There is only one kind of wisdom that has any social value, and that is the knowledge of one's own limitations. Dorothy L. Sayers More Quotes by Dorothy L. Sayers More Quotes From Dorothy L. Sayers If we did not know all His retorts by heart, if we had not taken the sting out of them by incessant repetition in the accents of the pulpit, and if we had not somehow got it into our heads that brains were rather reprehnsible, we should reckon Him among the greatest wits of all time. Nobody else, in three brief years, has achieved such an output of epigram. Dorothy L. Sayers taken heart jesus But to Lord Peter the world presented itself as an entertaining labyrinth of side-issues Dorothy L. Sayers labyrinth issues world Don't be so damned discouraging," said Wimsey. "I have already carefully explained to you that this time I am investigating this business. Anybody would think you had no confidence in me." "People have been wrongly condemned before now." "Exactly; simply because I wasn't there." "I never thought of that. Dorothy L. Sayers said people thinking The young were always theoretical; only the middle-aged could realize the deadliness of principles. Dorothy L. Sayers middle realizing principles Jesus Christ is the only God who has a date in history. Dorothy L. Sayers jesus-christ jesus christ . . . the fellow's got a bee in his bonnet. Thinks God's a secretion of the liver--all right once in a way, but there's no need to keep on about it. There's nothing you can't prove if your outlook is only sufficiently limited. Dorothy L. Sayers way needs thinking I know what you're thinking - that anybody with proper sensitive feelings would rather scrub floors for a living. But I should scrub floors very badly, and I write detective stories rather well. I don't see why proper feelings should prevent me from doing my proper job. Dorothy L. Sayers writing jobs thinking Wimsey stooped for an empty sardine-tin which lay, horribly battered, at his feet, and slung it idly into the quag. It struck the surface with a noice like a wet kiss, and vanished instantly. With that instinct which prompts one, when depressed, to wallow in every circumstance of gloom, Peter leaned sadly against the hurdles and abandoned himself to a variety of shallow considerations upon (1) The vanity of human wishes; (2) Mutability; (3) First love; (4) The decay of idealism; (5) The aftermath of the Great war; (6) Birth-control; and (7) The fallacy of free-will. Dorothy L. Sayers first-love kissing war The making of miracles to edification was as ardently admired by pious Victorians as it was sternly discouraged by Jesus of Nazareth. Not that the Victorians were unique in this respect. Modern writers also indulge in edifying miracles though they generally prefer to use them to procure unhappy endings, by which piece of thaumaturgy they win the title of realists. Dorothy L. Sayers unique winning jesus All the children seem to be coming out quite intelligent, thank goodness. It would have been such a bore to be the mother of morons, and it’s an absolute toss-up, isn’t it? If one could only invent them, like characters in books, it would be much more satisfactory to a well-regulated mind. Dorothy L. Sayers mother book children The keeping of an idle woman is a badge of superior social status. Dorothy L. Sayers badges idle social ... at no point have I yet found artistic truth and theological truth at variance. Dorothy L. Sayers theological artistic found Heroics that don't come off are the very essence of burlesque. Dorothy L. Sayers burlesque essence I can't think why fancy religions should have such a ghastly effect on one's grammar. It's a kind of intellectual rot that sets in, I'm afraid. Dorothy L. Sayers intellectual should-have thinking ... to mention honor was to suggest its opposite. Dorothy L. Sayers honor opposites It is as dangerous for people unaccustomed to handling words and unacquainted with their technique to tinker about with these heavily-charged nuclei of emotional power as it would be for me to burst into a laboratory and play about with a powerful electromagnet or other machine highly charged with electrical force. Dorothy L. Sayers emotional powerful play How true it is that men live for Things and women for People! Dorothy L. Sayers men people The first thing that strikes the careless observer is that women are unlike men. They are 'the opposite sex' - (though why 'opposite' I do not know; what is the 'neighbouring sex'?). Dorothy L. Sayers opposites men sex She suddenly saw Wimsey in a new light. She knew him to be intelligent, clean, courteous, wealthy, well-read, amusing and enamored, but he had not so far produced in her that crushing sense of inferiority which leads to prostration and hero-worship. But she now realized that there was, after all, something godlike about him. He could control a horse. Dorothy L. Sayers crush horse hero But suppose one doesn't quite know which one wants to put first. Suppose," said Harriet, falling back on words which were not her own, "suppose one is cursed with both a heart and a brain?" "You can usually tell," said Miss de Vine, "by seeing what kind of mistakes you make. I'm quite sure that one never makes fundamental mistakes about the thing one really wants to do. Fundamental mistakes arise out of lack of genuine interest. In my opinion, that is. Dorothy L. Sayers mistake heart fall
