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Quote by Barbara Pym

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Less than angels

This book delves into the lives of individuals grappling with their inner struggles and the challenges of their society, offering a rich tapestry of human emotions and ethical considerations. more

Author

Barbara Pym
Barbara Pym

Barbara Pym was an English novelist known for her wit, humor, and delicate psychological portraits. Her works often focus on the lives of the middle class and are celebrated for their unique perspective and profound insight into everyday life. more

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“Luck ever attends the bold and constructive thinker: the apple, for instance, fell from the tree precisely when Newton's mind was groping after the law of gravity, and as Diva stepped into her grocer's to begin her morning's shopping (for she had been occupied with roses ever since breakfast) the attendant was at the telephone at the back of the shop. He spoke in a lucid telephone-voice. "We've only two of the big tins of corned beef," he said; and there was a pause, during which, to a psychic, Diva's ears might have seemed to grow as pointed with attention as a satyr's. But she could only hear little hollow quacks from the other end. "Tongue as well. Very good. I'll send them up at once," he added, and came forward into the shop. "Good morning," said Diva. Her voice was tremulous with anxiety and investigation. "Got any big tins of corned beef? The ones that contain six pounds." "Very sorry, ma'am. We've only got two, and they've just been ordered." "A small pot of ginger then, please," said Diva recklessly. "Will you send it round immediately?" "Yes, ma'am. The boy's just going out." That was luck. Diva hurried into the street, and was absorbed by the headlines of the news outside the stationer's. This was a favourite place for observation, for you appeared to be quite taken up by the topics of the day, and kept an oblique eye on the true object of your scrutiny...”

HumourSatireRivalryNeighboursBusybody
Book:Miss Mapp
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“But why did she come back and take her card away?" asked Miss Mackintosh. "I told Florence that Miss Mapp had heard something dreadful about her. And how did she know that Lady Deal was coming here at all? The house was taken in my name." "That's just what we all long to find out," said Diva eagerly. "She said that somebody in London told her." "But who?" asked Miss Mackintosh. "Florence only settled to come at lunch time that day, and she told her butler to ring up Susie and say she would be arriving." Diva's eyes grew round and bright with inductive reasoning. "I believe we're on the right tack," she said. "Could she have received Lady Deal's butler's message, do you think? What's your number?" "Tilling 76," said Miss Mackintosh. Evie gave three ecstatic little squeaks. "Oh, that's it, that's it!" she said. "Elizabeth Mapp is Tilling 67. So careless of them, but all quite plain. And she did hear it from somebody in London. Quite true, and so dreadfully false and misleading, and so like her. Isn't it, Diva? Well, it does serve her right to be found out." Miss Mackintosh was evidently a true Tillingite. "How marvellous!" she said.”

HumourNeighboursBusybodyTilling
Book:Miss Mapp
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“How come you don't ask me any questions?" "Questions about what?" "About the investigation I'm working on," Kaga replied. "It's usually the first thing people ask me when I make inquiries. 'What's happened? What are you investigating?' " Sagawa chuckled. "What good would it do anyone to tell an amateur like me? If a detective's on the case, something nasty must have happened. Learning more about it will just make me depressed." "I wish more people felt like you," said Kaga.”

Positive MindsetBusybodyGossipers
Book:Newcomer
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“Miss Moorthy was aware that her interested concern in everybody’s well-being might be seen by the uncharitable as busybodyness. To Miss Moorthy it was simply a matter of setting things right starting from where she was. She could not single-handedly save the Amazonian rainforests but she could, and did, stop students from carving their names on trees or trampling on plants. It was all the same thing on a different scale, wasn’t it?”

CharityGood WorksBusybodyDo Your PartHelp Your Community
Book:Miss Moorthy Investigates
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