Beverley Quotes & Sayings

Scrumpy," said Beverley. "What's the difference?" Beverley thought about it for a moment or two. "It's not made in a factory," she said. "So, no quality control then?" "Are you going to talk about it or drink it?" I took a swig - it was tart, alcoholic and tasted of apples. About what I look for in a cider, really. — Ben Aaronovitch

I was in New York and I walked into this pet store and came out with a dog. — Beverley Mitchell

He'd forgotten just how beautiful she was.
She was wearing a plain gown the color of weak, milky tea, largely covered by a black apron. There was a smudge of dirt across her cheek, and her gilded curls were an untamed riot with a cobweb draped across one side.
She was exquisite. — Jo Beverley

Do you ever find yourself bursting into a sort of lunatic laughter at the sheer prettiness of things? — Beverley Nichols

Trust your intuition, even when no one else sees your point of view. — Beverley Golden

Never believe that the fiction writing life makes sense ... It's insanity by definition. — Jo Beverley

James's expedition to Scotland is wholly imaginary, though there appears to have been space for it during Henry's progress to the North to pay his devotions at Beverley Minster. — Charlotte Mary Yonge

Music is so powerful to me. I had my IPod and headphones, and my sad playlist. I kind of ventured off for just a little bit to get into the scene. — Beverley Mitchell

Often, when I have been feeling lonely, when a book as been thrust aside in boredom [ ... ] I have lain back and stared at the shadows on the ceiling, wondering what life is all about [ ... ] and then, suddenly, there is the echo of the swinging door, and across the carpet, walking with the utmost delicacy and precision, stalks Four or Five or Oscar. He sits down on the floor beside me, regarding my long legs, my old jumper, and my floppy arms, with a purely practical interest. Which part of this large male body will form the most appropriate lap? Usually he settles for the chest. Whereupon he springs up and there is a feeling of cold fur [ ... ] and the tip of an icy nose, thrust against my wrist and a positive tattoo of purrs. And I no longer wonder what life is all about. — Beverley Nichols

When I settled to writing seriously, which would be in my 30s, I did expect to be published eventually, but my aspirations weren't very high. A published book and a few appreciative readers was my idea of heaven. — Jo Beverley

It makes me happy to think that not one single suggestion of Our Rose's has ever been adopted. Needless to say, when the water garden was eventually made, she claimed that it was all her own idea, merely because of the 'gleam' which she had 'seen,' out on the bare earth, that desolate day in January. She even suggested that she should be photographed with it, stretching out her hands for a lily. But if Our Rose is ever photographed with my pool, she will be well inside it, and she will be stretching out her hands for help. — Beverley Nichols

Let us be honest: most of us rather like our cats to have a streak of wickedness. I should not feel quite easy in the company of any cat that walked around the house with a saintly expression. — Beverley Nichols

I taught woman-centered childbirth classes for five years and have a particular interest in the history of childbirth practices. — Jo Beverley

But . . ." Dominic floundered around for a bit before pointing at me accusingly. "You said that there's weird shit, but it normally turns out to have a rational explanation."
"It does," said Beverley. "The explanation is a wizard did it. — Ben Aaronovitch

I don't think I wrote stories down when I was young, but I certainly made them up, perhaps sometimes losing track of the border between reality and make-believe. — Jo Beverley

We are what we are because of what we've been — Jo Beverley

Why do insurance companies, when they want to describe an act of God, invariably pick on something which sounds much more like an act of the Devil? One would think that God was exclusively concerned in making hurricanes, smallpox, thunderbolts, and dry rot. They seem to forget that He also manufactures rainbows, apple-blossom, and Siamese kittens. However, that is, perhaps, a diversion. — Beverley Nichols

To all the fallen: may they be young forever in heaven. To all the wounded: may they have strength and heal. To all the bereaved: may they feel joy again. And please God," he added quietly, "may there one day be an end to war. — Jo Beverley

