Quotes from Martina Cole

If we had been left to our own devices we would have been all right. But, oh, no. I had to have the mother-in-law from hell poking her nose in, opening her big trap.

Dux femina facti The leader of the enterprise a woman. Virgil

Now, as a wage earner, she had gained a certain grudging respect, but it had been a long time coming. At fifteen, she understood her life better than people three times her age; she needed to keep the peace until she had enough money to set up on her own, or marry herself out of it all.

She was not a person who had any right to decency or kindness, she was not a person to aspire to be. She was cruel, and she was evil in many ways. She took what she wanted from anyone, she was nasty, vindictive and she never threw me a kind word.

Every man I've ever known has had an angle, some way of using women. With me mum's blokes it was the obvious – I mean, she was a brass. Most used her for her money or her body. Mostly her money. They lived off her, you know.

Even if we take matrimony at its lowest, even if we regard it as no more than a sort of friendship recognised by the police. - Robert Louis Stevenson, 1850-1894 Virginibus Puerisque The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge. - Ezekiel, 18:2 The Bible

Who was it who once said: 'Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer still'? An astute man whoever he was,

word on Eileen and, as much as

Life at its longest is short, make the most of it while you still can.' How true that was.

Quem Jupiter vult perdere, dementat prius. Whom God would destroy, He first sends mad. Homeri Gnomologia James Duport, 1606-1679

walked from it he hawked deep in his throat before

known the security of love, as a child and as an adult.

One thing she knew was that no matter what happened to you, no matter how bad life got, happiness – true happiness – was a state of mind.

Walking away was easy, it was staying around and sorting out your own shit that took guts, that made you a man.

Woman, a pleasing but short-lived flower, Too soft for business and too weak for power: A wife in bondage, or neglected maid: Despised, if ugly; if she's fair, betrayed. - Mary Leapor, 1722-1746 'An Essay on Woman' Do not adultery commit; Advantage rarely comes of it. - Arthur Hugh Clough, 1819-1861 'The Latest Decalogue

Young Pat Junior was a handful, and he loved him with all his heart. He was his father's son all right; he only hoped that he didn't have anything of his paternal grandfather inside him.

Once, a long time ago, I was in a similar state to you. I went to Marge's. Well, she said something that I'll never forget. She said that self-pity was a luxury none of us could afford. Those weren't her exact words, but that was what she meant. You must pick yourself up, brush yourself down . . .' 'And start all over again.' Carla sang the last sentence and they both laughed again.

move on but, as Aunt Dolly had pointed out to him on many occasions

You looked after your child, no matter who had fathered it, and no matter how much you might hate them deep down inside. A child was there for the duration of your life and, if you were really lucky, they buried you, and not vice versa. A mother would give her own heart to ensure the child she had created would live on, would be happy to do so. Would be loved.

A man's foes shall be they of his own household. Matthew 10:36

Look after the pennies, and the pounds always looked after themselves.

He healeth those that are broken in heart: and giveth medicine to heal their sickness. 147:1 Prayer Book , 1662

And it was true. People gave out their whole life stories to anyone and everyone without a second's thought. Stand at a bus stop, sit in a strange pub, get banged up, and someone would always give you their life story.

There were other ways of battering women too, ways that did not involve physical violence, and Kate sometimes thought that the mental battering was worse.