Elizabeth Peters > Quotes

“No woman really wants a man to carry her off; she only wants him to want to do it.”
― Elizabeth Peters

“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.”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Snake, the Crocodile and the Dog

“Marriage, in my view, should be a balanced stalemate between equal adversaries.”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Mummy Case

“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)”
― Elizabeth Peters, Crocodile on the Sandbank

“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.)”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Deeds of the Disturber

“Most men are reasonably useful in a crisis. The difficulty lies in convincing them that the situation has reached a critical point”
― elizabeth peters, The Curse of the Pharaohs

“It is much more sensible to be an optimist instead of a pessimist, for if one is doomed to disappointment, why experience it in advance?”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Snake, the Crocodile and the Dog

“Your trousers are on fire. I would have told you, but you so dislike advice...”
― Elizabeth Peters

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

“If all else fails, we will simply have to drug our attendants, overpower the guards, raise the oppressed peasants to arms, and take over the government.”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Last Camel Died at Noon

“Is is difficult to be angry with a gentleman who pays you compliments, even impertinent compliments. Especially impertinent compliments. ”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Hippopotamus Pool

“When one is striding bravely into the future one cannot watch one's footing. ”
― Elizabeth Peters

“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. ”
― Elizabeth Peters, Crocodile on the Sandbank

“Another dead body. Every year it is the same. Every year, another dead body...”
― Elizabeth Peters, Lion in the Valley

“I have learned that particularly clever ideas do not always stand up under close scrutiny.”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Hippopotamus Pool

“Humor is an excellent method of keeping a tight rein on unproductive displays of emotion.”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Hippopotamus Pool

“The trouble with unknown enemies is that they are so difficult to identify.”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Hippopotamus Pool

“There are too many people in the world as it is, but the supply of ancient manuscripts is severely limited.”
― Elizabeth Peters, Crocodile on the Sandbank

“Many persons lead lives of crushing boredom.”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Serpent on the Crown

“If you take a man by surprise, and behave with sufficient arrogance, he will generally do what you ask.
-Emerson”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Last Camel Died at Noon

“The combination of physical strength and moral sincerity combined with tenderness of heart is exactly what is wanted in a husband.--Ameila Peabody”
― Elizabeth Peters

“...DAMNATION!'

No device of the printer's art, not even capital letters, can indicate the intensity of that shriek of rage. Emerson is known to his Egyptian workers by the admiring sobriquet of Father of Curses. The volume as well as the content of his remarks earned him the title; but this shout was extraordinary even by Emerson's standards, so much so that the cat Bastet, who had become more or less accustomed to him, started violently, and fell with a splash into the bathtub.

The scene that followed is best not described in detail. My efforts to rescue the thrashing feline were met with hysterical resistance; water surged over the edge of the tub and onto the floor; Emerson rushed to the rescue; Bastet emerged in one mighty leap, like a whale broaching, and fled -- cursing, spitting, and streaming water. She and Emerson met in the doorway of the bathroom.

The ensuing silence was broken by the quavering voice of the safragi, the servant on duty outside our room, inquiring if we required his assistance. Emerson, seated on the floor in a puddle of soapy water, took a long breath. Two of the buttons popped off his shirt and splashed into the water. In a voice of exquisite calm he reassured the servant, and then transferred his bulging stare to me.

I trust you are not injured, Peabody. Those scratches...'

The bleeding has almost stopped, Emerson. It was not Bastet's fault.'

It was mine, I suppose,' Emerson said mildly.

Now, my dear, I did not say that. Are you going to get up from the floor?'

No,' said Emerson.

He was still holding the newspaper. Slowly and deliberately he separated the soggy pages, searching for the item that had occasioned his outburst. 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.)”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Deeds of the Disturber

“Men are frail creatures, of course; one does not expect them to exhibit the steadfastness of women.”
― Elizabeth Peters, Crocodile on the Sandbank

“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.”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Deeds of the Disturber

“A lady cannot be blamed if a master criminal takes a fancy to her.”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Hippopotamus Pool

“I don't think she realized how much she cared for him, or he for her, until the end. Hasn't someone said a woman may be known by the men who love her enough to die for her? (If they haven't, I claim the credit myself.)”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Ape Who Guards the Balance

“There was no warning, not even a knock. The door flew open, and he forgot his present aches and pains in anticipation of what lay in store. The figure that stood in the door was not that of an enemy. It was worse. It was his mother.”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Ape Who Guards the Balance

“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.”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Falcon at the Portal

“God help the poor mummy who encounters you, Peabody,” he said bitterly. “We ought to supply it with a pistol, to even the odds.”
― Elizabeth Peters, Crocodile on the Sandbank

“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.”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Falcon at the Portal