Marriage is a book in which the first chapter is written in poetry and the remaining chapters in prose. — Beverley Nichols

We both know, you and I, that if all men were gardeners, the world at last would be at peace. — Beverley Nichols

To dig one's own spade into one's own earth! Has life anything better to offer than this? — Beverley Nichols

We're looking at complexity. We're looking at blond kids in Beverley Hills who can speak Spanish because they have been raised by Guatemalan nannies. We're looking at Evangelicals coming up from Latin America to convert the U.S. at the same time that L.A. movie stars are taking up Indian pantheism. — Richard Rodriguez

Living in a house where domestic violence goes on every day never feels like home. You don't have to suffer in silence. I'm giving my full support to this website as it will give proper and practical advice about what to do if you feel afraid. Remember, you're not alone. — Beverley Knight

You cannot have too many aconites. They cost, as I said before, about fifty shillings a thousand. A thousand will make a brave splash of colour, which lasts a month. If you can afford ten thousand, you are mad not to buy them. There are so many exciting places you can put them ... in the hollow of a felled tree, by the border of a pond, in a circle round a statue, or immediately under your window, so that you can press your nose against the glass, when it is too cold to go out, and stare at them, and remember that spring is on its way. — Beverley Nichols

Sometimes food is more than food — Jo Beverley

...If you are picking a bunch of mixed flowers, and if you happen to see, over in a corner, a small, sad, neglected-looking pink or paeony that is all by itself and has obviously never had a chance in life, you have not the heart to pass it by, to leave it to mourn alone, while the night comes on. You have to go back and pick it, very carefully, and put it in the centre of the bunch among its fair companions, in the place of honour. — Beverley Nichols

Venice is truly magical. The Devon-Dorset coast in England is so beautiful, and its sandstone cliffs are full of fossils, which can make for some very exciting walks. And I love Halifax, a great place with all the modern things you could want, plus a wonderful sense of history, and, of course, the sea. — Jo Beverley

You can't love me.'
'Don't be bossy. I can do what the hell I like. — Jo Beverley

I was strong enough not to let them get the best of me, but I'm definitely one who has taken what people say to heart and let it eat away at me. — Beverley Mitchell

I think it's so important to keep learning and keep your brain active. — Beverley Mitchell

In real life, one of my friends was killed in a car accident during our sophomore year. — Beverley Mitchell

Everyone knows a Wixen when we smell one. You smell the prettiest, a mixture of strawberries, sex and deceit. Dior should bottle it. — Beverley Price

Most people, early in November, take last looks at their gardens, are are then prepared to ignore them until the spring. I am quite sure that a garden doesn't like to be ignored like this. It doesn't like to be covered in dust sheets, as though it were an old room which you had shut up during the winter. Especially since a garden knows how gay and delightful it can be, even in the very frozen heart of the winter, if you only give it a chance. — Beverley Nichols

Well, I love geraniums, and anybody who does not love geraniums must obviously be a depraved and loathsome person. — Beverley Nichols

Actually, the kids at school don't treat me any differently at all just because I'm on television. — Beverley Mitchell

Mostly, nothing's really changed. I'm still the dorky nerd that I always was. — Beverley Mitchell

When a gently born spinster has little money, her choices are few. She might receive an offer of marriage, but it's unlikely to be from a wealthy man, so she'll have a hard life trying to make ends meet for her growing family. — Jo Beverley

Oh, it's so good — Jo Beverley

I started working on a line of clothes last year, but right now we're kind of at a standstill. — Beverley Mitchell

If you want a woman, you have to take her accessories, end of story. — Beverley Andi

To be overcome by the fragrance of flowers is a delectable form of defeat.
— Beverley Nichols

You'd think someone who could see the beauty in nature and capture it on canvas could see mold on the shower tile. — Beverley Andi

Doesn't love have to be tested by reality and time, or else isn't it only a dream? — Jo Beverley

