Quotes from Elizabeth Peters

Ramses had always been fond of Helen, in his peculiar fashion, but if he had looked at me as he was looking at her, I would have sent for a constable.

But the dust! And the clutter! My housewifely and scholarly instincts were equally offended.

I love you, he said flatly. I--love--you. Shall I elaborate? I have loved you. I do love you. I will love you. I didn't want to love you. I tried not to love you. I will undoubtably regret loving you, but--God help me--I love you--so much.

There is nothing more abominable than being in a state of bodily exhaustion and mental irritation; I was too lethargic to get up and seek some means of occupying my mind, but I was too uneasy to fall asleep.

I may say, without undue egotism, that when I make up my mind to do something, it is done quickly.

I would never have supposed that inexperienced girl was capable of such cold-blooded, calculating manipulation!

Don't sound so surprised. I have sensible moments, you know.

What a nice neat deep trench,' I said. 'Er - should Nefret be down in it?' 'She thought she saw a skull,' Ramses said. 'You know how she is about bones.

I knew the answer, and--of course--so did Ramses. He has superb breath control and always gets in ahead of me.

Since I am not as stupid as my children believe I am, I had immediately realized this might be a ruse, but I was not at all averse to a confrontation. In fact, I had been hoping for some such thing.

His masculinity was only too apparent

You don't sound like a librarian, she said. I'm on vacation, Jacqueline laughed. Well, I supposed there is an image, isn't there? But stereotypes are awfully misleading. there are typical librarians, but not all librarians are typical. Any more than any other profession.

I do not doubt he has a low opinion of women too. Gallantry is often a cloak for contempt.

love has a very dulling effect on the brain

Men like to create unnecessary organizations and give them impressive or mysterious names; this usually ends in increased confusion, and should therefore be ignored.

As the Egyptians say, Ramses can hear a whisper across the Nile.

Fists and rocks and clubs can do a limited amount of harm, but a gun is entirely different. It makes a weak man feel like a hero and a strong man feel as if he is immortal, and it removes the last inhibition a killer might feel. You don't have to be close to a man to put a bullet in him. You don't have to have to see his face.

why should any independent, intelligent female choose to subject herself to the whims and tyrannies of a husband? I assure you, I have yet to meet a man as sensible as myself!

The cat required far less attendance than a human child, which is one of the reasons why spinster ladies prefer felines to babies.

A woman's instinct, I always feel, supercedes logic.

If she hasn't learned to appreciate my sterling character and spectacular good looks by this time, it's not likely she will.

You certainly are a repository of useless information. How do you know all that?' David asked, with more amusement than admiration. 'I have a mind like a magpie's, easily distracted by interesting odds and ends,' Ramses admitted.

I felt about him as I might feel about a friendly, dimwitted dog that had decided to move in with us. He could not be cast out into the street, but he was shedding all over the furniture.

It was a needless precaution, I felt sure, but men always enjoy marching around with weapons and flexing their figurative muscles, and I saw no reason to deny them this harmless exercise.