Mavis Quotes

I am not interested in theories, she had taught herself to say, for fear of being invaded by something other than a dream.
But she was not certain what she meant and not sure that it was true. ~ Mavis Gallant

As she read over Eve's shoulder, Mavis let out a low whistle. "Not the Roarke! The incredibly wealthy, fabulous to look at, sexily mysterious Roarke who owns approximately twenty-eight percent of the world, and its satellites?"
All Eve felt was irritation. "He's the only one I know."
"You know him." Mavis rolled her green shadowed eyes. "Dallas, I've underestimated you unforgivably. Tell me everything. How, when, why? Did you sleep with him? Tell me you slept with him, then give me every tiny detail."
"We've had a secret, passionate affair for the last three years, during which time I bore him a son who's being raised on the far side of the moon by Buddhist monks. ~ J.D. Robb

When I come out of my dressing room, I go to my heart and say a little prayer and go out on stage. There I am, coming to lift you up and to motivate you. I want to bring joy. It's gospel, and gospel is the truth. It's what I do. I'm going to bring you the truth and lift up your spirit. ~ Mavis Staples

All lives are interesting; no one life is more interesting than another. Its fascination depends on how much is revealed, and in what manner. ~ Mavis Gallant

Marie, now Mme. Driscoll, turned to Berthe and smiled, as she used to when they were children. Once again, the smile said, Have I done the right thing? Is this what you wanted? Yes, yes, said Berthe silently, but she went on crying. ~ Mavis Gallant

I began to ration my writing, for fear I would dream through life as my father had done. I was afraid I had inherited a poisoned gene from him, a vocation without a gift. ~ Mavis Gallant

A writer's life stands in relation to his work as a house does to a garden, related but distinct. ~ Mavis Gallant

Converts have it soft," said Mary. "They come to it late, without ever having had the Devil under the bed. They sail in and admire the stained-glass windows. All the dirty work has been done. ~ Mavis Gallant

Emotions can either energise you or de-energise you ~ Mavis Mazhura

Pops always taught us that family is the strongest unit in the world. If you stick with your family, nobody can break you, nobody can harm you. You'll always have your family. ~ Mavis Staples

But Eve had already scented it, already - despite herself - begun to smile. "It's coffee," she murmured, unaware of the way her voice softened as she reached for the simple brown bag Mavis held. "Coffee." Illusions shattered, Mavis stared. "The man's got more money than God, and he sends you a bag of coffee?"
"Real coffee."
"Oh, well then." In disgust, Mavis waved a hand. "I don't care what the damn stuff costs a pound, Dallas. A woman wants glitter."
Eve brought the bag to her face and sniffed deep. "Not this woman. The son of a bitch knew just how to get to me." She sighed. "In more ways than one. ~ J.D. Robb

(Eve)"Hold on. You have to give them a gift for moving?"
"Uh-huh. Plus they're shacking, so it should be a couple thing." She (Mavis) ate another canape, fed on to Leonardo.
"Why does there have to be a gift for every damn thing?" Eve complained.
"Retail conspiracy." Roarke patter her knee.
"I bet it is," Eve said darkly. "I just bet it is. ~ J.D. Robb

(Mavis led Lorelei over to a shaded spot on the deck where a large pile of shirts, pants, and socks waited. From where she stood, it was a daunting task.)
How long have you been working on that? Just since the dawn of time, or eternally? (Lorelei) ~ Kinley MacGregor

I was not fortunate enough to run into Obama. We were at the same church per se, but I would never be there when he was there. ~ Mavis Staples

By one tomorrow, I'll look enough like her to pass. I'm calling Mavis."
"Oh." Peabody brightened. "Oh, that's iced."
"Easy for you to say. You won't have to listen to lectures from her and Trina on why I haven't had my eyebrows shaped lately, or why I haven't used the butt cream or whatever. And I'll probably have to agree to a full treatment after the op." This was said with undisguised bitterness. "I know how they work."
"You're a true soldier, sir, sacrificing yourself for the cause."
"Wipe that smile off your face, Officer."
"Wiping, sir. ~ J.D. Robb

I have often found that the best way to persuade anyone to do something they suspect is to explain that they really need not do it. ~ Mavis Doriel Hay

Son, you've got a lot to learn about love. You think it's all passion and excitement? That is only a small piece. Real love requires strength of character and courage. I'm not yet sure you have either. Go find your father. Bring him to Fort Mavis. Show me I'm wrong about you. Mason ~ Ruth Cardello