By 1690, the English naturalist the Reverend John Banister was reporting that the Indians of the Hudson Bay area had been successfully tempted by traders to want 'many things which they had not wanted before, because they never had them, but which by means of trade are now highly necessary to them'. Two decades later, the traveller Robert Beverley observed, 'The Europeans have introduced luxury among the Indians which has multiplied their wants and made them desire a thousand things they never even dreamt of before. — Alain De Botton

It is only to the gardener that time is a friend, giving each year more than he steals. — Beverley Nichols

I wouldn't like to live in a castle now, but I'd enjoy a visit to Restormel in Cornwall in its 13th century prime. It's a circular castle with the rooms built against the outer walls and quite intimate in size. Life there wouldn't follow the pattern of more classic castle design. — Jo Beverley

Your life is your story. Be the character you'd want to read about. — Beverley Sylvester

The rake himself lived up to Amy's expectations, however, when he came out to greet his guests. Tall, dark, handsome, and dressed with devastating informality in an open-necked shirt, sleeves rolled up to expose his arms like a laborer. No one could fair to be aware of a lithe body beneath the slight amount of clothing, and there was a wicked gleam in his eye even if he was supposed to have been tamed by matrimony.
Amy found it difficult to believe that the very ordinary woman by his side had achieved such a miracle. Lady Templemore was short and her gown was a simple green muslin. Her face was close to plain and her brown hair was gathered into a simple knot at the back.
But then she smiled at her guests and was beautiful. When she turned to her husband with a comment, she was dazzling, and the look in his eye showed he was tamed indeed, if devotion so heated could be called tame at all. — Jo Beverley

Part of growing up is just taking what you learn from that and moving on and not taking it to heart. — Beverley Mitchell

A garden is a place for shaping a little world of your own according to your heart's desire. — Beverley Nichols

Still, it's tough trying to combine my acting career with my college career. — Beverley Mitchell

A gardener is never shut out from his garden, wherever he may be. Its comfort never fails. Though the city may close about him, and the grime and soot descend upon him, he can still wander in his garden, does he but close his eyes. — Beverley Nichols

If I had to give one piece of advice to incoming college freshmen, I'd say always be true to yourself. — Beverley Mitchell

Sure, I have a job now, but the acting business isn't always that solid, and so I wanted something to fall back upon. — Beverley Mitchell

Every moment of this strange and lovely life from dawn to dusk, is a miracle. Somewhere, always a rose is opening its petals to the dawn. Somewhere, always, a flower is fading in the dusk. — Beverley Nichols

For a garden is a mistress, and gardening is a blend of all the arts, and if it is not the death of me, sooner or later, I shall be much surprised. — Beverley Nichols

My best friend and I love to make fish faces. — Beverley Mitchell

When Mrs. Pattern first came into my life, she was gossiping in the lane with a nursemaid who was wheeling a perambulator containing a baby of exceptional repulsiveness.Babies, as all bachelors will agree, should not be allowed at large unless they are heavily draped, and fitted with various appliances for absorbing sound and moisture. If young married persons persist in their selfish pursuit of populating the planet, they should be compelled to bear the consequences. They should be shut behind high walls, clutching the terrible bundles which they have brought into the world, and when they emerge into society, if they insist on bringing these bundles with them, they should see that they are properly cloaked, muted, sealed up and, above all, dry. They should not wave them about in the streets to the alarm of sensitive persons who are used to the company of Siamese cats. — Beverley Nichols

Nowadays, I could not care less about making other people like me. I'm a good person, I don't need to do that anymore. — Beverley Mitchell

Urban Outfitters, eh," said Beverley. "That explains the Dr Denim shirt."
"My mum bought me that," I said.
"And you think that's less embarrassing? — Ben Aaronovitch

Perhaps you don't see yourself in animation," he said with a smile. "It's true your features are quite ordinary, but they become lively when you talk and you have what are called 'speaking eyes.' They shine with the light of your quick mind. — Jo Beverley

