Eva Ibbotson Quotes

• When you're sad, my Little Star, go out of doors. It's always better underneath the open sky.

  Eva Ibbotson

  Nature, Stars, Doors

  Eva Ibbotson (2008). “The Secret Countess”, p.15, Pan Macmillan

  54 Copy quote

• Just because we've never done it doesn't mean we can't do it.

  Eva Ibbotson

  Mean, Done

  Eva Ibbotson (2009). “The Dragonfly Pool”, p.65, Penguin

  6 Copy quote

• And so they played some of the world's loveliest piano music - the exiled homesick girl, the humiliated, tired old man. Not properly. Better than that.

  Eva Ibbotson

  Girl, Tired, Men

  Eva Ibbotson (2008). “The Secret Countess”, p.101, Pan Macmillan

  17 Copy quote

• Loneliness had taught Harriet that there was always someone who understood - it was just so often that they were dead, and in a book.

  Eva Ibbotson

  Loneliness, Book, Taught

  11 Copy quote

• Shadows are cool and peaceful places for those whose minds are overstocked with treasure.

  Eva Ibbotson

  Peaceful, Mind, Shadow

  Eva Ibbotson (2008). “The Secret Countess”, p.24, Pan Macmillan

  11 Copy quote

• 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

  Intelligent, Thinking, Passionate

  9 Copy quote

• I want to live like music sounds."- Ruth

  Eva Ibbotson

  Sound, Ruth, Want

  9 Copy quote

• 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.

  Eva Ibbotson

  Fall, Autumn, Spain

  Eva Ibbotson (2008). “The Morning Gift”, p.126, Pan Macmillan

  10 Copy quote

• The sisters worked from dawn to dusk. One of them was an idiot; she started shaving her legs and marrying tax inspectors, so she was no good.

  Eva Ibbotson

  Shaving, Legs, Taxes

  "Monster Mission".

  9 Copy quote

• 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.

  Eva Ibbotson

  Dog, Joy, Would Be

  Eva Ibbotson (2008). “The Secret Countess”, p.126, Pan Macmillan

  10 Copy quote

• For an instant she felt his touch on her cheek then he stepped back. There that was my ration for all eternity. People have died for less I dare say.

  Eva Ibbotson

  People, Eternity, Dare

  9 Copy quote

• But she had to know words. She had to know everything.

  Eva Ibbotson

  Knows

  Eva Ibbotson (2008). “The Morning Gift”, p.5, Pan Macmillan

  9 Copy quote

• 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

  Summer, Flower, Air

  "A Song for Summer".

  27 Copy quote

• Slowly, Anna put up a hand to his muzzle and began to scratch that spot behind the ear where large dogs keep their souls.

  Eva Ibbotson

  Dog, Hands, Soul

  Eva Ibbotson (2008). “The Secret Countess”, p.12, Pan Macmillan

  7 Copy quote

• One must not judge other cultures by the standars of one's one,' said Aunt Hilda

  Eva Ibbotson

  Aunt, Other Cultures, Judging

  7 Copy quote

• It's true that adventures are good for people even when they are very young. Adventures can get in a person's blood even if he doesn't remember having them.

  Eva Ibbotson

  Adventure, Blood, People

  Eva Ibbotson (2008). “The Secret of Platform 13”, p.8, Pan Macmillan

  7 Copy quote

• 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

  Book, Missing, Trunks

  Eva Ibbotson (2008). “Journey to the River Sea”, p.12, Pan Macmillan

  4 Copy quote

• 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].

  Eva Ibbotson

  Smell, Snow, Rose

  4 Copy quote

• Then he 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.'

  Eva Ibbotson

  Hurt, Long, Guy

  "Magic Flutes".

  7 Copy quote

• Pauline kept a scrapbook into which she pasted important articles that she had cut out of the newspapers. These were about the courageous deeds that had been done by people even if they only had one leg or couldn't see or had been dropped on their heads when they were babies. 'It's to make me brave,' she'd explained to Annika.

  Eva Ibbotson

  Baby, Cutting, People

  Eva Ibbotson (2006). “The Star of Kazan”, Puffin

  7 Copy quote

• That's silly, Anna," said the Honorable Olive. "Being afraid is silly, you know it is.

  Eva Ibbotson

  Silly, Olives, Anna

  7 Copy quote

• Herr Altenburg, I can't; I have vertigo.' And Marek looked at him: 'All right - I'll get the chemist to fix me something.

  Eva Ibbotson

  Vertigo, Chemist, I Can

  Eva Ibbotson (2008). “A Song for Summer”, p.178, Pan Macmillan

  4 Copy quote

• Not a frog, I hope?” he asked…She shook her head. “No. And if it was I wouldn’t kiss it, I promise you. I might kiss a prince if I could be sure he’d turn into a frog, but not the other way around.

  Eva Ibbotson

  Kissing, Promise, Might

  4 Copy quote

• This is worse than Hollywood, he thought. A girl comes in with a pork chop and I write a song for her.

  Eva Ibbotson

  Girl, Song, Writing

  Eva Ibbotson (2008). “A Song for Summer”, p.175, Pan Macmillan

  7 Copy quote

• The news should have terrified her, but it was difficult to be frightened of anything when she was sitting so close to Rom. 'I thought we had convinced him that I was leading a blameless life?' 'We had, till you burst out of that damnable cake.

  Eva Ibbotson

  Should Have, Cake, News

  4 Copy quote

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