There are times when I swear that boy is as mature as an old man, and other times when he hasn't got the sense of a three-year-old babe. (Mavis)
Good Lord, Mavis. He is a grown man after all! (Alice) ~ Kinley MacGregor

If women who were free to speak did not speak, we might as well say to the entire world, 'No matter what you do to women, no one cares, just go right ahead.' ~ Mavis Leno

Emotions can get in the way or get you on the way ~ Mavis Mazhura

If you don't get out among the people, how are you going to know what they need to hear about? ~ Mavis Staples

When I was 7, I wanted to be a jockey. My father told me women weren't allowed. I couldn't believe it. I was perfectly willing to fail on my own merits, but to be flunked at birth? ~ Mavis Leno

It wasn't until I started to read short stories - by people like Alice Munro, Mavis Gallant, John Updike ... Eudora Welty - that I became excited about the possibilities of writing. ~ Carol Windley

There's still injustice happening in my world. I sing my songs at concerts and I'm so grateful that the people are ready to hear them. ~ Mavis Staples

I sang with my father for over 50 years, and now all of a sudden he's gone, and I just dropped out. ~ Mavis Staples

Might have to go to London," she murmured. "Huh. Wouldn't it be a kick in the head if I really did have to be out of the country hunting a criminal mastermind when Mavis goes into labor?"
"I, my ass. That goes to we or I'll hurt you ~ J.D. Robb

A woman can always get some practical use from a torn-up life ... She likes mending and patching it, making sure the edges are straight. She spreads the last shred out and takes its measure: 'What can I do with this remnant? How long does it need to last?
A man puts on his life ready-made. If it doesn't fit, he will try to exchange it for another. Only a fool of a man will try to adjust the sleeves or move the buttons; he doesn't know how. ~ Mavis Gallant

Like his father, like Jules Renard, he had been carried along the slow, steady swindle of history and experience. ~ Mavis Gallant

Decide what the rest of your life is to be. Whatever you are now, you might be forever. ~ Mavis Gallant

I started writing letters home to my mother, saying that I wanted to come home, grandma won't let me sing. ~ Mavis Staples

Comrade isn't simply a word. Comrades are about heart. It's the unconditional trust in your partners. Please, feel free to lean on me.... And I, too, will lean on you as well. ~ Mavis Vermillion

It happened that at the late age of twenty-seven I had run away from home. High time, you might say; but rebels can't always be choosers. ~ Mavis Gallant

Our emotions are the continuous waves and undercurrents that enable us to flow but in some instances, when hold on to them, suppress them or repress them, or express the destructively, they disrupt the flow ~ Mavis Mazhura

I don't know which way I'm going. My next CD might be country, might be Dylan, might be Mick Jagger. I don't know. I love a challenge. ~ Mavis Staples

In ninety seconds they were naked and he was nibbling at her ear while his hand rubbed her pubic mat; but a saboteur was at work at his brain. 'I love you,' he thought, and it was not untrue because he loved all women now, knowing partially what sex was really all about, but he couldn't bring himself to say it because it was not totally true, either, since he loved Mavis more, much more. 'I'm awfully fond of you,' he almost said, but the absurdity of it stopped him. Her hand cupped his cock and found it limp; her eyes opened and looked into his enquiringly. He kissed her lips quickly and moved his hand lower, inserting a ringer until he found the clitoris. But even when her breathing got deeper, he did not respond as usual, and her hand began massaging his cock more desperately. He slid down, kissing nipples and bellybutton on the way, and began licking her clitoris. As soon as she came, he cupped her buttocks, lifted her pelvis, got his tongue into her vagina and forced another quick orgasm, immediately lowering her slightly again and beginning a very gentle and slow return in spiral fashion back to the clitoris. But still he was flaccid.

'Stop,' Stella breathed. 'Let me do you, baby.'

George moved upward on the bed and hugged her. 'I love you,' he said, and suddenly it did not sound like a lie.

Stella giggled and kissed his mouth briefly. 'It takes a lot to get those words out of you, doesn't it?' she said bemusedly.

