A Woman of Substance Quotes

“We are each the authors of our own lives, Emma. We live in what we have created. There is no way to shift the blame and no one else to accept the accolades.”
― Barbara Taylor Bradford, A Woman of Substance

“Life always gets harder towards the summit - the cold increases, responsibility increases”
― Barbara Taylor Bradford, A Woman of Substance

“This parting cannot be for long; for those who love as we do cannot be parted. We shall always be united in thought, and thought is a great magnet. I have often spoken to thee of reason, now i speak to thee of faith”
― Barbara Taylor Bradford, A Woman of Substance

“In my opinion, moderation is a vastly overrated virtue, particularly when applied to work”
― Barbara Taylor Bradford, A Woman of Substance

“He who ascends to mountaintops, shall find The loftiest peaks most wrapt in clouds and snow; He who surpasses or subdues mankind Must look down on the hate of those below”
― Barbara Taylor Bradford, A Woman of Substance

“We are each the authors of our own lives, Emma. We live in what we have created. There is no way to shift the blame and no one else to accept the accolades.”
― Barbara Taylor Bradford, A Woman of Substance

“God doesn’t give us a burden that is too heavy to bear.”
― Barbara Taylor Bradford, A Woman of Substance

“There are some people who hate for no reason at all. They just simply hate. They do not realize that their unjustified hatred inevitably turns inward to destroy them. Yes, it is self-destructive in the long run.”
― Barbara Taylor Bradford, A Woman of Substance

“Blackie paused and then observing the wonderment in her eyes, the vibrancy now illuminating her face and acutely aware of her eagerness to hear more, he continued his description of Leeds.”
― Barbara Taylor Bradford, A Woman of Substance

“no such thing as death in her lexicon, and that as long as I lived and you lived she would live, too, for we would carry the memory of her in our hearts for ever.”
― Barbara Taylor Bradford, A Woman of Substance

“The prospect of another world war is frightening, my dear. There is a tendency to dismiss those with the vision to foresee onrushing disaster. The public has a bad habit of sticking its collective head in the sand, as do a great number of politicians.”
― Barbara Taylor Bradford, A Woman of Substance

“Congress passed three neutrality acts a few years ago the prevailing attitude has been isolationist”
― Barbara Taylor Bradford, A Woman of Substance

“The desire for revenge was not unnatural, but it could curdle and embitter the soul, and it often destroyed the avenger. Was it not perhaps infinitely wiser to abjure the wicked and abandon them to the fates, and trust in God to make retribution in His own good time? He found himself saying, almost inaudibly, ‘Vengeance is mine; I will repay, sayeth the Lord.”
― Barbara Taylor Bradford, A Woman of Substance

“Marry in haste, repent at leisure,’ she said, remembering her brother’s words of warning. Damn my stubbornness, she muttered.”
― Barbara Taylor Bradford, A Woman of Substance

“This parting cannot be for long; for those who love as we do cannot be parted. We shall always be united in thought, and thought is a great magnet. I have often spoken to thee of reason, now I speak to thee of faith.”
― Barbara Taylor Bradford, A Woman of Substance

“Must look down on the hate of those below. —LORD BYRON, ‘Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage”
― Barbara Taylor Bradford, A Woman of Substance

“He who ascends to mountaintops, shall find The loftiest peaks most wrapt in clouds and snow; He who surpasses or subdues mankind”
― Barbara Taylor Bradford, A Woman of Substance

“I’m very sure of you. You’re so good; so brave. And remember, God never gives us a burden that is too heavy to bear.”
― Barbara Taylor Bradford, A Woman of Substance

“The person loved was gone but there were always the others, the ones left behind to mourn. The sadness of life is ever present, Laura thought, and yet there is joy in life, too. Joy like the child she was carrying. The child she yearned to give Blackie. She placed her hands across her stomach protectively and with love, and she thanked God she had not miscarried this time. Yes, there was death, but there was also birth. A continual renewal… the endless cycle that was eternal, that was man’s inexorable fate.”
― Barbara Taylor Bradford, A Woman of Substance