Now the woman, she was another story. Her instinct was strong. She had sensed the darkness. But she was curious. Afraid. Soon she would return, because she had to. All she had to do was lift the lid. It would dispose of her in a little while. Once night had fallen. All it wanted was the child. — Beverley Lee

How may a mortal, face and defeat the Kraken — Beverley Cross

I think it is silly to be amateur about anything when one has an opportunity of learning. — Beverley Nichols

It is rather his mind has so wide a range, and so rich a retention, that he simply cannot understand that ordinary folk do not always follow him. 'I little imagined,' he said, 'that I should find you in the posture of Sir Isaac Newton.' Oh dear, I thought, here it comes again. What on earth was the meaning of *that*? So I just said No... and went fiddling with the oil-squirter, trying to remember things about Newton. — Beverley Nichols

...He was succeeded by a gentleman who gazed at the Brussels sprouts and asked if the funny little knobs on the stalks were a form of disease. I told him yes. Eczema. — Beverley Nichols

The great epiphany of man is the recognition of the transience of now. — Beverley Sylvester

Ever day is a chance given to better your yesterday and brighten your tomorrow — Beverley Malcolm

Last summer I was staying at a house in Hampshire which was famous for the brilliance and the originality of its gardens. There were many of them, but the most beautiful of all was a walled garden in which every flower was blue. There were all the obvious things like delphiniums and acronitums and larkspurs, but the most beautiful blue of all came from the groups of cabbages - the ordinary blue pickling cabbage. Set against the blazing blue of the other flowers, it had a bloom and elegance which made it a thing of the greatest delight. — Beverley Nichols

She looked at him and smiled. She placed her hand upon his shoulder.
He took her right hand in his left and placed his other at her waist, looking at her as if she were an unexploded bomb.
They began to dance. — Jo Beverley

Life in the country teaches one that the really stimulating things are the quiet, natural things, and the really wearisome things are the noisy, unnatural things. It is more exciting to stand still than to dance. Silence is more eloquent than speech. Water is more stimulating than wine. Fresh air is more intoxicating than cigarette smoke. Sunlight is more subtle than electric light. The scent of grass is more luxurious than the most expensive perfume. The slow, simple observations of the peasant are more wise than the most sparkling epigrams of the latest wit. — Beverley Nichols

I grew up in a small hotel with many rooms, so when I became aware of 'The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,' I inspected all the wardrobes, sure one had to be a portal to another world. I was also a true believer in faeries, and perhaps still am. — Jo Beverley

She shut the door in the man's face, leaning back against it, her heart hammering with panic. — Jo Beverley

I want to wear out,' he [Oldfield] said very softly. 'To wear out. Not to rust out. — Beverley Nichols

That person, I can't remember who it was right now, who said the pen was mightier that the sword-I thnk they were wrong. I think the eraser is actually the most powerful tool. I wish there was an eraser that could erase the things a person did. And erase other people. Writing things down doesn't erase anything. What's done is done, and that really sucks. — Beverley Brenna

The seed of a blue lupin will usually produce a blue lupin. But the seed of a blue-eyed man may produce a brown-eyed bore ... especially if his wife has a taste for gigolos. — Beverley Nichols

Flee and your bad behavior will be fixed in people's minds. Return, seem in goo spirits, and everyone will doubt their own memory of events. — Jo Beverley

How do you find your mount, Miss de Lacy?"
Amy found it a slug. It was clear Rowanford had taken her caution too seriously. This horse would be ideal for a non-equestrian grandmother. "I feel very safe," she said.
"Excellent. I shall take good care of you, Miss de Lacy. Have no fear."
Amy sighed and wished there was a convenient piece of furniture to heft to prove she was not as fragile as she appeared. — Jo Beverley

