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E. M. Delafield Quotes

A child with an intense capacity for feeling can suffer to a degree that is beyond any degree of adult suffering, because imagination, ignorance, and the conviction of utter helplessness are untempered either by reason

A child with an intense capacity for feeling can suffer to a degree that is beyond any degree of adult suffering, because imagination, ignorance, and the conviction of utter helplessness are untempered either by reason or by experience.

E. M. Delafield
Children, Ignorance, Imagination
E. M. Delafield (2016). “Delphi Collected Works of E. M. Delafield (Illustrated)”, p.1488, Delphi Classics

Always remember, me dear, whether you're listening to a tale or telling one: Every penny piece that's struck has two sides to it.

E. M. Delafield
Two Sides, Listening, Pieces
E. M. Delafield (2015). “Collected Novels of E. M. Delafield (6 Unabridged Editions in One Volume): Zella Sees Herself, The War Workers, Consequences, Tension, The Heel of Achilles & Humbug by the Prolific Author of The Diary of a Provincial Lady, Thank Heaven Fasting and The Way Things Are”, p.959, e-artnow

Does not a misplaced optimism exist, common to all mankind, leading on to false conviction that social engagements, if dated sufficiently far ahead, will never really materialize?

E. M. Delafield
Optimism, Doe, Engagement
E. M. Delafield (2015). “The Collected Works of E. M. Delafield (Illustrated): The Provincial Lady Series, Zella Sees Herself, The War-Workers, Consequences, Gay Life, The Heel of Achilles, Humbug, Messalina of the Suburbs (Including Short Stories and Plays)”, p.16, e-artnow

She is never alone when she has Her Books. Books, to her, are Friends. Give her Shakespeare or Jane Austen, Meredith or Hardy, and she is Lost - lost in a world of her own. She sleeps so little that most of her nights are spent reading.

E. M. Delafield
Book, Reading, Sleep
E. M. Delafield (2016). “Diary of a Provincial Lady”, p.48, Pan Macmillan

Most Englishmen are convinced that God is an Englishman, probably educated at Eton.

E. M. Delafield
Eton, Language, Educated

The best and most popular novelists do not, as a rule, have children in their books at all, and this is wise. Parents are about the only people who are interested in children, and they merely in their own ones.

E. M. Delafield
Wise, Children, Book
E. M. Delafield (2015). “The Collected Works of E. M. Delafield (Illustrated): The Provincial Lady Series, Zella Sees Herself, The War-Workers, Consequences, Gay Life, The Heel of Achilles, Humbug, Messalina of the Suburbs (Including Short Stories and Plays)”, p.2296, e-artnow

People in England who do not like gardening are very few, and of the few there are, many do not own to it, knowing that they might just as well own to having been in prison, or got drunk at Buckingham Palace.

E. M. Delafield
Knowing, People, Drunk
E. M. Delafield (2016). “Delphi Collected Works of E. M. Delafield (Illustrated)”, p.4805, Delphi Classics

Am sorry to note that abuse and condemnation of a common acquaintance often constitutes very strong bond of union between otherwise uncongenial spirits.

E. M. Delafield
Strong, Sorry, Abuse
E. M. Delafield (2016). “Delphi Collected Works of E. M. Delafield (Illustrated)”, p.3721, Delphi Classics

Inequalities of Fate very curious. Should like, on this account, to believe in Reincarnation.

E. M. Delafield
Believe, Fate, Immortality
E. M. Delafield (2016). “Delphi Collected Works of E. M. Delafield (Illustrated)”, p.2419, Delphi Classics

Are modern children going to revolt against being modern, and if so, what form will reaction of modern parents take?

E. M. Delafield
Children, Parent, Modern
E. M. Delafield (2016). “Delphi Collected Works of E. M. Delafield (Illustrated)”, p.2411, Delphi Classics

Every Englishman is an average Englishman: it is a national characteristic.

E. M. Delafield
Average, Language, Characteristics
E. M. Delafield (2015). “The Collected Works of E. M. Delafield (Illustrated): The Provincial Lady Series, Zella Sees Herself, The War-Workers, Consequences, Gay Life, The Heel of Achilles, Humbug, Messalina of the Suburbs (Including Short Stories and Plays)”, p.2680, e-artnow

There is a certain strong sense of inner conviction that strikes, with a pang as that of birth, through the very soul, and which is experienced but once or twice in a lifetime.

E. M. Delafield
Strong, Soul, Birth
E. M. Delafield (2015). “The Collected Works of E. M. Delafield (Illustrated): The Provincial Lady Series, Zella Sees Herself, The War-Workers, Consequences, Gay Life, The Heel of Achilles, Humbug, Messalina of the Suburbs (Including Short Stories and Plays)”, p.1660, e-artnow

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