Vile Bodies Quotes
"Asiatic resignation Father Rothschild S. J. put down his suitcase in the corner of the bar and went on deck."
"His tongue protruded very slightly and, had they not all been so concerned with luggage and the weather, someone might have observed in him a peculiar resemblance to those plaster reproductions of the gargoyles of Notre Dame."
"Other prominent people were embarking, all very unhappy about the weather; to avert the terrors of seasickness they had indulged in every kind of civilized witchcraft, but they were lacking in faith."
"It’s just exactly like being inside a cocktail shaker."
"Sometimes the ship pitched and sometimes she rolled and sometimes she stood quite still and shivered all over."
"There is an extremely dangerous and disagreeable woman on board—a Mrs. Ape."
"Opposite him sat a much-traveled and chatty journalist telling him smutty stories."
"You may not know it, but you are. You’ll feel better for it body and soul."
"Father Rothschild heard it and turned his face to the wall."
"If you’re put out this way over just an hour’s seasickness, what are you going to be like when you make the mighty big journey that’s waiting for us all?"
"What worries me is how are we going to make that sound convincing to old Rampole."
"It’s a shame the way the Customs House officers are allowed to take the law into their own hands."
"We meet at Lady Metroland’s on the twelfth, if not, as I hope, before."
"But let me ask you this. If you're put out this way over just an hour’s seasickness, what are you going to be like when you make the mighty big journey that's waiting for us all?"
"You can’t get anywhere without a nice breakfast."
"I hope you are fond of the cinematograph too? The Rector and I go a great deal."
"Colonel Blount picked up a telegram and read it."
"It was at this time, when things were at their lowest, that Mrs. Ape reappeared in the smoking-room."
"When a thing's not worth doing well, it's not worth doing at all."
"Wars don’t start nowadays because people want them. We long for peace, and fill our newspapers with conferences about disarmament and arbitration, but there is a radical instability in our whole world order, and soon we shall all be walking into the jaws of destruction again, protesting our pacific intentions."
"It’s like this war that’s coming… Wars don’t start nowadays because people want them."
"If a thing's worth doing at all, it’s worth doing well."
"I’ve always maintained that success in this world depends on knowing exactly how little effort each job is worth… distribution of energy."
"I think all these divorces show that. People aren’t content just to muddle along nowadays… They say, ‘If a thing’s not worth doing well, it’s not worth doing at all.’"
"You know, all the time I’ve been out in Ceylon I’ve always said to myself, 'As soon as the governor kicks the bucket, and I come in for the family doubloons and pieces of eight, I’m going to come back to England and have a real old bust.'"
"I don’t think people ever want to lose their faith either in religion or anything else. I know very few young people, but it seems to me that they are all possessed with an almost fatal hunger for permanence."
"It's only human nature to run a bit loose when one’s young."
"It’s a real joy to see the dear children so happy."
"My page in the Excess… my job, you know."
"We’re not living in the Victorian Age," I told him.
"He’s just one of the Wesleyans, you know—we’re trying to polish off the whole crowd this afternoon while the weather’s good."
"Colonel Blount has the curious eccentricity of being unable to shoot his best except to the accompaniment of violin and ’cello."
"No girl will stand for that sort of treatment."
"He was crazy to be allowed to come on as a super."
"Well, you can’t expect any girl to put up with that."
"Well, I suppose it wouldn’t be better for me to carry a sword?"
"It’s going to be a big success when and if it’s finished."
"I’ll sell you the whole thing—film we’ve made up to date, artists’ contracts, copyright of scenario, everything for five hundred quid."
"Well, we’ll manage somehow, see if we don’t."
"It’s sheer murder the way that Marino drives—a fair treat to see ’im."
"It’s the most miserable day I ever spent."
"I’m sorry, I think it’s a wonderfully generous offer, but the truth is I simply don’t want to buy a film at all."
"Goodbye, my boy, I’ve enjoyed our talk."
"Goodbye, Nina, my sweet. But I think you’re rather a cad."
"Well, we won’t bother any more about papa," she said. "We’ll just get married at once."
"He’s got to be careful, you know. Other chap’s money, you know…"
"I’d give anything in the world for something different."
"Well, Nina wants to marry him for some reason."
"Why, hang it all, she dined with you last night, didn’t she, and stayed out jolly late, too."
"Well, it’s no good coming here," said the Colonel crossly.
"I don’t mind admitting I’d had a few too many that night, and to tell you the truth I woke up with things all rather a blur."
"I’d go through fire and water for that girl."
"I’d trust Nina anywhere, of course I would."
"I’m desperate about it. I’m thinking of committing suicide, like Simon."
"Well, I suppose I’d sooner have the empty bed," said Miss Runcible, rather faintly.
"Why, bless you, I ain’t been ’ome at all for five years."
"I ought to think yourself lucky," I’ve said.
"I’m going to sleep now… such a pain… goodbye, my sweet."
"I think I’m going to be sick," said Nina.
"There's nothing to worry about, dear… nothing at all… nothing."
"Florin said would Ada stop arguing and answering back and come into the hall to put up the banner. One string went on the nose of the rhinoceros, he explained, the other round the giraffe."
"I can't have the whole house turned into an hotel."
"Damn the thing; I got a nasty shock then."
"I won't start before you come back, if that's what you're thinking of. It'll take me some time to get everything fixed up. We'll wait for you. I promise you that."
"No, really, Colonel, I hardly think that's necessary. I've just put the car away."
"I don’t think in the circumstances my hospitality can be of much more use to you, can it, Colonel?"
"No wonder they find it hard to fill their churches when that's their idea of Christian fellowship."
"It's been just like this every year, as long as I can remember."
"Times is changed," said Florin, picking a tooth.
"I’m very glad that Nina has married you, my boy. I’ve liked you from the moment I saw you."
"The woebegone fragment of womanhood in the corner looked a little less terrified when she saw the wine. She recognized it as the symbol of international goodwill."
"And presently, like a circling typhoon, the sounds of battle began to return."