'Honesty is t ~ Robert Anton Wilson

It's a fucking pharmaceutical conspiracy, Eve. We've wiped out just about every known plague, disease, and infection. Oh, we come up with a new one every now and again, to give the researchers something to do. But none of these bright-eyed medical types, none of the medi-computers can figure out how to cure the common fucking cold. You know why?"
Even couldn't stop the smile. She waited patiently until Mavis finished another bout of explosive sneezing. "Why?"
"Because the pharmaceutical companies need to sell drugs. You know what a damn sinus tab costs? You can get anticancer injections cheaper. I swear it. ~ J.D. Robb

My purpose: to lift your spirit and to motivate you. ~ Mavis Staples

If I wasn't my age, I would turn a flip. I would do some cartwheels. That's how I feel. ~ Mavis Staples

I just had a wonderful life, and I couldn't ask for anything else. ~ Mavis Staples

I eye the karaoke machine in alarm.
Shit. I'm going to need a shot.
"Let's do Ssssummer Nightsssss! I jusssst love Greasssse!"
Scratch that … I'm going to need a shitload of alcohol before I even think about singing!
I turn to Mavis. "Give me everything you've got. If I'm going to sing a 'Grease' song, I'm not going to do it sober! ~ Joanne McClean

We enjoyed the fact that we were called to the folk festivals and we got to know Joan Baez, Dylan. We were singing strictly gospel, but then after we started hearing songs that they would sing, we saw that those songs were very fitting for us because they were singing the truth, and truth is gospel. ~ Mavis Staples

Even though Mavis was my secret friend, she is the only one I hope I see again. She's the only one I wonder about. I hope she wonders about me too. ~ Mindy Kaling

No one is as real to me as people in the novel. It grows like a living thing. When I realize they do not exist except in my mind I have a feeling of sadness, looking around for them, as if the half-empty cafe were a place I had once come to with friends who had all moved away. ~ Mavis Gallant

I can't just turn over and sing disco or rock. ~ Mavis Staples

As a devout Baptist, she believed it was a sin to pray for anything for yourself. You ought to pray only for strength to bear whatever the Lord saw fit to send you, she thought. I was never able to follow this advice, for although I would often feel a sense of uneasiness over the tone of my prayers, I was the kind of person who prayed frantically-Please, God, please, please, PLEASE let Ross MacVey like me better than Mavis. ~ Margaret Laurence

Today we learned the letter "v"! It's in all kinds of words! Like "very" and "value" and "waves"!" "That's great!" Mavis giggled. She hoped it would be a few more years before he stopped calling her "Mace. ~ Jennifer Carson

Pops, he was a singer's singer. I loved to hear my father sing. He just was so laid-back and cool. I always wished I could sing like Pops. ~ Mavis Staples

Presently Arnaud folded the paper napkin, in the same careful way he always folded a table napkin, and said I ought to follow Chantal's suggestion and get a job in teaching a nursery school. (So Maman had mentioned that to Mme. Pons, too) I should teach until I had enough working time behind me to claim a pension. It would be good for me in my old age to have an income of my own. Anything could happen. He could be killed in a train crash or called up for a war. My father could easily be ruined in a lawsuit and die covered with debts. There were advantages to teaching, such as long holidays and reduced train fares.
"How long would it take?" I said. "Before I could stop teaching and get my pension."
"Thirty-five years," said Arnaud. "I'll ask my mother. She had no training, either, but she taught private classes. All you need is a decent background and some recommendations. ~ Mavis Gallant

Writing is like a love affair: the beginning is the best part. ~ Mavis Gallant

My high-school a cappella teacher would embarrass me in front of the choir. 'Mavis, you're in the basement. Mavis, you're singing with the boys.' I said, 'Mr. Finch, my voice isn't soprano. I can't sing up there with the girls.' So I just got out of the choir. ~ Mavis Staples

What do you think of human intelligence?" asked Mavis Pellington lamely.
"Of whose intelligence in particular?" asked Tobermory coldly.
"Oh, well, mine for instance," said Mavis with a feeble laugh.
"You put me in an embarrassing position," said Tobermory, whose tone and attitude certainly did not suggest a shred of embarrassment. "When your inclusion in this house-party was suggested Sir Wilfrid protested that you were the most brainless woman of his acquaintance, and that there was a wide distinction between hospitality and the care of the feeble-minded. Lady Blemley replied that your lack of brain-power was the precise quality which had earned you your invitation, as you were the only person she could think of who might be idiotic enough to buy their old car. You know, the one they call 'The Envy of Sisyphus,' because it goes quite nicely up-hill if you push it. ~ Saki

