Delia Quotes & Sayings

You could have been Bethany Matthews, Delia Hopkins, Cleopatra - it wouldn't matter. And if you'd grown up with a thousand lemon trees in the middle of the desert, with a cactus instead of a Christmas tree and a pet armadillo, well then, I would have gone to law school at Arizona State, I guess. I would have defended illegal aliens crossing the border. But we still would have wound up together, Dee. No matter what kind of life I had, you'd be at the end of it. — Jodi Picoult

I'm planning to give up worrying. I want to, but I'm worried I won't be able to. — Delia Ephron

Delia," he says. "I'm going to do the best I can today."
"I know that."
"But I also wanted to say I'm sorry."
My mind swirls with sentences I read last night in Fitz's writing. "For what?"
Eric looks at me with so much unsaid that I expect the moment to crystallize, fall to the table like a marble. But he lifts his glass, breaking the spell. "Just in case," he says. — Jodi Picoult

One cannot overstate the potential for hysteria on a movie set. Everyone always acts as if making the movie is as important as eradicating malaria. — Delia Ephron

In Los Angeles, by the time you're 35, you're older than most of the buildings. — Delia Ephron

I had loved her as a mother, and though she had put forth her best effort to love me as a son, a difference existed after she learned the truth from Delia. Yet I did not hold her responsible; how could I blame her for an inability to love the part of me that I, too, loathed? — Kathleen Grissom

A message to the best football supporters in the world. We need a 12th man here. Where are you? Where are you? Let's be having you. Come on! — Delia Smith

I sit for a few moments in the empty courtroom. If this were like old times, I would got home and tell Delia that I'd lost the hearing. I'd repeat verbatim what the judge had said, and I'd ask her to interpret it. We'd dissect my performance until she finally threw up her hands and said we were going nowhere with any of this.
She will not be back tonight, I suppose. And we're still going nowhere. — Jodi Picoult

A cake is a very good test of an oven: if it browns too much on one side and not on the other, it's not your fault - you need to have your oven checked. — Delia Smith

I laughed, loud enough that Delia looked up at me. She made motions for me to come over, but I pretended to be looking past her into the food tent. "Hurry. Pretend you're pointing something out so I can pretend not to see her." Luke put a hand on my shoulder and pointed with the other towards the sky. "Look, the moon." "That was the best you could come up with?" I demanded. — Maggie Stiefvater

On the subject of spinach: divide into little piles. Rearrange again into new piles. After five of six maneuvers, sit back and say you are full. — Delia Ephron

In the family I grew up in, being called boring was like being called an ax murderer. — Delia Ephron

Some things are meant to be broken. Imperfect. Chaotic. — Sarah Dessen

Many fairy tales and ballads present us with animals who are nobler, truer, and kinder than the greedy human beings who desire to possess them. I guess I tend to read these stories as very early (and possibly unconscious) feminist texts. — Delia Sherman

But quite honestly I can't help being a passionate football supporter. If that's my sin, I'm guilty. — Delia Smith

Memories are fallible and a timer can save a lot of hard work from going out of the window. — Delia Smith

It consists entirely of people who are not related by blood, many of whom can't stand each other. — Delia Ephron

She throws her arms around me; I string this feeling beside the other hundred memories I have of her touching me. "I don't know what I'd do without you," Delia says. — Jodi Picoult

His mama beat him with an ugly stick so hard, it gone straight on till his soul. — Delia Sherman

New Yorkers are born all over the country, and then they come to New York City and it hits them: Oh, that's who I am. — Delia Ephron

Which is completely out-of-line behavior. Then you are wholly within your rights to stomp on their foot." "No," Delia said, over her shoulder. "Actually, you're not. Just excuse yourself as politely as possible, and get out of arm's reach." Kristy looked at me, shaking her head. "Stomp them." she said, under her breath. "Really — Sarah Dessen

I knew Kristy was probably exacting
the revenge she thought I
was due, while Delia moved right behind her, making apologies and smoothing
rough edges. Monica was
most likely following her own path, either oblivious or deeply emotionally
invested, depending on what
you believed, while Wes worked the perimeter, always keeping an eye on
everything. There was a whole
other world out there, the Talbots' world, where I didn't belong now, if I ever
had. But it was okay not to
fit in everywhere, as long as you did somewhere. So I picked up my tray, careful
to keep it level, and
pushed through the door to join my friends. — Sarah Dessen

