Quotes from Dorothy L. Sayers

To her, the beauty of an ordered life was more than a mere phrase; it was a dogma to be preached, a cult to be practised with passion and concentration.

that woman Forbes was no more use than a headache—

This, she felt, was her fault. Her idea in the first place. Her house. Her honeymoon. Her – and this was the incalculable factor in the thing – her husband. (A repressive word, that, when you came to think of it, compounded of a grumble and a thump.) The

The long white fingers tamped the tobacco firmly into the bowl and struck a match.

Let the galled jade wince'—

Victim," said the Hon. Freddy, "victim. Me for the corpse in the library.

the deceased. You are

Riddlesdale Lodge at half-past four. Deceased

Have some Oxford marmalade - and then I'll show you my Dante.

Bosh!' said Lord Peter.

If I can't make you see the thing in the right perspective this time I'll chuck it for good.

Me parece que lees demasiado —dijo lord Peter—, y la lectura de la filosofía, por ejemplo, tiene una influencia embrutecedora.

What devilish things we do when we try to be clever.

yet nondescripts, thought Harriet, were the most difficult of all human beings to analyze. You scarcely knew they were there, until—bang! Something quite unexpected blew up like a depth charge and left you marveling, to collect strange floating débris.

Gestures which delight in the right person are so indecent when performed by the wrong. In fact, it is only when we contemplate the loves of unpleasant people that we see the indecency of passion.

Taylor's Medical Jurisprudence, that canon of uncanonical practice and Baedeker of the back doors to death.

And what do all the great words come to in the end, but that?—I love you—I am at rest with you—I have come home.

And it is signed simply 'M.' A very cold letter, you may think—almost hostile in tone. And yet the appointment is made for 9:30.

When she said 'Come in!' the commonplace formula seemed to take on a startling significance. For good or evil, she had called in something explosive from the outside world to break up the ordered tranquillity of the place;

likes to see a bit o' money into the bargain – there's more to marriage, as they say, than four bare legs in a bed.

G. K. Chesterton says,' put in Wimsey, 'that most people with a very well-defined style write at times what looks like bad parodies of themselves. He mentions Swinburne, for instance – that bit about "From the lilies and languors of virtue to the raptures and roses of vice.

You yourselves will be able to judge whether that is a usual and natural form of expression

The patient was able to get about, visit acquaintances, do light work about the house, flowers and knitting and reading and so on, and to drive about the place—in fact, most of the things that old ladies do occupy their time with.

Nothing!" said Peter. "Begone, dull care! Eructavit cor meum.