190 Quotes by Maeve Binchy

I once got a huge, expensive flower arrangement from a person I didn’t like, who sent it out of pure guilt. It had a hideous bird-of-paradise in the middle, and I thought it would never fade and die. I hated it.

I try to make my characters kind of ordinary, somebody that anybody could be. Because we’ve all had loves, perhaps love and loss, people can relate to my characters.

The rage she felt was a real thing, you could almost take it out of her and see it, like a red mist.

I had a very happy childhood, which is unsuitable if you’re going to be an Irish writer.

On the first day of school, my father told me I’d be the most popular girl and everyone would love me and want to be my friend. It wasn’t so, but it gave me an enormous amount of confidence.

The day she realized that there were many ways to go, and Mother’s was only one way. Not necessarily the right way, and not at all the wrong way. Just one of the many ways ahead.

Stop thinking like Alice in Wonderland, Celia told herself sternly. You’re a grown-up, it’s no use shutting your eyes, wishing things would happen.

It’s what people do is important, not what they say or feel.

I couldn’t have children, so that’s the bad side. But compared to everything else I have, it’s not all that terribly bad. I count my winners rather than my losers.