Susan Howatch

"A rational disposition must necessarily preclude a romantic outlook in life, and only the failures of this world can afford to dispense with a rational disposition."

"Recovering from an ill-starred romance is, after all, to anyone of sufficient will-power and self-respect, purely an attitude of mind."

"Friendships best, I said, and friendships forever because no baby can come along to spoil it."

"One must be rational about such matters and being rational need not mean being cold."

"Boredom on social occasions is an inescapable hazard for the over-educated, and for the over-ambitious it must be endured."

"But never mind, all the best heroines are beautiful orphans, abandoned to their fate, and the one thing thats certain about my situation is that Im going to be a heroine when I grow up. Can I be a hero? Well, I suppose you can try. But youll have to try very hard."

"Acquiring carnal knowledge is like swimming in the sea ... The seas so beautiful to look at, so wonderful to swim in, but you must never bathe unless its safe. People so often drown in the sea and some coasts are so very dangerous, ... like the Coast of Gower."

"Romance is the opiate of the dissatisfied, it anaesthesises them from the pain of their disordered second-rate lives [...] If romance is the opiate of the dissatisfied then surely nostalgia is the opiate of the disillusioned, for those who see all their dreams come true and find themselves living in a nightmare."

"Little girls dont stay playmates. Little girls become big girls and big girls become sweethearts."

"The English dont have opinions about the Irish. They have prejudices."

"Again, be patient. And have courage. Remember, everything passes, even the most unspeakable horrors."

"Death had won my three friends; Death had almost won me. But now I was the one who was going to win and I was going to win by outwitting Death over and over again ... To compete with Death, as I had discovered in the mountains, was to know one was alive."