As we got older, we grew comfortable in roles that met our parents' expectations. Nora was the smart one. Delia, the comedian. I was the pretty, obedient one. And Amy was the adventurous mischief-maker. — Hallie Ephron

The truth of the matter is that we've all got cracks in our spirits, and we have to remember they're only there because we need them ... Otherwise, how could God's grace filter in deep enough to give us the joy and peace we're all searching for in this world. It couldn't, plain and simple. — Delia Parr

I would figure out, later, how to explain to my boss that, for me, Delia will never be a story, but a happy ending. — Jodi Picoult

We can't go into the room where Sophie's sleeping, so I haul her into the backseat of her rental car, parked two feet in front of us. It seems ridiculous, adolescent, and in a way, perfectly fitting. Our knees knock against the windows and our feet get in the way, and because it is Delia, we even laugh. — Jodi Picoult

Preparing for the worst is an activity I have taken up since I turned thirty-five, and the worst actually began to happen. — Delia Ephron

God, secrets could simply do you in. — Delia Ephron

Maybe the truth can't be buried. Or maybe it can't stay buried. Maybe the very nature of truth is that it will ultimately reveal itself. — Delia Ephron

In your standard-issue family, of which few remain, but on which our expectations are still based, there are parents and there are children. The way you know which are which, aside from certain size and age differences and despite any behavior similarities, is that the parents are the bossy ones. — Delia Ephron

I think happy, companionate marriages between men and women who respect each other (as far as is consistent with being actual human beings) should be every bit as poetry-worthy as angst, bitterness, and shame. — Delia Sherman

I learned many interesting things from Delia: for example, that she and Gulya had both married alcoholics, but Delia's alcoholic had taken all her money, whereas Gulya had managed her alcoholic well and taken all his money. — Elif Batuman

I love it that I'm standing alone, it doesn't bother me, actually I prefer it, actually I don't give a shit. I am a superior being in an alien world. No, in a world of red-faced aliens. That thought tickled her, but only for a minute. Mainly she longed to feel that she wasn't invisible. — Delia Ephron

I watch her do the simplest things: brushing her hair into a ponytail, feeding the dog, tying Sophie's shoelaces, and I want to tell her what she means to me, but I never actually say the words. After all, to acknowledge Delia as a drug, I'd have to face the fact that one day I might have to go without her and this I can't do. — Jodi Picoult

If I was a Mayor, I would sort the traffic out and that includes public transport. The traffic jams really get on my nerves. — Delia Smith

Food is for eating, and good food is to be enjoyed ... I think food is, actually, very beautiful in itself. — Delia Smith

In 35 years of being in the media, I've had all this mud flung at me many, many times. It's not the first time. It's nothing unusual. I've been through it all before and the best way to deal with it is not to read them. — Delia Smith

Who cared that he couldn't spell? She was a good-enough speller for both of them. With luck, their children would take after her. — Delia Ephron

If you are a stepparent, rush right out and get yourself a dog. Because it's very nice to have someone in the house that loves you. — Delia Ephron

It's not that I believe everything happens for a reason,' she said. 'It's just that... I just think that some things are meant to be broken. Imperfect. Chaotic. It's the universe's way of providing contrast, you know? There have to be a few holes in the road. It's how life is'
...
'But if everything was always smooth and perfect,' she continued,'you'd get too used to that, you know? You have to have a little bit of disorganization now and then. Otherwise, you'll never really enjoy it when things go right. '
~Delia, pg 93 and 94 — Sarah Dessen

Delia realised you should see plenty of people you love, because the meaningful conversations don't happen in the first twenty four hours together, or forty-eight, or even the first few days. They came at moments like this. — Mhairi McFarlane

I will not allow a Delia Smith cookbook in my house! It's all so precise with Delia, and it makes cooking seem so inaccessible. — Theresa May

The real love for somebody comes from getting to know them very well. — Delia Smith

My agent, Debbie, saying, 'Don't get involved in advertising.' She gets so many calls a day about me promoting a product, but I am really pleased I have never gone down that route. I don't want somebody else to make a saucepan with my name on it. — Delia Smith

Not all animal brides are doomed. Not all men are greedy or violent or possessive. — Delia Sherman

