Clara

“They are such silly letters, too.'

'Have you—er—had any yourself?'

I was a little diffident of asking, but Mrs. Dane Calthrop replied perfectly naturally, her eyes opening a little wider.

'Oh yes, two—no, three. I forget exactly what they said. Something very silly about Caleb and the schoolmistress, I think. Quite absurd, because Caleb has absolutely no taste for fornication. He schoolmistress I think. Quite absurd, because Caleb has absolutely no taste for fornication. He never has had. So lucky, being a clergyman.'

'Quite' I said. 'Oh quite.'

'Caleb would have been a saint,' said Mrs. Dane Calthrop, 'if he hadn't been just a little too intellectual.”
― Agatha Christie, The Moving Finger

“OH? I don't need to dwell on the details? What, is this not an 'integral part of the historical record' or whatever such nonsense you like to natter about? YOU'RE blushing? How do you think I felt being stared at by the glass eyes of a dozen long-dead creatures and surrounded by stone pen*ses all day?”
― Shannon Chakraborty, The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi

“It seemed that nice hair and the eyes of a cherub had gained him attentions that he had construed as somehow inspired by his political thoughts. In this he was mistaken, an error of the sort commonly found among millionaires who believe that they are charismatic.”
― Jonathan L. Howard, Johannes Cabal the Detective

“I remember an editor who, while he published the story, objected to one of my tales. 'Cliff, the people in that story were losers.' he said. 'I like losers,' I told him–and I do. I like them because they are much more interesting than winners. Like most people, I abhor the man who always wins; he makes the rest of us look so bad.”
― Clifford D. Simak, Skirmish: The Great Short Fiction of Clifford D. Simak