Judith Miller Quotes & Sayings

I buy 1920s iridescent Scottish glass. I love the way the sun hits it every morning. You touch something and you know. To me, people should buy something they love. Buy something you'd want to come downstairs and stroke. — Judith Miller

I used to say, 'Are you kidding?' about some prices for collectibles. I don't anymore because anything that screams its era is collectible. — Judith Miller

Dealers always like to sell chairs in sets of four, six, or eight. And they charge a premium for supplying the whole set. Individual chairs, though, go for much lower prices, and if you carry around a reference photo of the chairs you want, you may be able to build up a cut-price collection, chair by chair. — Judith Miller

Reporters, even flawed reporters, should not be jailed for protecting even flawed sources. — Judith Miller

I think when you get interested in antiques, the most frustrating thing is that books don't have enough photos. When you go to a flea market or garage sale, you see lots of things you've never seen before and you have no idea what the price is going to be or should be. — Judith Miller

I started buying bits of broken porcelain. I furnished our first flat with pieces of 'junk.' Some of that 'junk' is now worth an awful lot of money. What I was calling 'junk' in the '60s people wouldn't call 'junk' now. — Judith Miller

The 19th-century Continental porcelain plaques that are worth the most money are the pretty ones. — Judith Miller

The modern designers are quite showy, and a lot of the young people really like it. Costume jewelry has always been about being noticed and not discreet. — Judith Miller

You become an expert by working hard. We've got fantastic museums, collections and antique shows. You can go and just start looking. That's the great thing about knowledge. If you collect Doulton figures, you know about the rare ones. — Judith Miller

If you're at an antiques fair, and have been unable to beat the dealer down earlier in the day, pay a return visit at the end. They may be more inclined to accept your offer, rather than having to pack the piece up and take it home. — Judith Miller

Perfume has a long and fascinating history and the beautifully crafted bottles used to store it over the centuries demonstrate its importance. Each has mirrored the latest tastes in fashion technology, design and art. — Judith Miller

The great thing about costume jewelry is that there's something for everyone - there are very humorous pieces and very extravagant and outrageous pieces. — Judith Miller

Collection is an addiction. — Judith Miller

When I did my first price guide in 1979, publications weren't interested in mentioning it. Now I get phone calls weekly if not daily from publications and television shows who want to know what's hot, how to get started in antiques, and the best way to buy antiques. — Judith Miller

Junk stands and antique markets are the perfect place to pick up clues about the history of a country, region or town. — Judith Miller

Saddam's forces had leveled about four thousand villages and killed some 180,000 Kurds in Anfal - a "counterinsurgency gone wild," I wrote.16 Thousands had been shot and buried in mass graves. Others had starved to death in desert prisons, or been gassed in Halabja, Iraqi Kurdistan, where between 3,500 and 5,000 civilian adults and children had died on a single day in March 1988. Saddam had used chemical weapons against the Shiites in the south, but his attack in Halabja remains the world's largest chemical attack against a civilian-populated area in history. — Judith Miller

When you're visiting an antiques fair, turn left once you've passed through the entrance. Everyone else will turn right, which means you can get to the bargains before them. — Judith Miller

Although eBay is a fantastic tool for collectors who want to buy or sell, you really have to have knowledge of items before you embark. — Judith Miller

I think there's a bargain in every garage sale - not as much as there used to be, but they're still there. — Judith Miller

The first sign of a 'smoking gun,' they argue, may be a mushroom cloud. — Judith Miller