Whitethorn Woods Quotes
"But try telling it to some of the people in Rossmore and you were in trouble. So he stood there every year, mumbling a decade of the rosary, which couldn't offend anyone, and preaching a little homily about goodwill and tolerance and kindness to neighbors, which fell on mainly deaf ears."
"He thought that he was in fact a normal man. Of course he had desired women, but he had made a bargain."
"His mother had forgotten who he was, his brother despised him and now his sister was making a trip from London to visit this cracked pagan well and wondering, would it work better if she came on the saint's Feast Day?"
"I never regretted being single. Never for one moment— except sometimes on holidays."
"But I did like Keno. A lot. He was very respectful to us all and he was doing all this because he had a very poor family who needed support back in Morocco."
"It was easy, really, to make them see it like that. Because I liked being at school. I was in early and I left late."
"Aren't they for much younger people than us?" he said. "It didn't say in the advertisement," I explained and this seemed to please him. He laughed and said I was a fine person.
"When you get old it seems that you don't want to change your way of going on, in fact you can't change it, much as you would like to."
"I'm happy enough, Sharon," she would say if I questioned it. "I mean, I love him and we've got to remember that he didn't walk away when I was expecting you."
"It's only the thought of the merger that has unhinged the pair of them."
"I mean, it's not as if I knew who this St. Ann was or went to Mass or anything."
"You could do simply anything in this world if you had a proper plan."
"That would make the world a very silent place."
"Not very much, Mother. You learn not to say anything here until you're quite sure what it is you are trying to say."
"We are always talking about me," she said. "And really nothing much changes here. Tell me all about your days and nights, Mother."
"She's not going to get out for years and years."
"I don't know what you're talking about," I began. And I didn't really—there were so many things it could have been.
"I wish you were coming with us, you could advise me the whole time. Why will you not come? Just this once?"
"No, I don't see, Mother. I hear that you are living with Franklin. That's what I hear."
"No, I mean, it can be done obviously, it's a question of how." - Naomi
"Annulment is saying that no marriage existed, and I have to tell you that a marriage did exist..." - Father Flynn
"What brought all this on, Naomi?" - Father Flynn
"It's just that I want things to be fair and open..." - Naomi
"Tell me, Canon, shouldn't we all be voting against this road if we get a chance?" - Marty Nolan
"Do you know, Mr. Nolan, I think the days of guidance are long gone." - Canon Cassidy
"I've always been a bit slow, Myles." - Neddy Nolan
"The problem is that it's all just about making money." - Neddy Nolan
"I'm going to be completely honest with you, St. Ann." - Judy Flynn
"I'm sure that anyone who saw both of those interviews will think I am a complete clown." - Father Brian Flynn
"You have a nice cool hand, you smell of lavender, not of some disinfectant." - Helen
"I wasn't ovulating, it turned out, so I would need fertility treatment." - Helen
"I had done what I set out to do: I had got my child." - Helen
"My daughter's going to be Sweet Sixteen on the day that Leopold Bloom met Molly." - June's mother
"But I put my mind to marrying James Harris." - Helen
"I have always lived a very quiet life, Helen and I, so it's entertaining to hear firsthand about the kind of people you might read about in the newspapers." - James
"I wish you would call me Helen rather than Madam." - Helen
"You are on the eve of making your mother your great, great friend." - Radio host
"I have a sort of cloudy memory of doing that." - Emer
"It's just that they hate to think that it's all over and that they are missing out on whatever else is on offer."
"You'll never meet a fellow if you get stuck in geriatrics."
"Married? Oh no, I've been there and done that."
"Men had certainly fallen in love with me, but unfortunately I had married a man called Oliver, who fell in love rather too easily and too often."
"I hope it's going to be busy today at the salon. When you have to hang about between clients, time seems to drag a lot."
"I walked on, fighting back the sick feeling of dread in my chest, the feeling that it was all over and Ian loved someone else."
"Boy loves girl, boy finds other girl, first girl heartbroken."
"To change Ian's mind, really, I suppose that's all I wanted."
"You're so well known here you should go into politics."
"I'm going to get my qualifications and do my six hours a week at St. Martin's."
"I think my mother was reading an over-fancy book at the time."
"It makes sense to be bisexual when you think it through, less chance of making a mess of things, always another option open."
"I wanted to give her a good slap, but this was not the moment to argue my sexuality down to the bone with her."
"You could do worse than Skunk, you know, he has plenty put by."