Miss Brodie Quotes & Sayings

Ruby: You can put whatever name you like on it but at the end of the day a missed opportunity is a missed opportunity. But don't worry; I think there's a lesson to be learned in all this. — Cecelia Ahern

In modern novels, there is no one I want to copy. My style 'is a poor thing, but it is my own.' — Jane Gardam

So how old was Miss Brodie, when she was in her damn prime? — Rodney Ross

Do you know, Sandy dear, all my ambitions are for you and Rose. You have got insight, perhaps not quite spiritual, but you're a deep one, and Rose has got instinct.'
'Perhaps not quite spiritual' said Sandy.
'Yes,' said Miss Brodie, 'you're right. Rose has got a future by virtue of her instinct.'
...
'I ought to know because my prime has brought me instinct and insight, both. — Muriel Spark

Strength does not come in those times when you hit the mark; it comes in those times when you strive to but miss. — Deborah Brodie

I love you as the moon loves the night
to show her charm, beauty and magic of light. — Debasish Mridha

If I cannot live with myself, there must be two of me: the 'I' and the 'self' that 'I' cannot live with. Maybe, I thought, only one of them is real. — Eckhart Tolle

The Brodie set did not for a moment doubt that she would prevail. As soon expect Julius Caesar to apply for a job at a crank school as Miss Brodie. She would never resign. If the authorities wanted to get rid of her she would have to be assassinated. — Muriel Spark

Miss Brodie was easily the equal of both sisters together, she was the square on the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle and they were only the squares on the other two sides. — Muriel Spark

I am putting old heads on your young shoulders,' Miss Brodie had told them at the time. — Muriel Spark

It was then that Miss Brodie looked beautiful and fragile, just as dark, heavy Edinburgh itself could suddenly be changed into a floating city when the light was a special pearly white and fell upon one of the gracefully fashioned streets. In the same way Miss Brodie's masterful features became clear and sweet to Sandy when viewed in the curious light of the woman's folly, and she never felt more affection for her in her later years than when she thought upon Miss Brodie silly. — Muriel Spark

Mr. Cruncher ... always spoke of the year of our Lord as Anna Dominoes: apparently under the impression that the Christian era dated from the invention of a popular game, by a lady who had bestowed her name upon it. — Charles Dickens

He found and praised Muriel Spark's The Driver's Seat. I said I found it too schematic and preferred The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. He nodded, but not in agreement, it seemed, more like a therapist who now understood my problem. — Ian McEwan

America was a thing I saw on TV - that wasn't a real world. That wasn't within my realm of dreaming. — Trevor Noah

For those who like that sort of thing," said Miss Brodie in her best Edinburgh voice, "That is the sort of thing they like. — Muriel Spark

Esteem for the army - never in this country regarded, in the continental manner, as a popular expression of the national will - implies a kind of innocence. — Anthony Powell

Honestly, on so many levels, I feel like motherhood has prepared me even better for directing than film school because all it is is troubleshooting and dealing with different personalities and emotions and trying to make everybody happy and at the end of the day reaching your own personal goals and agendas. — Christine Swanson

Six years previously, Miss Brodie had led her new class into the garden for a history lesson underneath the big elm. On the way through the school corridors they passed the headmistress's study. The door was wide open, the room was empty.
'Little girls,' said Miss Brodie, 'come and observe this.'
They clustered round the open door while she pointed to a large poster pinned with drawing-pins on the opposite wall within the room. It depicted a man's big face. Underneath were the words 'Safety First'.
'This is Stanley Baldwin who got in as Prime Minister and got out again ere long,' said Miss Brodie. 'Miss Mackay retains him on the wall because she believes in the slogan "Safety First". But Safety does not come first. Goodness, Truth and Beauty come first. Follow me. — Muriel Spark

The noblest mind the best contentment has — Edmund Spenser