Quotes by : Barbara Pym

One did not drink sherry before the evening, just as one did not read a novel in the morning.

Letty allowed her to ramble on while she looked around the wood, remembering its autumn carpet of beech....

I stretched out my hand towards the little bookshelf where I kept cookery and devotional books, the most....

You know Mildred would never do anything wrong or foolish. I reflected a little sadly that this was only....

He certainly is very charming, but he makes me feel slightly ill at ease—almost as if I were a woman....

It was the ring on the left hand that people at the Old Girls' Reunion looked for. Often, in fact nearly....

We, my dear Mildred, are the observers of life. Let other people get married by all means, the more the....

It seemed so much safer and more comfortable to live in the lives of other people - to observe their....

Once outside the magic circle the writers became their lonely selves, pondering on poems, observing their....

I realised that one might love him secretly with no hope of encouragement, which can be very enjoyable....