Home > Work > To Die But Once (Maisie Dobbs, #14)
1 " War’s always the same though—politicians square off and ordinary lads do their dirty work. "
― Jacqueline Winspear , To Die But Once (Maisie Dobbs, #14)
2 " There is no path set for this kind of shock, and for the grief that attends such terrible news. "
3 " In a time of war the supply and movement of money becomes even more crucial than ever. Money is a powerful tool, and wars are about powerful men and how they use the tools at their disposal. The military is involved in a number of ways. "
4 " on by whatever it is he’s "
5 " Think of a dead body as if you are viewing a set of clothing, Maisie - but consider it as the attire the soul has worn for many a year. And it is clothing that has something to teach us about the man or woman under the knife. "
6 " ...just because you know right from wrong, it doesn't mean you stay away from the wrong part. "
7 " It makes my heart so heavy. Young men shouldn't have to die, and their parents shouldn't have to go through the rest of their lives making everything seem right by saying, 'At least my boy was brave.' Or, 'We're proud he did his bit. "
8 " It had always interested her, that physically gazing out at a landscape, even if that landscape offered a cluster of town buildings, could provide a broader view of the possibilities inspired by a question. She did the same thing herself, when something troubled her. "
9 " Where there's muck, there's brass. That was it. ... A simple line, an aphorism, that seemed to suggest the selling of manure. But it had a meaning that went so much deeper, alluding to the fact that where you find filth - where you find dirt; where you find the detritus of life - you'll also discover someone making a profit. Much money can be made from the most dirty jobs. Muck and money go together. That was another one. And it occurred to her that in her lifetime she had seen nothing more filthy than war itself. "
10 " about putting on the light in a dark room. He told me that when we keep secrets they grow inside us, and we can’t see the truth of them anymore. "
11 " Every boy had grown to manhood with a family of mother, father and village. A man and woman might have lost their son but they had also lost his best friend and the boys who had played football together in the street after school and cricket on the green in summer. “Who have we lost?” the words echoed in her ears. "
12 " And I know only too well how time can cast a sort of skin over an event—a membrane that gets thicker until a point where broaching the subject is all but impossible, even when you think you can face the grief and terror once more. "
13 " Tragedy is so personal, but it doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened before, to someone, somewhere—it’s what helps us to understand and bring solace to others, knowing something of what they feel. "
14 " Think of a dead body as if you are viewing a set of clothing, Maisie—but consider it as the attire the soul has worn for many a year. "