The Mysterious Howling Quotes

“All books are judged by their covers until they are read.”
― Maryrose Wood, The Mysterious Howling

“If it were easy to resist, it would not be called chocolate cake.”
― Maryrose Wood, The Mysterious Howling

“Clearly, being anxious is a full-time and rather exhausting occupation.”
― Maryrose Wood, The Mysterious Howling

“When the impossible becomes merely difficult, that's when you know you've won." - Agatha Swanburne”
― Maryrose Wood, The Mysterious Howling

“A well-organized stocking drawer is the first step toward a well-organized mind.”
― Maryrose Wood, The Mysterious Howling

“No hopeless case is truly without hope." - Agatha Swanburne”
― Maryrose Wood, The Mysterious Howling

“If you have ever opened a can of worms, boxed yourself into a corner, ended up in hot water, or found yourself in a pretty pickle, you already know that life is rarely (if ever) just a bowl of cherries.”
― Maryrose Wood, The Mysterious Howling

“Complaining doesn't butter the biscuit" -Agatha Swanburne”
― Maryrose Wood, The Mysterious Howling

“Nothing good was ever learned from eavesdropping, so mind your business and let others mind theirs.”
― Maryrose Wood, The Mysterious Howling

“I will have the children read Hamlet as soon as it is practical. There are some useful cautions against eavesdropping to be gleaned from that.”
― maryrose wood, The Mysterious Howling

“I supposed this is what is meant by 'growing up'...Find out the difference between what one expected one's life would be like and how things really are" -Lady Constance”
― Maryrose Wood, The Mysterious Howling

“That which can be purchases at a shop is easily left in a taxi; that which you carry inside you is difficult, though not impossible, to misplace" -Agatha Swanburne”
― Maryrose Wood, The Mysterious Howling

“This memory was both happy and sad: happy because it was so pleasant, and sad because it made Penelope think about how much she missed Swanburne--the girls, the teachers, Miss Mortimer. Or perhaps it was her own much younger self, that pint-sized person whom she could never be again, whom she missed. It was hard to say.”
― Maryrose Wood, The Mysterious Howling

“In this way Penelope's happy and sad feelings got all mixed up together, until they were not unlike one of those delicious cookies they have nowadays, the ones with a flat circle of sugary cream sandwiched between two chocolate-flavored wafers. In her heart she felt a soft, hidden core of sweet melancholy nestled inside crisp outer layers of joy, and if that is not the very sensation most people feel at some point or other during the holidays, then one would be hard pressed to say what is.”
― Maryrose Wood, The Mysterious Howling

“If you have ever opened a can of worms, boxed yourself into a corner, ended up in hot water, or found yourself in a pretty pickle, you already know that life is rarely (if ever) just a bowl of cherries. It is far more likely to be a bowl of problems, worries, and difficulties. This is normal and should not be cause for alarm.”
― Maryrose Wood, The Mysterious Howling

“Penelope had read several novels about such governesses in preparation for her interview and found them chock-full of useful information, although she had no intention of developing romantic feelings for the charming, penniless tutor at a neighboring estate. Or - heaven forbid! - for the darkly handsome, brooding, and extravagantly wealthy master of her own household. Lord Frederick Ashton was newly married in any case, and she had no inkling what his complexion might be”
― Maryrose Wood, The Mysterious Howling

“There is no alarm clock like embarrassment,”
― Maryrose Wood, The Mysterious Howling

“This practice of overstating the case is called hyperbole. Hyperbole is usually harmless, but in some cases it has been known to precipitate unnecessary wars as well as a painful gaseous condition called stock market bubbles. For safety's sake, then, hyperbole should be used with restraint and only by those with proper literary training.”
― Maryrose Wood, The Mysterious Howling

“She had chosen Dante because she found the rhyme scheme pleasingly jaunty, but she realized too late that the Inferno's tale of sinners being cruelly punished in the afterlife was much too bloody and disturbing to be suitable for young minds. Penelope could tell this by the way the children hung on her every word and demanded "More, more!" each time she reached the end of a canto and tried to stop.”
― Maryrose Wood, The Mysterious Howling

“You’ll find it in the last place you look, so, for heaven’s sake, keep looking until you find it!”
― Maryrose Wood, The Mysterious Howling

“When the impossible becomes merely difficult, that's when you know you've won" -Agatha Swanburne”
― Maryrose Wood, The Mysterious Howling

“This practice of overstating the case is called hyperbole. Hyperbole is usually harmless, but in some cases it has been known to precipitate unnecessary wars as well as a painful gaseous condition called stock market bubbles.”
― Maryrose Wood, The Mysterious Howling

“Lady Constance swept into the room as giddy and foolish as ever. To look at her, you would think that nothing unpleasant had ever happened in the whole history of England.”
― Maryrose Wood, The Mysterious Howling

“One home is forsaken in hopes of finding another.”
― Maryrose Wood, The Mysterious Howling

“...even in her current nervous state Penelope recognized them as Mineola ferns, native to a long island whose name she could not quite recall" -Penelope”
― Maryrose Wood, The Mysterious Howling

“Penelope was in favor of new experiences, as long as they did not upset the digestion”
― Maryrose Wood, The Mysterious Howling

“You will recall that she had expected she might be scolded for entering Lord Fredrick’s study and perhaps falsely accused of taking the almanac. It had even occurred to her that the police might be summoned and criminal charges filed, after which she would have to bravely defend herself in front of a stern, white-wigged judge. Her eloquence would earn a standing ovation from the dazzled spectators, who would find it impossible to believe that this mere girl of fifteen was not a trained lawyer.”
― Maryrose Wood, The Mysterious Howling

“It makes no difference what you wear, really. I'll put you in a dark grey. I believe I have some left over from a funeral." says the dressmaker.”
― Maryrose Wood, The Mysterious Howling

“You know I believe that all children should have pets if it can possibly be managed, she wrote. I feel it is beneficial to give even the littlest children responsibility for something more helpless and in need of care than themselves. In this way selfishness is avoided, generosity is nurtured, and the heart's affections are exercised until they can bend and stretch to encompass all the world's creatures.”
― Maryrose Wood, The Mysterious Howling

“Moon, moon, moon.
Night, no moon? Dark.
Night, yes moon? Light!
Yes, moon!
Ahwooooo!”
― Maryrose Wood, The Mysterious Howling