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 & the Dog

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

“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

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

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

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

“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

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

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

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

“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

“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

“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

“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

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

“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

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

“...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

“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

“..he 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.”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Last Camel Died at Noon

“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

“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

“I would not be at all surprised to find that it was for gold that Cain committed the first murder. (It happened a very long time ago, and Holy Writ, though no doubt divinely inspired, is a trifle careless about details. God is not a historian).”
― Elizabeth Peters

“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

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

“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

“I sometimes wonder what it would be like to be the respected patriarch of an ordinary English family."
"Very boring, Emerson.”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Hippopotamus Pool

“He smiled affably at the burglar, a burly fellow whom he continued to hold with one hand, as easily as if he had been a child. The entire household had been aroused, and a good number of them had joined in, shouting questions and brandishing various deadly instruments. The burglar glared wildly at Emerson, bare to the waist and bulging with muscle - at Gargery and his cudgel - at Selim, fingering a knife even longer than Nefret's - at assorted footmen armed with pokers, spits, and cleavers - and at the giant form of Daoud advancing purposefully toward him. 'It's a bleedin' army!' he gurgled. 'The lyin' barstard said you was some kind of professor!”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Falcon at the Portal

“Now, Mama, Papa, and sir," said Ramses, "please withdraw to the farthest corner and crouch down with your backs turned. It is as I feared; we will never break through by this method. The walls are eight feet thick. Fortunately I brought along a little nitroglycerin--"
"Oh, good Gad," shrieked Inspector Cuff.”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Deeds of the Disturber

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

“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 & the Dog

“I would never have supposed that inexperienced girl was capable of such cold-blooded, calculating manipulation! ”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Ape Who Guards the Balance

“You are softening toward the young rascal because he is ill, and because he says he likes cats."
"It is an engaging quality, Emerson."
"That depends," said Emerson darkly, "on how he likes them.”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Deeds of the Disturber

“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. ”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Ape Who Guards the Balance

“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

“I had refused Emerson's well-meant offers of assistance, knowing his efforts would be confined to moving the furniture to the wrong places and demanding how much longer the process would take.”
― Elizabeth Peters, A River in the Sky

“I do hope you have some money. I'm getting tired of hitting people.”
― Elizabeth Peters, Night Train to Memphis

“His masculinity was only too apparent”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Curse of the Pharaohs

“Emerson,' I said, choosing my words with care, 'it is a sheer drop from the cleft down to the base of the cliff. If you are bent on breaking your arm or your leg or your neck or all three, find a place closer to home so we won't have to carry you such a distance.”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Golden One

“...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.”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Ape Who Guards the Balance

“It's not unsporting to thrash a cowardly cad,' said Simmons. 'Everyone knows you don't fight like a gentleman.'
'That might be called an oxymoron,' Ramses said. 'Oh--sorry. Bad form to use long words. Look it up when you get home.'
The poor devil didn't know how to fight, like a gentleman or otherwise.”
― Elizabeth Peters, He Shall Thunder in the Sky

“Sekhmet crawled onto Ramses's lap and began to purr. 'The creature oozes like a furry slug,' said Ramses, eyeing it without favor.”
― Elizabeth Peters, Seeing a Large Cat

“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.”
― Elizabeth Peters, He Shall Thunder in the Sky

“I knew the answer, and--of course--so did Ramses. He has superb breath control and always gets in ahead of me.”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Ape Who Guards the Balance

“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.”
― Elizabeth Peters, Lord of the Silent

“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.”
― Elizabeth Peters, Seeing a Large Cat

“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.”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Ape Who Guards the Balance

“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!”
― Elizabeth Peters, He Shall Thunder in the Sky

“Ramses had always been fond of Helen, in his peculiar fashion, but if he had looked at me as he was looking at her, I would have sent for a constable.”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Deeds of the Disturber