By the way, the best place to find names for fictional characters, if you are ever foolish enough to write a novel, is in a Bradshaw or an ABC. All the nicest people always sound like railway stations. — Beverley Nichols

It's nice sometimes to be the river rather than the rock. — Jo Beverley

Food: Part of the spiritual expression of the French, and I do not believe that they have ever heard of calories. — Beverley Baxter

...a cyclamen that looks like a flight of butterflies, frozen for a single, exquisite moment in the white heart of Time... — Beverley Nichols

work and carried on until she was seventy-two. Grandad worked in a nearby mill — Beverley Callard

I've always loved history, from my youngest memories. My father enjoyed the great stories of history, like Hereward the Wake, Robin Hood, and Richard the Lionheart, and he shared them with me. I went on to do a degree in history, though I found it rather dry, because it was mostly about politics rather than dashing individuals! — Jo Beverley

Every silver spoon is tarnished. — Beverley Sylvester

...the Indian boy is the result of a curious convolution of branches in an old chestnut; there are two perfectly formed legs, a long slim body, a small knotted head, and two branching arms... The only drawback is that in order to [see him] you have to be lying in the bath. Unless you are in a prone position, gazing out of one particular window, he refuses to materialize.... Very few other people have seen him. You cannot ask people to come up to the bathroom and lie flat on their backs in order to see the little Indian boy. It would make them gloomy and suspicious, particularly if they were females. 'If you come up and lie down in the bathroom I will show you my little Indian boy....' No. Definitely not. Out. — Beverley Nichols

A garden without cats, it will be generally agreed, can scarcely deserve to be called a garden at all ... much of the magic of the heather beds would vanish if, as we bent over them, there was no chance that we might hear a faint rustle among the blossoms, and find ourselves staring into a pair of sleepy green eyes. — Beverley Nichols

Face battles when they come, not before.
-Lord Cynric Malloren — Jo Beverley

Me. That's what husbands are for. And for holding onto for comfort. And to make sure that life will be better. That is my wedding vow to you, — Jo Beverley

I think the hardest part about being a teenager is dealing with other teenagers - the criticism and the ridicule, the gossip and rumors. — Beverley Mitchell

You want to have your cake and eat it too.
That's what she'd said. And what the hell does that mean anyway? If I've got cake, what else would I do with it? That phrase never made any sense to me. — Beverley Kendall

Even though college has been hard, I don't want to give up. — Beverley Mitchell

There's a magical energy and power from the ocean. I was born in a room overlooking the sea, in the middle of a storm. Perhaps, then, it's not surprising that shores touch my soul. Science might disagree, but I think there's a difference in the air on a coast - the positive ions, perhaps. — Jo Beverley

It's never too late to become the person you thought you'd be x — Beverley Hollowed

For the longest time, I never thought I was intimidating to guys, but I'm kind of finding out that maybe there is some tiny thread of intimidation. — Beverley Mitchell

...A thing that is worth doing at all is worth doing badly... le mieux est l'ennemi du bien. — Beverley Nichols

And the simple fact was that it might be possible to make oneself fall in love, but only when the heart was free.
Amy was having to accept that her heart was not free. — Jo Beverley

Her eyelashes lay on her cheek, but they were not extraordinarily thick or long. Her eyebrows would benefit from plucking, but they were elegantly curved. — Jo Beverley

What I'd love to do would be to bring a person from the past to me. In that case I'd pick Jane Austen, because I'd like to know what really made her tick. It's my opinion that she was inhibited by her family and a desire to do the right thing. Away from all that, I believe she'd show new facets and enjoy the adventure. — Jo Beverley

It was not till I experimented with seeds plucked straight from a growing plant that I had my first success ... the first thrill of creation ... the first taste of blood. This, surely, must be akin to the pride of paternity ... indeed, many soured bachelors would wager that it must be almost as wonderful to see the first tiny crinkled leaves of one's first plant as to see the tiny crinkled face of one's first child. — Beverley Nichols