45 Quotes by Menna van Praag

In my experience even inanimate objects have a will of their own, and they won’t be found until they want to be, until they’re good and ready, she says.

I love chocolate cake for breakfast,” Peggy stalls, “it sets me up for the day. A little decadence is good for the soul.” She’s been eating more cake than usual, lately. Impending death does have compensations after all, then, if only chocolate-covered ones.

I don’t think tea will quite do, we need something a little more fortifying on such an auspicious occasion. Hot chocolate with fresh cream, that’s the thing.

When a woman needs courage, for example, life might throw a few things at her to draw it out. When a woman needs to love herself, she might be lonely while life leaves her without external hearts to hide in.

If you get a chance you should marry an archaeologist. I don’t suppose there are too many to go around, but it’s the best sort of husband to have. The older a woman gets, the more he’s interested in her.

There’s as much chance of me leaving this kitchen,” Stella says, “as you putting down a book.

You can’t say you’ve failed to achieve something until you die,’ Bill said. ‘Or until you’ve tried absolutely everything; and you haven’t really tried everything until you’re dead. So you might have given up, but you certainly haven’t failed.

It’s a great shame, she thinks, that the heart cannot feel joy without also feeling pain, that it cannot know love without also knowing loss.

And when people stop focusing on their dreams they become lost in the maze of their minds, wandering around in endlessly repeating circles. Then the colours of life start to dull, and excitement starts to die. Until you’re trapped in a prison of your own making, looking out at life instead of living it.