Maisie Dobbs Quotes

“(a statement someone makes to Maisie regarding attitudes prior to WWII):
"...the corridors of power are littered with Fascist leanings; anything to save the upper classes through disenfranchisement of the common man while allowing the common man to think you're on his side.”
― Jacqueline Winspear, A Lesson in Secrets

“Where there's muck, there's brass. That was it. ... A simple line, an aphorism, that seemed to suggest the selling of manure. But it had a meaning that went so much deeper, alluding to the fact that where you find filth - where you find dirt; where you find the detritus of life - you'll also discover someone making a profit. Much money can be made from the most dirty jobs. Muck and money go together. That was another one. And it occurred to her that in her lifetime she had seen nothing more filthy than war itself.”
― Jacqueline Winspear, To Die But Once

“There is no path set for this kind of shock, and for the grief that attends such terrible news.”
― Jacqueline Winspear, To Die But Once

“Maurice Blanche rested his glass on the trolley, then looked at his hands, turning them over, frowning and smiling in equal measure. 'They say the face tells all there is to know about a life, but I personally believe much can be deduced from the hands. There are lines and scars, bumps and calluses; indeed, the hands are both the sketch and the final work of art.'

Maisie looked at her hands. She had always been somewhat embarrassed by them. They were hands that told a story of hard manual labour when she was a child, hands that had scrubbed floors, had polished heavy oaken furniture. Later, they had soothed the sick, and had rested on the foreheads of the dying. She realised that she had no recollection of her hands as a schoolgirl, uncomfortable with the conversation's direction.”
― Jacqueline Winspear, The Mapping of Love and Death