18 Quotes by Ruth Park

Elva had said nothing to anyone. She prayed earnestly that she was "all right", explaining over and over again to God what the doctor had said, and how she couldn't properly look after the children she already had. Elva liked to pray in front of a statue similar to the one in her mother's living-room. She was not praying to the statue, but it was a kind of magical doll that kept her thoughts focussed on the Being to whom she prayed.

[a]nd the Pig Man came in from Waitomo and swore that if Louisa didn't marry him he'd damn well vote Labour at the next election."And I don't care if the country does go to rack and ruin," he said.

And when he got home he started on Mumma. He hated her then, because in her fatness and untidiness and drabness she reminded him of what he himself was when he was sober.

Sweeties were a breakfast cereal. They did not snap,crackle or pop, or do anything the more talented cereals did.

The announcer, in milky tones, rolled out the commercial; it was all about some sort of washing powder that made laundry days a mere frolic in the backyard

What has being a girl to do with anything if a person in properly qualified?' ... 'It's what you call prejudice,' she said.

Then she said, with piteous defiance, "If I could love her, the Good Lord could, and he won't be too hard on an old lady who didn't have an easy life.

I've got lots of brains," said Wombat. "You listen to them rattle." He shook his head and it rattled beautifully.

"You know, Mouse," Tabby said, "a brilliant cat like me should have smart friends; people who can count to more than four." "I can count to more than four," answered Mouse, very offended. "And I can do hard sums, and I know geography and history, and I can knit and ..."