When my sister Joan arrived, I asked if I could swap her for a rabbit. When I think what a marvellous friend she's been, I'm so glad my parents didn't take me at my word. Maeve Binchy More Quotes by Maeve Binchy More Quotes From Maeve Binchy 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 We have to make our own happiness, and we have to make our own decisions and play the hand that is dealt to us. Maeve Binchy decision play hands My mother was a trained nurse, and she'd tell me that patients would fight as they were administered anaesthetic, grappling to get the gas mask off their face. Maeve Binchy fighting mother nurse I remember watching myself on video and being so disappointed with myself because I was constantly moving around the place and laughing. I thought, 'I must be so much louder than I think I am. From inside it feels fine.' Maeve Binchy laughing moving thinking If I had my life to live all over again, I really think I would have been a fit person. Looking around me, I realise that the men and women who walked and ran and swam and played sport look better and feel better than the rest of us. Maeve Binchy feel-better sports men If I see Marian Keyes' books or Patricia Scanlan's books given more prominence than mine in the bookstore, I'll move mine to the front. I've told them I do this, and they've confessed to doing the same thing to me. Maeve Binchy given book moving I once got a huge, expensive flower arrangement from a person I didn't like, who sent it out of pure guilt. It had a hideous bird-of-paradise in the middle, and I thought it would never fade and die. I hated it. Maeve Binchy guilt flower bird If you write what you know about, you will always be on safe ground. I am very edgy and nervous about going into territories I know nothing about. That's why you don't find much high finance, group sex, or yachting parties in my stories. Maeve Binchy party writing sex The great thing about getting older is that you become more mellow. Things aren't as black and white, and you become much more tolerant. You can see the good in things much more easily rather than getting enraged as you used to do when you were young. Maeve Binchy getting-older black-and-white used Money doesn't make you happy, but it gives a zone of comfort around you. Maeve Binchy success happiness giving I never wanted to write. I just wrote letters home from a kibbutz in Israel to reassure my parents that I was still alive and well fed and having a great time. They thought these letters were brilliant and sent them to a newspaper. So I became a writer by accident. Maeve Binchy israel home writing An English journalist called Michael Viney told me when I was 25, that I would write well if I cared a lot what I was writing about. That worked. I went home that day and wrote about parents not understanding their children as well as we teachers did, and it was published the very next week. Maeve Binchy home teacher children I've been very lucky and I have a happy old age with good family and friends still around. Maeve Binchy family-and-friends lucky age We're nothing if we're not loved. When you meet somebody who is more important to you than yourself, that has to be the most important thing. Maeve Binchy important-things important ifs I'm pleased to have outsold great writers. But I'm not insane - I realize I am a writer people buy to take on vacation. Maeve Binchy vacation insane people I do try to live every day as if it were my last, and it has worked for me so far. Maeve Binchy lasts trying life You can't lay down laws for what people think and hope. Maeve Binchy law people thinking It was so silly to try to define things by words. What did one person mean by infatuation or obsession and another mean by love. The whole thing couldn't be tidied away with neat little labels." - Lena Gray Maeve Binchy silly trying mean I didn't have a sweet tooth, but I liked butter, and I liked sauces, and I liked wine and curry and cheeses. Maeve Binchy teeth wine sweet I was lucky enough to be fairly quick at understanding what was taught, but unlucky enough not to be really interested in it, so I always got my exams but never had the scholar's love of learning for its own sake. Maeve Binchy lucky understanding sake
