Polly Quotes

“this is a book about something”
― C.S. Lewis, The Magician’s Nephew

“A man is always afraid of a woman that loves him too much”
― John Gay, The Beggar's Opera

“When they're laughing at you, their guard is down. When their guard is down, you can kick them in the fracas.”
― Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

“And a woman by herself is missing a man, while a man by himself is his own master.
Trousers. That's the secret. Trousers and a pair of socks. I never dreamed it was like this. Put on trousers and the world changes. We walk different. We act different. I see these girls and I think: Idiot's Get yourself some trousers!”
― Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

“Perhaps that's why men did it. You didn't do it to save duchesses, or countries. You killed the enemy to stop him killing your mates, that they in turn might save you ...”
― Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

“Once I saw Graham - wholly unconscious of her proximity - push her with his restless foot. She receded an inch or two. A minute after one little hand stole out from beneath her face, to which it had been pressed, and softly caressed the heedless foot.”
― Charlotte Brontë, Villette

“Yes, a good swipe at head height would kill . . . some mother's son, some sister's brother, some lad who'd followed the drum for a shilling and his first new suit. If only he'd been trained, if only she'd had a few weeks stabbing straw men until she could believe that all men were made of straw.”
― Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

“Polly shut her door hard, and felt ready to cry with vexation that her pleasure should be spoilt by such a silly idea, for, of all the silly freaks of this fast age, that of little people playing at love is about the silliest. Polly had been taught that it was a very serious and sacred thing, and, according to her notions, it was far more improper to flirt with one boy than to coast with a dozen.”
― Louisa May Alcott, An Old Fashioned Girl

“Polly was the same age as Alma, but daintier and startlingly beautiful. She looked like a perfect figurine carved out of fine French soap, into which someone had inlaid a pair of glittering peacock-blue eyes. But it was the tiny pink pillow of her mouth that made this girl more than simply pretty; it made her an unsettling little voluptuary, a Bathsheba wrought in miniature.”
― Elizabeth Gilbert, The Signature of All Things

“You can turn your hand to anything, you clever girl, so do come and give me some advice, for I am in the depths of despair," said Fanny, when the "maid-of-all-work," as Polly called herself, found a leisure hour.
"What is it? Moths in the furs, a smokey chimney, or small-pox next door?" asked Polly as they entered Fan's room, where Maud was trying on old bonnets before the looking glass.
"Actually I have nothing to wear," began Fan impressively.”
― Louisa May Alcott, An Old Fashioned Girl