Quotes from Dorothy L. Sayers

there's nothin' like Christian feelin's for upsettin' a man's domestic comfort.

He then advanced a ponderous photographic machine and set it up in the neighbourhood of the kitchen range; then, spreading a newspaper over the fair, scrubbed surface of the table, he began to roll up his sleeves and insinuate himself into a pair of surgical gloves.

Beautiful people are often rather boring, don't you think? Less beautiful people might rather like to think so, said Harriet. But you know what I mean, my dear. All those wealthy men choosing a wife like a piece of furniture or a fine picture, to furnish the house, and then having to listen to her at breakfast twenty years later.

THRONES, DOMINATIONS

the promise implicit in the veiled eyes, the long, flexible mouth, the curiously vital hands.

How do you do?" "How do you do?" echoed Mr. Ingleby. They gazed at one another with the faint resentment of two cats at their first meeting. Mr. Hankin smiled kindly at them both.

The only ethical principle which has made science possible is that the truth shall be told all the time. If we do not penalise false statements made in error, we open up the way for false statements by intention. And a false statement of fact, made deliberately, is the most serious crime a scientist can commit.

The Duchess of Denver was pouring out coffee. This was one of her uncomfortable habits. Persons arriving late for breakfast were thereby made painfully aware of their sloth. She was a long-necked, long-backed woman, who disciplined her hair and her children. She

Lord Peter gave it as his opinion that book-collecting could be a perfectly manly pursuit. Girls, he said, practically never took it up, because it meant so much learning about dates and type-faces and other technicalities which called for a masculine brain.

In the mood of relaxation and confidence that follows on being parboiled, it was easy enough to pump Mrs Weldon. A little diplomacy was needed, so as not to betray the ulterior object of the inquiry, but no detective could have had a more unsuspecting victim.

The professional interpreter is a minor miracle—far better

They brought it in manslaughter, with a strong recommendation to mercy, on the ground that Campbell was undoubtedly looking for trouble, and the beard of Samson was not sacrificed altogether in vain.

There's nothing you can't prove if your outlook is only sufficiently limited.

The young were always theoretical; only the middle-aged could realize the deadliness of principles. To subdue one's self to one's own ends might be dangerous, but to subdue one's self to other people's ends was dust and ashes.

facts are like cows. If you look them in the face hard enough they generally run away.

to subdue one's self to other people's ends was dust and ashes.

But once you've got the How, the Why drives it home.

As he spoke, the sound of a church clock, muffled by the snow, came borne upon the wind; it chimed the first quarter. 'Thank God!' said Wimsey. 'Where there is a church, there is civilisation.

You mean,' went on Wimsey, 'that they think in clichés.' 'Eh?' 'Formulae. "There's nothing like a mother's instinct" "Dogs and children always know." "Kind hearts are more than coronets. "Suffering refines the character"—that sort of guff, despite all evidence to the contrary.

Detective-story writers are obliged by their disagreeable profession to invent startling and unpleasant incidents and people, and are (I presume) at liberty to imagine what might happen if such incidents and people were to intrude upon the life of an innocent and well-ordered community;

I say, I don't think the human frame is very thoughtfully constructed for this sleuthhound business. If one could go on all-fours, or had eyes in one's knees, it would be a lot more practical.

Whether people like it or not, the fact remains that unless you continually increase sales you must either lose money or cut down quality.

The boat rocked perilously as they heaved and tore at the clinging weeds, razor-sharp and strong as grave-bands.

It seemed that the lust to power was a thing one grew out of. What one wanted, she thought ... was peace, and freedom from the pressure of angry and agitated personalities.