Home > Author > Eva Ibbotson
1 " They were steaming out of the station before Maia asked, 'Was it books in the trunk?''It was books, admitted Miss Minton.And Maia said, 'Good. "
― Eva Ibbotson , Journey to the River Sea
2 " She was so intelligent that she could think herself into beauty. Intelligence...they don't talk about it much, the poets, but when a woman is intelligent and passionate and good... "
― Eva Ibbotson , A Company of Swans
3 " When you're sad, my Little Star, go out of doors. It's always better underneath the open sky. "
― Eva Ibbotson , A Countess Below Stairs
4 " There are those who dance the notes, and those who dance the music. "
5 " There are those who dance the notes and those who dance the music. "
― Eva Ibbotson
6 " After all, Betty was ill and she was her sister, and she wouldn't be able to shave her legs for weeks because of the plaster. "
― Eva Ibbotson , Island of the Aunts
7 " For whether a place is a heaven or a hell rests in yourself, and those who go with courage may find themselves in paradise. "
8 " One must not judge other cultures by the standars of one's one,' said Aunt Hilda "
― Eva Ibbotson , The Morning Gift
9 " Yet for a moment it seemed to him that the men who had dragged marble from Italy and porphyry from Portugal, who had ransacked the jungle for its rarest woods and paid their millions to build this opulent and fantastical theatre, had done so in order that a young girl with loose brown hair should move across its stage, drawing her future from its empty air. "
10 " You cannot stop the birds of sorrow from flying over your head, but you can stop them nesting in your hair. "
― Eva Ibbotson , The Dragonfly Pool
11 " Please, God,' Ruth would pray, 'don't let me be competitive. Let me realize what a privilege it is to study. Let me remember that knowledge must be pursued for its own sake and please, please stop me wanting to beat Verena Plackett in the exams.'She prayed hard and she meant what she said. But God was busy that autumn as the International Brigade came back, defeated, from Spain, Hitler's bestialities increased, and sparrows everywhere continued to fall. "
12 " He was just drifting off to sleep when it occurred to him that perhaps the dog was not so ordinary after all. Perhaps he was someone the ogre had changed, and Ivo was going to spend the night hugging a headmaster or a tax inspector "
― Eva Ibbotson , The Ogre of Oglefort
13 " Slowly, Anna put up a hand to his muzzle and began to scratch that spot behind the ear where large dogs keep their souls. "
14 " To show too much joy in a place such as this would be unseemly but, as he padded toward her, his tail was extended in a manner which would make wagging possible should all go as expected. "
15 " It was a heavenly summer, the summer in which France fell and the British Expeditionary Force was evacuated from Dunkirk. Leaves were never such an intense and iridescent green; sunlight glinted on flower-studded meadows as the Germans encircled the Maginot Line and overran not only France but Belgium and Holland. Birdsong filled the air in the lull between bursts of gunfire and accompanied the fleeing refugees who blocked the roads. It was as though the weather was preparing a glorious requiem for the death of Europe. "
― Eva Ibbotson , A Song for Summer
16 " He then kissed her.It was a very long time before he let her go. When he did, she looked up at him, hurt and bewilderment on her face.“Why did you stop?” asked Tessa.“I thought you might want to breathe,” said Guy carefully.“Breathe?” said Tessa, shocked. “I don’t need to breathe when I’m with you. "
17 " Stupid women were lured into it and assured they would become young and beautiful if they let themselves be pummeled and pounded and smeared with sticky creams, and have their faces lifted and their stomachs flattened. They paid a lot of money to Madame Olympia, who would put a little bit of magic into the creams and ointments that she used so that at first they did look marvelous. But it was the kind of magic that wore off very quickly, leaving the women even uglier than before so that they would rush back to her and pay her more money and the whole thing would start again. "
― Eva Ibbotson , Which Witch?
18 " I said a picnic,' said Quin sternly. 'In Britain a picnic means sitting on the ground and being uncomfortable, preferably in the rain. "
19 " She's like snow in Russian," said Anna. "Snow in the evening when the sun sets and it looks like Alpengluhen, you know? And if snow had a scent it would smell like that [the rose].... "
20 " Now, tell me everything, please. Of course if he has harmed you I shall kill him, whoever he is,” he added matter-of-factly. “But otherwise, perhaps something can be done. "
