27+ Barbara Pym Quotes On Society, Marriage And Humorous

Barbara Pym was an English novelist who wrote during the mid-20th century. She is best known for her humorous novels that often feature small-town English life. Her novels often focus on the lives of middle-class women and their relationships with friends and family. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Barbara Pym on society, love, life.

Top 10 Barbara Pym Quotes

1. How absurd and delicious it is to be in love with somebody younger than yourself. Everybody should try it.
2. My thoughts went round and round and it occurred to me that if I ever wrote a novel it would be of the 'stream of consciousness' type and deal with an hour in the life of a woman at the sink.
3. The burden of keeping three people in toilet paper seemed to me rather a heavy one.
4. I was so astonished that I could think of nothing to say, but wondered irrelevantly if I was to be caught with a teapot in my hand on every dramatic occasion.
5. There are no sick people in North Oxford. They are either dead or alive. It's sometimes difficult to tell the difference, that's all.
6. There are various ways of mending a broken heart, but perhaps going to a learned conference is one of the more unusual.
7. What a good thing there is no marriage or giving in marriage in the after-life; it will certainly help to smooth things out.
8. I realised that one might love him secretly with no hope of encouragement, which can be very enjoyable for the young or inexperienced.
9. Dulcie always found a public library a little upsetting, for one saw so many odd people there.
10. I stretched out my hand towards the little bookshelf where I kept cookery and devotional books, the most comfortable bedside reading.

Barbara Pym Short Quotes

• Novel writing is a kind of private pleasure, even if nothing comes of it in worldly terms.
• Of course it's alright for librarians to smell of drink.
• Those quotations were really quite obscure. Anyone can see that he is a very well read man.
• She had always been an unashamed reader of novels.
• I love Evensong. There's something sad and essentially English about it.

Barbara Pym Quotes About Life

Oh, this coming back to an empty house,' Rupert thought, when he had seen her safely up to her door. People - though perhaps it was only women - seemed to make so much of it. As if life itself were not as empty as the house one was coming back to. — Barbara Pym

Life is cruel and we do terrible things to each other. — Barbara Pym

The small things of life were often so much bigger than the great things . . . the trivial pleasure like cooking, one's home, little poems especially sad ones, solitary walks, funny things seen and overheard. — Barbara Pym

Barbara Pym Famous Quotes And Sayings

[The woman] paused and seemed to take a deep breath. 'You see,' she declared. 'I am Tom Mallow's aunt.' Catherine's first instinct was to burst out laughing. She wondered why there was something slightly absurd about aunts; perhaps it was because one thought of them as dear, comfortable creatures, somehow lacking in dignity and prestige. — Barbara Pym

I pulled myself up and told myself to stop these ridiculous thoughts, wondering why it is that we can never stop trying to analyse the motives of people who have no personal interest in us, in the vain hope of finding that perhaps they may have just a little after all. — Barbara Pym

It was odd how one found oneself making trivial conversation on important occasions. Perhaps it was because one could not say what was really in one's mind. — Barbara Pym

You know Mildred would never do anything wrong or foolish. I reflected a little sadly that this was only too true and hoped I did not appear too much that kind of person to others. Virtue is an excellent thing and we should all strive after it, but it can sometimes be a little depressing. — Barbara Pym

I imagine the proverb about too many cooks spoiling the broth can be applied to writing as well as anything else. The poetical or literary broth is better cooked by one person. — Barbara Pym

There are some things too dreadful to be revealed, and it is even more dreadful how, in spite of our better instincts,we long to know about them. — Barbara Pym

Oh, but it was splendid the things women were doing for men all the time, thought Jane. Making them feel, perhaps sometimes by no more than a casual glance, that they were loved and admired and desired when they were worthy of none of these things - enabling them to preen themselves and puff out their plumage like birds and bask in the sunshine of love, real or imagined, it didn't matter which. — Barbara Pym

Perhaps I need some shattering experience to awaken and inspire me, or at least to give me some emotion to recollect in tranquility. But how to get it? Sit here and wait for it or go out and seek it? . . . I expect it will be sit and wait. — Barbara Pym

Once outside the magic circle the writers became their lonely selves, pondering on poems, observing their fellow men ruthlessly, putting people they knew into novels; no wonder they were without friends. — Barbara Pym

Life Lessons by Barbara Pym

1. Barbara Pym's work demonstrates the importance of understanding and respecting the nuances of human relationships. She emphasizes the importance of kindness and empathy, and shows how small acts of kindness can make a big difference in the lives of those around us.
2. Pym's novels also showcase the power of humor to make difficult situations more bearable, and to bring people together.
3. Lastly, her work highlights the importance of maintaining a sense of self-worth and dignity, even in the face of adversity.