Egypt who would like to kill you.

But the dust! And the clutter! My housewifely and scholarly instincts were equally offended.

I have learned that particularly clever ideas do not always stand up under close scrutiny.

Men like to create unnecessary organizations and give them impressive or mysterious names; this usually ends in increased confusion, and should therefore be ignored.

The way to get on with a cat is to treat it as an equal - or even better, as the superior it knows itself to be.

Men are so easy to manipulate, poor things.

I may say, without undue egotism, that when I make up my mind to do something, it is done quickly.

The cat required far less attendance than a human child, which is one of the reasons why spinster ladies prefer felines to babies.

The only people who are not in awe of Emerson's powerful voice and well-nigh superhuman strength are the members of his own family. He is aware of this, and often complains about it; so from time to time I like to put on a little show of being intimidated. 'Proceed, my dear,' I said apologetically.

As for my clothes, they suit the life I lead. The current fashions are impractical for an active person. Skirts so tight one must toddle like an infant, bodices boned so firmly it is impossible to draw a deep breath ... And bustles! Of all the idiotic contrivances foisted upon helpless womankind, the bustle is certainly the worst. I wear them, since it is impossible to have a gown made without them, but at least I can insist on sensible dark fabrics and a minimum of ornament. What a fool I should look in puffs and frills and crimson satin - or a gown trimmed with dead birds, like one I saw!

Love has a most unfortunate effect on the brain,

love has a very dulling effect on the brain

To see Ramses, at fourteen months, wrinkling his brows over a sentence like 'The theology of the Egyptians was a compound of fetishism, totem-ism and syncretism' was a sight as terrifying as it was comical. Even more terrifying was the occasional thoughtful nod the child would give.
...the room was dark except for one lamp, by whose light Emerson was reading. Ramses, in his crib, contemplated the ceiling with rapt attention. It made a pretty little family scene, until one heard what was being said. '...the anatomical details of the wounds, which included a large gash in the frontal bone, a broken malar bone and orbit, and a spear thrust which smashed off the mastoid process and struck the atlas vertebra, allow us to reconstruct the death scene of the king.' ... From the small figure in the cot came a reflective voice. 'It appeaws to me that he was muwduwed.'...' a domestic cwime.'...'One of the ladies of the hawem did it, I think.' I seized Emerson by the arm and pushed him toward the door, before he could pursue this interesting suggestion.

Why is a man with a knife after your blood? Who sent him? I would like to write the fellow a letter of thanks!

Are we all agreed? Excellent. Then Peabody had better retire to her bed; she is clearly in need of recuperative sleep, she has not made a sarcastic remark for fully ten minutes.

She is,' said Ramses judicially, 'a bloodthirsty little creature. Rather like a kitten - soft and purring and conscienceless and cruel.

I do wish you would not be so precipitate; just look at you, you are bleeding all over the antiquities.

No woman really wants a man to carry her off; she only wants him to want to do it.

We are only demonstrating the qualities for which our superior caste is famous,' Ramses drawled. 'British phlegm, noblesse oblige, coolness under fire... What have I left out?'
'Don't be hateful,' Nefret snapped.
'That's the part I left out,' said Ramses. 'Hatefulness.

In the silence I heard Bastet, who had retreated under the bed, carrying on a mumbling, profane monologue. (If you ask how I knew it was profane, I presume you have never owned a cat.)