Mam said I was growing up. I felt that I was dying. — Delia Sherman

Someone once said, that the internet is the bathroom wall of the 21 century. And that appears to be true, especially since Bobrick transitioned to plastic laminates removing the opportunity to defame others behind those closed doors. — Delia J. Colvin

Delia let out a resigned sigh. 'I couldn't help her, and she didn't want to stay. So there was nothing more I could do.' 'But you said she was in trouble.' Delia nodded. 'She is, but I can't force help on her. 'She'll come back when she's ready.' 'If she's every ready,' Lydia clarified. 'That's true. Some people never are,' Delia agreed thoughtfully. — Amanda Hocking

I can't rhyme for little green apples. What I can do is scan and make patterns. — Delia Sherman

Please God, I'm begging you — Sarah Dessen

Clever? who said that we all had to be clever? But we have to have courage. The whole position of women is what it is to-day, because so many of us have followed the line of least resistance, and have sat down placidly in a little provincial town, waiting to get married. No wonder that the men have thought that this is all that we are good for. — Winifred Holtby

You know why I like to talk to you, Delia? You never interrupt with your experiences. Not jiggling your foot till you get a chance to jump in with your life history. — Anne Tyler

For me, creative energy is like an old-fashioned ground-water well. When the well is dry, it's dry. I can dig all I like, and all I'll get for my pains is sore hands, some very bad prose, and maybe (if I'm lucky) a few odd droplets of notes I can actually use. Or not. It's usually not worth it. After many years, I've discovered that it's better to wait until some ground water seeps back into the well rather than to try and lick up every drop as it emerges. — Delia Sherman

I was always decoding. I was hyperalert.
Being hyperalert is a lasting thing. Being a watcher. Noticing emotional shirts, infinitesimally small tremors that flit over another person's face, the jab in a seemingly innocuous word, the quickening in a walk, an abrupt gesture - the way, say, a jacket is tossed over a chair. — Delia Ephron

When I was in elementary school, I was a big fan of the zip-off pants that could be turned into shorts. The Delia's catalog used to be my bible. — Hayley Williams

I know I told you to go to hell," I say, "but I'm glad you ignored me."
"Delia, that newspaper story
"
"You know what?" I say, trying to keep my voice from breaking. "Right now, I don't need a journalist. But I sure could use a friend."
He hunches his shoulders. "I have references."
I offer up the smallest smile, a bridge between us. "Actually," I confess, "you're the only one who applied. — Jodi Picoult

And I think she works so much becasue she can be in control of it, you know?' I said. She nodded. 'It makes her feel, I don't know, safe.'
I can understand that,' Delia said softly. 'Losing someone can make you feel very out of control. Totally so.'
I know,' I said. 'But it's not really fair. Like, after my dad died, I wanted to be okay for her. So I was. Even when I had to fake it. But now, when I really do feel okay, she's not happy with me. Because I'm not perfect anymore.'
Grieving doesn't make you imperfect,' Delia said quietly, as Bert came back out to the van, adjusting one of the carts inside. 'It makes you human. We all deal with things differently. — Sarah Dessen

All my life I have written letters - to our mother, our relatives, a wide circle of friends and acquaintance, to my husband, to you. Correspondence has always been as necessary to my happiness as a well-cooked dinner, and I've found it more sustaining for its generosity: an act of charity that returned to me a hundredfold ... — Delia Sherman

Everyone thinks when they start writing that they can't do it. I was lucky. My sister Delia was the most important person in terms of encouraging me. — Hallie Ephron

He turned to me. "Call me later?"
"Yes."
"Promise?"
"I promise," I said.
And then he leaned down and kissed me. And this time it wasn't Romeo kissing Juliet. It was Quinn kissing Delia. And that was even better. — Jennifer Sturman

including Professor Oak and Delia Ketchum who is Ash's mother. Meanwhile, Ash and his friends meet and become friends with a trainer named Lisa. They come into Greenfield in the process and agree to join in to rescue — Luvero

I'm screwed," Eric repeats, and shakes his head. "I have to go. Take care of her, okay?"
He gives Delia to me as if she were a jewel to be smuggled, a prayer to be whispered between heretics. A pawn. Eric is halfway across the parking lot by the time I answer. "I always do," I say. — Jodi Picoult

Heart: Because you're hurt. Because even though I'm broken, I still exist. — Delia Foster

