The Cactus Quotes

“But, these days, fairy-tale endings come in all shapes and sizes. It’s okay for the princess to end up with the prince, it’s okay for her to end up with the footman, it’s okay for her to end up on her own. It’s also okay for her to end up with another princess, or with six cats, or to decide she wants to be a prince. None of those make her any more or less a feminist.”
― Sarah Haywood, De cactus

“Dealing with members of the opposite sex isn’t that dissimilar from training a dog; you need to be firm and persistent.”
― Sarah Haywood, The Cactus

“If it wasn’t for the fact that I have colleagues, office life would be bearable.”
― Sarah Haywood, The Cactus

“I suppose it’s traditional to go down on one knee at this point, but the pelicans have been busy and you’re sitting on my handkerchief.”
― Sarah Haywood, The Cactus

“It’s what goes on inside that I care about,’ she concluded. ‘Not the labels on your clothes, or what car you drive, or whether you’re popular or fashionable or good-looking.”
― Sarah Haywood, The Cactus

“But these days fairy-tale endings come in all shapes and sizes. It’s okay for the princess to end up with the prince, it’s okay for her to end up with the footman, and it’s also okay for her to end up on her own. It’s okay for her to end up with another princess, or with six cats, or to decide she wants to be a prince. None of those make her any more or less a feminist. It’s about finding out who you are and what you want, and then being true to it.”
― Sarah Haywood, The Cactus

“I quite liked it,” she said, “but I didn’t get Miss Brodie. She didn’t seem very likable. I can’t enjoy a book if I don’t warm to the main character.”
― Sarah Haywood, The Cactus

“What it boils down to is knowing that women are equal to men, and living that knowledge. It’s about ensuring that that equality is recognized in the home, in the workplace, in public life. And it’s about acknowledging that we all—women and men—are strong sometimes, weak sometimes, coolheaded sometimes, emotional sometimes, right sometimes, wrong sometimes. Locking away your feelings and vulnerabilities has got nothing at all to do with it. That’s something else entirely.” She”
― Sarah Haywood, The Cactus

“I used to think that what distinguished Edward's experience of childhood from my own was the way in which we responded to my father's drinking. I'm sure an amateur psychologist would claim that it caused me to be serious beyond my years, to want to be in complete control of my life, to judge myself - and others - harshly. Equally, they would claim that it caused Edward to be impulsive, irresponsible and needy. I suspect that such an analysis might be more accurate than I'm prepared to admit. But I'm not sure, now, that that was the only distinguishing feature. I think that what set my childhood apart from Edward's was that I was never loved, and my brother was.”
― Sarah Haywood, De cactus

“Seems we remember things differently yet again. But truth is subjective; everyone has their own versions. Maybe both of ours are equally valid.”
― Sarah Haywood, The Cactus

“But, these days, fairy-tale endings come in all shapes and sizes. It’s okay for the princess to end up with the prince, it’s okay for her to end up with the footman, it’s okay for her to end up on her own. It’s also okay for her to end up with another princess, or with six cats, or to decide she wants to be a prince. None of those make her any more or less a feminist. It’s about finding out who you are and what you want, and then being true to it.”
― Sarah Haywood, The Cactus

“it’s not about occupying the moral high ground or achieving vindication of your beliefs, it’s about winning the legal argument.”
― Sarah Haywood, The Cactus

“Colleagues often try to”
― Sarah Haywood, The Cactus

“suburban life, of its seductive insularity and mesmerizing obsession with the mundane.”
― Sarah Haywood, The Cactus

“balance,”
― Sarah Haywood, The Cactus

“A group of four teenage girls, who looked like Japanese students (over-the-knee socks, quirky clothes, cartoony handbags), had stopped in front of our bench to admire the pelican, which was now shaking out his wings.”
― Sarah Haywood, The Cactus

“I decided to pursue the matter in person on my visit to Birmingham. It wouldn’t take me long to have this Rob character back on the streets. I turned the conversation to the more pressing matter of the funeral arrangements. Edward told me I’d be pleased to hear the wake was sorted; he’d hired the back room at a pub called The Bull’s Head”
― Sarah Haywood, The Cactus

“Здається, ми знову по-різному пам’ятаємо одне й те саме. Але істина — річ суб’єктивна: у кожного своя версія. Можливо, і твоя, і моя однаково слушні.”
― Sarah Haywood, The Cactus

“Спілкування з представниками протилежної статі не так уже й відрізняється від дресирування собак: потрібно бути твердою й наполегливою.”
― Sarah Haywood, The Cactus

“Хоча, по щирості, материнство — це раз плюнути. Не знаю, чому з цим так носяться. Хапай першу-ліпшу няньку — і кума королеві. Ну чи кому вийде.”
― Sarah Haywood, The Cactus

“Мушу зізнатися, що так і не змогла, та й не схотіла змиритися з тим фактом, що після сорока пʼяти років щасливого життя для самої себе і моє тіло, і мої думки зробилося все загальним надбанням. Це неймовірно, скільком людям конче потрібно вагітну жінку обмацати, поштрикати, розпитати та взяти у неї аналізи.”
― Sarah Haywood, The Cactus

“Гадаю це непросто — розбирати те, що накопичилося за багато років, і вирішувати, що лишити, а що ні. Ніби підвести риску під великим шматком власного життя.”
― Sarah Haywood, The Cactus

“Відсутність прямоти в найкращому випадку призводить до непорозумінь і плутанини, в найгіршому ж — дозволяє іншим скористатися тим, що видасться їм вашим слабким місцем.”
― Sarah Haywood, The Cactus

“What it boils down to is knowing that women are equal to men, and living that knowledge. It’s about ensuring that that equality is recognized in the home, in the workplace, in public life. And it’s about acknowledging that we all—women and men—are strong sometimes, weak sometimes, coolheaded sometimes, emotional sometimes, right sometimes, wrong sometimes”
― Sarah Haywood, The Cactus