“Blackie was safe and would continue to be safe and that he would come home to her when the war was over. Her unwavering faith in Almighty God was the rock upon which her life was built,”
― Barbara Taylor Bradford, A Woman of Substance

“And then her consummate hatred for the Fairleys, so close to the surface, rose up again and took hold of her, jostling against the grief for prominence in her mind. Was there no end to the pain that family would cause her? Was she to be cursed with them all the days of her life? Damn the Fairleys. All of them. Damn them! Damn them! Damn them! May they rot in hell!”
― Barbara Taylor Bradford, A Woman of Substance

“me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of God.” Please, believe me, it’s the baptism and the spirit of love behind it that counts, and not the man that does it, or where it’s done. We need neither a church nor a font,”
― Barbara Taylor Bradford, A Woman of Substance

“And He will accept her as one of His blessed children, Emma. Sure and He will. His own son, Jesus, said, “Suffer little children to come unto”
― Barbara Taylor Bradford, A Woman of Substance

“the Jews scattered throughout the world over the centuries. To Spain, Germany, Russia, Poland, and many other countries. I myself come from Kiev, in Russia. Most of the Jews in Leeds also come from Russia, or from Poland. We came here to escape the terror and harassment of the pogroms directed against us. I had my baptism of fire in my own country and so, as difficult as things here can be sometimes, they are not as terrible as they were in Russia.”
― Barbara Taylor Bradford, A Woman of Substance

“nation. Christianity itself is based on Judaism. Did you not know that?’ Although she loathed to appear illiterate, Emma had to say in all truthfulness, ‘No, I didn’t.’ The man’s bright black eyes searched hers thoughtfully. ‘Jesus Christ was a Jew and Jesus, too, was persecuted.’ He sighed and it was a long, wearisome sigh. ‘I suppose we Jews seem strange to some people, because our customs and dietary laws and form of worship are not the same as the Gentile ways.”
― Barbara Taylor Bradford, A Woman of Substance

“Then you have perhaps read the Book of Exodus. You certainly must know the Ten Commandments?’ She nodded affirmatively, and he expounded further: ‘The Ten Commandments were given to our people by Moses, when he led us out of Egypt and created the Jewish”
― Barbara Taylor Bradford, A Woman of Substance

“The Jews are a people descended from the Hebrews and the Israelites, from the tribes of Israel. Our religion is called Judaism. It is founded on the Old Testament and the Torah both.’ Emma was listening intently and the”
― Barbara Taylor Bradford, A Woman of Substance

“Why were those horrid boys throwing stones at you?’ ‘Because I am a Jew.’ Emma was not actually sure what a Jew was but, always reluctant to display her ignorance on any matter, she chose to disregard his explanation, repeating again, ‘But why would that make them want to throw stones at you?’ The man returned her questioning look steadily. ‘Because people are always afraid of what they do not know, what they do not understand, the unfamiliar or the different, and that fear invariably turns to hate. Unreasoned hatred that makes no sense. In these parts the Jews are hated and defiled.’ He shook his head. ‘Ah, the human condition is strange, is it not? There are some people who hate for no reason at all. They just simply hate. They do not realize that their unjustified hatred inevitably turns inward to destroy them. Yes, it is self-destructive in the long run.”
― Barbara Taylor Bradford, A Woman of Substance

“Why were those horrid boys throwing stones at you?’ ‘Because I am a Jew.’ Emma was not actually sure what a Jew was but, always reluctant to display her ignorance on any matter, she chose to disregard his explanation, repeating again, ‘But why would that make them want to throw stones at you?’ The man returned her questioning look steadily. ‘Because people are always afraid of what they do not know, what they do not understand, the unfamiliar or the different”
― Barbara Taylor Bradford, A Woman of Substance

“It’s right funny, when yer think about it. First Polly died, then me mam, and now Mrs Fairley. All in just a few months of each other.’ Cook returned Emma’s concentrated stare. ‘It’s said, in these parts, that everything goes in threes.”
― Barbara Taylor Bradford, A Woman of Substance