I'm burning, after all, even if it's not for my convictions. Does flesh charring off at the bone hurt less when you know you are right, even though everyone thinks you are wrong?
That line of reasoning leads me right to Andrew.
And then it's a fast beeline to thinking of Delia.
I don't think anyone has ever died of unrequited love. I wonder if I'll be the first. — Jodi Picoult

I love the Bronte sisters, but I feel a closer kinship to the Ephron sisters, Nora and Delia, if only because their work makes me laugh more than the Brontes. I also love the Mitford sisters with their secret language and their endless letters back and forth. — Kate Klise

In that weekly ecstatic keeping of faith and bearing of witness, Delia fell in love with singing. Singing was something that might make sense of a person. Singing might make more sense of life than living had to start with. — Richard Powers

You are a long trail through the woods," she said. "And in the woods people prefer a shortcut." Our — Delia Ephron

If you think about something else hard enough, you can mostly control your feelings. — Delia Ephron

But there's another part of me that knows no matter how Delia and I go forward from this point, it won't be the same. Because when she smiles, I will look away before it is contagious. When we sit beside each other, I will make sure that our shoulders do not brush. When we speak, there will be spaces between our words just the shape and size of that damn kiss. — Jodi Picoult

I have always read all the latest cookery books and magazines, from all over the world. — Delia Smith

Perhaps that's a smile on Delia's face-but Delia's half skull turns every expression into a leer. She says, Your uncle had a talent, kid. He made families wherever he went. — Daryl Gregory

Every time I complete a major project I reward myself with two full days of just reading and coffee! I do justify that it is my work! — Delia J. Colvin

Shit," Delia said. "I mean, shoot. No, actually, I mean shit. I really do. — Sarah Dessen

I'm not used to sugar-coating my words, Delia. I call 'em like I see 'em and sometimes I can be a dick." This wasn't news to me, not after the way he'd ended our conversation this morning. "Is that supposed to be an apology?" His chest shook as he laughed, the sound wrapping around me as I felt the reverberations on my cheek. "More like a heads up. You wanna do this thing with me, you better be prepared to brace and take me as I am - in bed and out." "This thing?" "Baby, you just gave yourself to me. When you got on your knees and crawled over my body so I could eat your pussy while you sucked my dick? That was the start of something between us. I'm not sure what to call it. Words are your thing, not mine. Feel free to put a name to it. — Rochelle Paige

That was a weird thought. My straight-up mother being bothered by faeries? Delia was even weirder. I could picture the scene. Faerie: Come away, human. Delia: Why? Faerie: Untold delights and youth forever. Delia: I'm holding out for a better offer. Ta. — Maggie Stiefvater

It's not because I don't want to hurt Delia's feelings. It's because when she is bruised, I'm the one who aches. — Jodi Picoult

A measuring jug is also vital when cooking rice, as this is always measured by volume rather than by weight. — Delia Smith

Abel was arrested. So was the guy with me. Help me get Delia out of the trunk."
His expression borders on horror.
"Well, you knew you'd have to let her out eventually when you put her in there, didn't you? — Rysa Walker

She has bitten into a crisp juicy apple and wondered if the bite and the thought were connected
one never knew what went together, and seemingly random acts could be cosmically related. — Delia Ephron

I found in my whole career the best thing that can happen to you is that you hear what people want. — Delia Smith

What was the good of dreaming of adventure if you turned your back on the first one that came your way? — Delia Sherman

Clothes have special power. I'll always remember the raspberry colored v-necked silk sweater I was wearing on my husband and my first date. If I hadn't been wearing that sweater that night, would any of it have happened? — Delia Ephron

I'm sorry to disturb you, madam,' said Nurse, 'but I thought I'd better speak to you. It's about Miss Delia's knickers' she continued, after a glance at the Vicar and a rapid decision that his cloth protected him. 'She really hasn't a pair fit to wear... — Angela Thirkell

Good kitchen equipment is expensive, but most items last a lifetime and will pay for themselves over and over again. — Delia Smith

With his coming are the dread fires born again. The hills burn, and the land turns sere. The tides of men run out, and the hours dwindle. The wall is pierced, and the veil of parting raised. Storms rumble beyond the horizon, and the fires of heaven purge the earth. There is no salvation without destruction, no hope this side of death.
-fragment from The Prophecies of the Drqagon believed translated by N'Delia Basolaine First Maid and Swordfast to Raidhen of Hol Cuchone (circa 400 AB) — Robert Jordan

