I don't think you're happier if you're thin or beautiful or rich or married. You have to make your own happiness. My heroines do not become beautiful elegant swans, they become confident ducks and get on with life. Maeve Binchy More Quotes by Maeve Binchy More Quotes From Maeve Binchy I look placid, you see, that's why people think I'm fine. Inside I worry a lot. Maeve Binchy worry people thinking I had a very happy childhood, which is unsuitable if you're going to be an Irish writer. Maeve Binchy irish-writers very-happy childhood I've seen a lot of people buy my books and then fall asleep on the plane soon afterwards. Maeve Binchy book people fall Women who start out as ugly ducklings don't become beautiful swans. What they mainly become is confident ducks. They take charge of their lives. Maeve Binchy ugly-duckling swans beautiful My brother married young, and his is the best marriage I know. Maeve Binchy best-marriage married brother I was the big, bossy older sister, full of enthusiasms, mad fantasies, desperate urges to be famous, and anxious to be a saint - a settled sort of saint, not one who might have to suffer or die for her faith. Maeve Binchy mad saint suffering The biggest influence on my books was the fact that I had worked in a newspaper for so long. In a daily paper, you learn to write very quickly; there is no time to sit and brood about what you are going to say. Maeve Binchy writing long book On the first day of school, my father told me I'd be the most popular girl and everyone would love me and want to be my friend. It wasn't so, but it gave me an enormous amount of confidence. Maeve Binchy girl father school Success is not like a cake that needs to be divided. It's more like a heap of stones - a cairn. If someone is successful, they add a stone to the cairn. It gets very high and can be seen from all over the world. That's how I see it. Maeve Binchy cake successful add You're much more believable if you talk in your own voice. Maeve Binchy believable voice ifs I have been lucky enough to travel a lot, meet great people in many lands. I have liked almost everyone I met along the way. Maeve Binchy lucky land people I'm particularly fond of boned chicken breasts with a little garlic under the flesh and cooked in a casserole for 40 minutes with a jar of olives, some cherry tomatoes and a spoonful of olive oil. Maeve Binchy tomatoes oil flesh I've had a good life, full of more success and happiness than I ever expected. Maeve Binchy good-life expected I couldn't have children, so that's the bad side. But compared to everything else I have, it's not all that terribly bad. I count my winners rather than my losers. Maeve Binchy loser sides children My memory of my home was that it was very happy, and that there was more fun and life there than there was anywhere else. Maeve Binchy home fun memories I didn't get excited by weight loss, and since I was already happy being fat, I couldn't see the point of it all. I'm 6 ft. and weigh about 18 st. or 19 st., but weighing myself is not something I do with much pleasure. Maeve Binchy excited weight loss I believed that old people never laughed. I thought they sighed a lot and groaned. They walked with sticks, and they didn't like children on bicycles or roller skates or with big dogs. Maeve Binchy dog children people I thought it must be desperate to be old. To wake up in the morning and remember that you were ancient - and so behave that way. I thought old people were full of aches and pains and horrible illnesses. Maeve Binchy pain morning people Never mind money; the gifts of time and skill call into being the richest marketplace in the world. Maeve Binchy skills mind world When I was younger, I avoided exercise or anything strenuous. I didn't even enjoy walking. As I got older, I spent so much time marking books or sitting at a desk writing that there was no room for exercise - not that I would have bothered anyway. Maeve Binchy exercise writing book