A short story is what you see when you look out of the window. ~ Mavis Gallant

I won't wear rings and jewelry on the stage because I don't want you looking at my hands. I want you hearing what I'm saying. ~ Mavis Staples

I cook better than you," Nick corrected absently. "I think monkeys can probably be taught to cook better than you."
"I'd like to have a monkey that cooked for me," said Jamie. " I would pay him in bananas. His name would be Alphonse."
"I agree, that would be awesome." Mae said. "People would come for dinner just to see the monkey chef."
"You're raving," Nick said, defrosting chicken in the microwave. Mae was a bit impressed with how he seemed to look at the appliance and instantly comprehend its mysteries, when she'd been heating up ready-made meals for years by a method of pressing random buttons and hoping. " I know that's the only way Jamie communicates with people, but I expected better of you, Mavis."
"We're cutting out the whole Mavis thing right now, Nick," Mae said warningly.
"How many bananas would be good payment for a monkey?" Jamie wanted to know. " I would want to pay Alphonse a fair wage. ~ Sarah Rees Brennan

It was orbital, it was mag, it was beyond the ult. ~ J.D. Robb

I feel so good singing songs that I sang with my father. ~ Mavis Staples

One day, when I was about eight years old, some kids pushed me on stage at school during a talent show because they knew I could sing. ~ Mavis Staples

The late Mavis Gallant told the Paris Review that writing is like "a love affair: the beginning is the best part. I write every day. It is not a burden. It is the way I live. ~ Mavis Gallant

There is a great feeling in a small venue, with the closeness of the people and the intimacy. ~ Mavis Staples

Found myself in Zurich Airport. I'd done a TV show, oddly enough, with Mavis Staples. That's the way they do it in Switzerland. And I'd had a bit of a late night with members of her band. And I was - my flight was delayed. And I was sitting in the airport, and I just came up with the idea. And by the time, we landed at Heathrow, I'd pretty much sort of got it. ~ Nick Lowe

Finding love is a two-part process. The first part is to find the right person. The second part is to be the right person. ~ Mavis Leno

[My father] had spent his own short time like a priest in charge of a relic, forever expecting the blessed blood to liquefy. ~ Mavis Gallant

We've had a great change. Dr King saw to that. I was so grateful to see the 'colored only' signs come off the water fountains and bathrooms in the south. But the struggle lives on. ~ Mavis Staples

The devil ain't got no music. All music is God's music. ~ Mavis Staples

I don't know where to start. How to start. It's like trying to navigate a maze in the dark, and . . ." Then the cat sprawled weightily over her feet. And that was it, the start. "I miss home. Roarke had you bring the cat, because the cat's home. I never had anything, didn't want anything until that cat. I don't even know why I took him, exactly, but I made him mine."
She took a long, slow drink of wine. "I missed him. I miss Peabody and her smart mouth and steady ways. I miss Feeney and Mavis and my bullpen. Hell, it's so bad I even miss Summerset."
When Roarke made some sound, she turned narrowed eyes on him. "If you ever tell him I said that, I'll shave you bald in your sleep, dress you in frilly pink panties, and take a vid that I'll auction and sell for huge amounts of money."
"So noted," he said, and thought: There's Eve. There she is. ~ J.D. Robb

I wanted to live in Paris and write nothing but fiction and be perfectly free. I had decided all this had to be settled by the time I was thirty, and so I gave up my job and moved to Paris at twenty-eight. I just held my breath and jumped. I didn't even look to see if there was water in the pool. ~ Mavis Gallant

The best music of my life I heard at my grandmother's church, this little wooden church up on a hill. ~ Mavis Staples

The older I get the more grateful I am not to be told how everything comes out. ~ Mavis Gallant

You've got to take time for you, or your internal organs get all shriveled and your skin goes saggy. I read all about it. Anyway, Trina's got some outrageous new body paint."

"No. Absolutely. I don't do body paint."

Mavis rolled her eyes. "For me, Dallas. We know you. But I think you should give it a try one of these days. I bet Roarke would really go for the Gold-Dust. It does amazing things for the boobs. Makes them sparkle."

"I don't want sparkling boobs."

"It's flavored, too. Frangipani."

