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Dorothy L. Sayers

Dorothy L. Sayers Quotes

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Famous Dorothy L. Sayers Quotes

“She suddenly saw Wimsey in a new light. She knew him to be intelligent, clean, courteous, wealthy, well-read, amusing and enamored, but he had not so far produced in her that crushing sense of inferiority which leads to prostration and hero-worship. But she now realized that there was, after all, something godlike about him. He could control a horse.”

WellsLightSawsHeroWorshipHorseIntelligentCleanCrushWealthyAmusingInferiorityCourteousGodlikeEnamoredHero WorshipProstration
Book:Have His Carcase
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“But suppose one doesn't quite know which one wants to put first. Suppose," said Harriet, falling back on words which were not her own, "suppose one is cursed with both a heart and a brain?" "You can usually tell," said Miss de Vine, "by seeing what kind of mistakes you make. I'm quite sure that one never makes fundamental mistakes about the thing one really wants to do. Fundamental mistakes arise out of lack of genuine interest. In my opinion, that is.”

KnowsWantFirstsHeartKindSaidFallInterestMistakeBrainOpinionSeeingMissingFundamentalsGenuineAriseCursedVines
Author:Dorothy L. Sayers
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“Wherever you find a great man, you will find a great mother or a great wife standing behind him -- or so they used to say. It would be interesting to know how many great women have had great fathers and husbands behind them.”

KnowsMenWould BeUsedMotherFatherInterestingBehindsKnow HowWifeGreatnessHusbandEmpowermentStandingFeministGreat MenWomen EmpowermentStereotypeEmpowered WomenGreat WomenGreat FatherGreat MotherGreat Wife
Book:Gaudy Night
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“The only ethical principle which has made science possible is that the truth shall be told all the time. If we do not penalize false statements made in error, we open up the way for false statements by intention. And a false statement of fact, made deliberately, is the most serious crime a scientist can commit.”

IfsWayMadeFactsPrinciplesCrimeSeriousIntegrityScientistErrorsIntentionStatementsCommitEthicalTreasonEthical Principles
Book:Gaudy Night
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“I think the most joyous thing in life is to loaf around and watch another bloke do a job of work. Look how popular are the men who dig up London with electric drills. Duke's son, cook's son, son of a hundred kings, people will stand there for hours on end, ear drums splitting. Why? Simply for the pleasure of being idle while watching other people work.”

PeopleThinkingMenLooksEndsJobsLife IsHoursPleasureWatchesSonKingsHundredEarsLondonCooksElectricThings In LifeIdleJoyousDukesDrillsSplittingBlokes
Author:Dorothy L. Sayers
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“Listen, Harriet. I do unterstand. I know you don't want either to give or to take ... You don't want ever again to have to depend for happiness on another person." "That's true. That's the truest thing you ever said." "All right. I can respect that. Only you've got to play the game. Don't force an emotional situation and then blame me for it." "But I don't want any situation. I want to be left in peace.”

KnowsWantGivingPersonsSaidI CanPlayGamesLeftForceSituationEmotionalDependsBlameTruestBlame Me
Author:Dorothy L. Sayers
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“Philip wasn't the sort of man to make a friend of a woman. He wanted devotion. I gave him that. I did, you know. But I couldn't stand being made a fool of. I couldn;t stand being put on probation, like an office-boy, to see if I was good enough to be condescended to. I quite thought he was honest when he said he didn't believe in marriage -- and then it turned out that it was a test, to see whether my devotion was abject enough. Well, it wasn't. I didn't like having matrimony offered as a bad-conduct prize.”

IfsKnowsMenBelieveWellsMadeSaidEnoughWantedBoysHonestFoolOfficeTestsDevotionPrizeGood EnoughMatrimonyDid You KnowPhilipProbation
Book:Strong Poison
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“It's disquieting to reflect that one's dreams never symbolize one's real wishes, but always something Much Worse... If I really wanted to be passionately embraced by Peter, I should dream of dentists or gardening. I wonder what unspeakable depths of awfulness can only be expressed by the polite symbol of Peter's embraces?”

IfsShouldRealDreamWantedWishWonderEmbraceDepthSymbolsPeterGardeningPoliteDentistUnspeakableAwfulnessLord Peter Wimsey
Author:Dorothy L. Sayers
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“You're thinking that people don't keep up old jealousies for twenty years or so. Perhaps not. Not just primitive, brute jealousy. That means a word and a blow. But the thing that rankles is hurt vanity. That sticks. Humiliation. And we've all got a sore spot we don't like to have touched.”

PeopleThinkingYearsMeanHurtEgoTwentiesSticksBlowSpotsVanityTouchedPrimitiveHumiliationBrutes
Book:The Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries: Whose Body?, Clouds of Witness, and Unnatural Death
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