Skip to content

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 Jane and Prudence (1953)

Another quote →

More quotes by Barbara Pym

Those quotations were really quite obscure. Anyone can see that he is a very well-read man.

Crampton Hodnet (1940)

Near them stood a thin woman with purple hair and a surprised expression, as if she had not expected that it would turn out to be quite that colour.

A Glass of Blessings (1958)

'What do women do if they don't marry,' she mused, as if she had no idea what it could be, having been married once herself and about to marry again.

Excellent Women (1952)

'One hears that so many husbands coming back from the war find that their civilian clothes have been devoured by moth,' said Winifred seriously. 'That must be a dreadful shock.'

Excellent Women (1952)

'Every man should have a wife,' declared the rector firmly. 'A single clergyman is the prey of every spinster in the parish. He should marry for safety, if for no other reason.'

All Barbara Pym quotes →

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Barbara Pym (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.