"Really?" Roarke blew out a stream of smoke. "I'm very fond of tropical flavors. ~ J.D. Robb

For some reason, I immediately thought about how my parents had always been especially fond of Mavis, and here was this moment when I understood exactly why: she was a good person. It felt so good to realize how smart my parents had been all along. ~ Mindy Kaling

The vicar's handshake was warm and reassuring, but shaking hands with Mavis was like clutching a bunch of dead twigs. ~ Victoria Twead

The kids today have these fresh faces. It's like they're on pins and needles, waiting to see what I'm going to do. They've never seen me. In the 1960s, those were hippies. They were wired up already. The kids today know me because I've worked with Jeff Tweedy and other young producers. ~ Mavis Staples

An appointment for what?" The singer caught his attention. He cocked a brow, watching her roll her eyes and gesture. "Unless she's having some sort of seizure, I believe the vocalist is signaling you."
Resigned, Eve glanced over, shook her head. "She's a friend of mine." She shook her head more emphatically when Mavis grinned and turned both thumbs up. "She thinks I got lucky. ~ J.D. Robb

It's been an amazing life. It's really just been the most magical thing for me - and I have these musical friends from all walks of life. ~ Mavis Staples

If someone creates a Nobel Prize for Unsung Hero, my nominee will be the divorced single mother ~ E. Mavis Hetherington

Appeals to memory were never perfectly answered. ~ Mavis Gallant

I was asked to sing with Mavis Staples on a gospel compilation called 'Oh Happy Day.' And, you know, other than being totally intimidated at the prospect of singing with Mavis, I was honored. I don't really have much of a background in gospel music. ~ Patty Griffin

What about your crepe?"
"Stuff It."
"She's crazy about you," Mavis commented.
"It's almost embarrassing, the way she fawns. ~ J.D. Robb

I have to pinch myself sometimes. It's unbelievable, but it's not. Because I know that this would not be happening if it hadn't been for Dr. Martin Luther King. ~ Mavis Staples

Some never participate. Life happens to them. They get by on little more than dumb persistence and resist with anger or violence all things that might lift them out of resentment-filled illusions of security.
-Alma Mavis Taraza ~ Frank Herbert

Nabokov, Heinrich von Kleist, Raymond Carver, Jane Bowles, James Baldwin, Alice Munro, Mavis Gallant - the list goes on and on. They are the teachers to whom I go, the authorities I consult, the models that still help to inspire me with the energy and courage it takes to sit down at a desk each day and resume the process of learning, anew, to write. ~ Francine Prose

Ah . . . listen. It's better for your case, and your fancy lawyers would back me up, if you and I aren't seen running around together. Primary investigator and defendant. It doesn't look good." "You mean I can't - " Mavis shut her mouth, regrouped. "All right then, we won't go running around together. Leonardo can work here. Roarke won't mind, will you?" "On the contrary." He took a satisfied drag on his cigarette. "I think it's a perfect solution." "One big happy family," Eve mumbled. "The primary, the defendant, and the tenant of the murder scene, who also happens to be the victim's former lover and the defendant's current. Are you all insane? ~ J.D. Robb

To preserve itself, male dominance is obliged to prize competition and central control and to turn away from making adjustments to the constantly shifting, personal needs or the problems that relate to women and their children. ~ Mavis Haut

She and Marie were Montreal girls, not trained to accompany heroes, or to hold out for dreams, but just to be patient. ~ Mavis Gallant

I would get in fights a lot. My voice was so heavy, kids would say you sound like a boy, so I would start beating them up. ~ Mavis Staples

My mother has lived every day of her life as if it were preparation for some kind of crisis. ~ Mavis Gallant

Like every other form of art, literature is no more and nothing less than a matter of life and death. The only question worth asking about a story - or a poem, or a piece of sculpture, or a new concert hall - is, Is it dead or alive? ~ Mavis Gallant

My uncle was 16, in junior high, and he heard me singing and snatched me off the stage. I thought he was happy and was going to pat me on the head and say I was good. But he took me home and told my grandmother this youngin' was at school singing the blues. ~ Mavis Staples

A man of the mouth, formerly the most oral of surgeons, Henry had the habit of giving his lady patients laughing gas, putting them out, then fiercely fucking them, while tugging on their wisdom teeth. His getting caught was a slip of the tongue, so to speak. While he was buried deep in a muff, some sharp thing slipped, and his prize patient, Mrs Mavis Gilette, woke to find a harpoon hole in her cheek and her lost licker languishing on the floor. ~ A.M. Homes

I'm old enough to be Obama's grandmom. But I still like seeing good-looking things. Nothing wrong with that. ~ Mavis Staples