Quotes from Myrtle Reed

... the song of the world is all of love.

Before, you think of it as a permanent bond of happiness; later, you see that it is a yoke, borne unequally. You marry to keep love, but sometimes that is the surest way to lose it.

Impermanence is the very essence of joy-the drop of bitterness that enables one to perceive the sweet.

When you borrow trouble you give your peace of mind as security.

Silence and reserve will give anyone a reputation for wisdom.

[On marriage:] Someone once said that it was like a crowded church - those outside were endeavouring to get in, and those inside were making violent efforts to get out.

Marriage is the cold potato of love.

Marriage is the process by which a woman deprives herself of an escort.

There are many people who consider love a dream, but they usually grow to think of marriage as the cold breakfast.

Three things I have longed to see ... The sea serpent, a white rhinoceros, and an unselfish man.

At twenty, men love woman; at thirty, a woman; and at forty, women.

Some women are born to be married, some achieve marriage, and others have marriage thrust upon them.

Womankind suffers from three delusions: marriage will reform a man, a rejected lover is heartbroken for life, and if the other women were only out of the way, he would come back.

Art, if it is art, will develop in whatever circumstances it is placed.

When the years bring wisdom, one learns to leave many problems to their own working out.

The body grows by food and work, the mind by use, and the soul through joy and pain.

The spirit in which one earns his daily bread means as much to his soul as the bread itself may mean to his body.

... sometimes, out of bitterness, the years distill forgiveness.

There is only one path which leads to the house of forgiveness - that of understanding.

Silence and reserve will give anyone a reputation for wisdom.

The heart's seasons seldom coincide with the calendar. Who among us has not been made desolate beyond all words upon some golden day when the little creatures of the air and meadow were life incarnate, from sheer joy of living? Who among us has not come home, singing, when the streets were almost impassable with snow, or met a friend with a happy, smiling face, in the midst of a pouring rain?

By day we may deal with the airy superstructure of our emotions, but, at three in the morning, we get down to the foundation. At night the soul claims the right to stand face to face with itself, as before some mirror placed in a pitiless light and, with unsparing eyes, seek the truth.

A man says: "I love you - will you marry me?" What he really means is: "Will you come to look after my house, do my mending, bear my children, bring them up, cook for me when necessary, and see that the plumbing is in perfect order? I shall give you board and clothes, though you may have to speak several times about the clothes, and an occasional pat on the cheek.

Three things I have longed to see," murmured Miss Cynthia, pointedly. "The sea serpent, a white rhinoceros, and an unselfish man.