We ate in fret-filled silence until Ophie said, "Okay, enough of that feeling down in the dumps. We are going to put on our best clothes and go to church. We will sing. We will praise the Lord. We will celebrate Miss Delia's life. So you two put a smile on your faces. Well-mannered ladies know that a funeral provides us the opportunity to comfort the living. There'll be plenty of time to mourn the dead for years to come." I — Terrie Farley Moran

I sometimes think the chef end of cooking is not the real end of cooking. Cooking is all about homes and gardens, it doesn't happen in restaurants. — Delia Smith

As they reached the steps to the house, the door opened. A woman in a gray dress and white apron glared at them.
Taken aback, Delia faltered.
Mr. Livingston leaned over. "Don't mind Mrs. Graves, my housekeeper," he said in a low voice full of humor, obviously meant to reassure her. "That's her normal expression. She only smiles once a year on Christmas. — Debra Holland

Being in your twenties has changed a lot since I was in my twenties, but it is still a time everything awful that happens is awful in a romantic way, even if you don't admit it (and you can't admit it because then you would be less important in the tragedy you're starring in, your own life) ... because in your twenties you know, even if you don't admit this either, even if this is buried deep in your subconscious, that you can waste an entire decade and still have a life. — Delia Ephron

Okay, that's just bull." Aurelia snorted. "You can't be friends with someone you have the fuzzies for. Oh sure you can try, but sooner or later the fuzzy will get to you and before you know it, out with the self control and you both will be going at it like bunnies. — Delia Winters

Aren't we most aware of our animal natures when love or hunger or hatred burns through reason and encourages us to do exactly what we desire to do, with frequently tragic results? — Delia Sherman

I cheated at school. I remember on one occasion I wrote some history dates in pen on my leg. So when there was a question like 'What year did that happen?', I'd lift my skirt up and have a look. — Delia Smith

I don't get insomnia, but I do get the odd night when I can't unwind. — Delia Smith

There is madness in every single being, is there not? — Delia Winters

I knew her well enough to understand that when Delia pushed you away, it was her way of making sure she didn't get shoved first. — Jodi Picoult

Poetry, for me, conveys the essence of narrative rather than its particulars. — Delia Sherman

One quarter of what you buy will turn out to be mistakes. — Delia Ephron

I had Sophie in my arms when Eric came in. He went straight to Delia and kissed her on the mouth, then bent his forehead against hers for a moment, as if whatever he was thinking may be transferred by osmosis. Then Eric turned, his eyes locking on his daughter. "You can hold her," Delia prompted.
But Eric didn't make any move to take Sophie from me. I took a step toward him, and saw what Delia must have overlooked
Eric's hands were shaking so hard that he had buried him in his coat pockets.
I pushed the baby against his chest, so that he'd have no choice but to grab hold. "It's okay," I said under my breath-To Eric? To Sophie? To myself?-and as I transferred this tiny prize to Eric's arms, I held long longer than I had to. I made damn sure he was steady, before I let go. — Jodi Picoult

It has taken me twenty-eight years to be able to admit that I'm glad I did not know my mother until now. Not because, as my father suspected, she would ruin my life, but because this way, I did not have to bear witness as she ruined hers.
My mother's sorrow is so powerful, it cracks the clay tile beneath her feet; it makes the water in the fountain behind us overflow. "Delia," she says, as her eyes fill with tears. "I'm trying."
"Me, too." I reach for her hand: a compromise, a good-bye. Maybe this is as good as it gets. — Jodi Picoult

I was Juliet and Quinn was Romeo, and the lines weren't dead black-and-white words on a page but somehow alive, as natural and real as the argument we'd had about the spider and the fly. The rows of empty seats were gone, and we were in a candlelit ballrooom, wrapped in our own cocoon of words. But the playful banter of our words couldn't mask what we both knew
that after this, nothing would be the same .
And then we got to the kissing part, which we'd only read through together and had never really rehearsed. But it didn't matter, because I was still Juliet and Quinn was still Romeo, his gray-green eyes fixed on mine. And when he bent to kiss me, it was Romeo's lips on Juliet's.
Even so, Juliet was just as stunned as I would've been. When I said the last line, I was speaking for both of us. You kiss by the book. — Jennifer Sturman