Famous Quotes by Alan Bradley

“If you remember nothing else, remember this: Inspiration from outside one's self is like the heat in an oven. It makes passable Bath buns. But inspiration from within is like a volcano: It changes the face of the world.”

“Anyone who knew the word slattern was worth cultivating as a friend.”

I was me, I was Flavia. And I loved myself, even if no one else did.

When you are at war with yourself, who is there to forgive?

What was the point of being a child if you didn’t at least want to grow up to be someone remarkable?

Death is like an old whore in a bar—I’ll buy her a drink but I won’t go upstairs with her.

Chemistry, I learned, is simply a matter of letting time and patience do their work.

Being Flavia, I was, of course, most interested in how quickly the body would decompose.

I am learning to take things as they come, not to act on impulse, and to make the best of my station.

We are changeable beings, but there’s only so much growing up one can do in a single day.

Curiosity is what separates us from the cabbages of the world.

It’s amazing what the human mind can do, and even more amazing what it refuses to do.

There’s a lot to be said for a close encounter with mortality.

Family! ... So often they are like a bottle of cider that explodes in your face just when you were expecting it to quench your thirst.

There is a fine line between innocence and ignorance, as I was soon to discover.

The art of flattery has a built-in perjury clause.

It is a lonely thing to be known so well and still be only trusted so little.

Sometimes I feel like a sorceress conjuring up the spirits of the past.

We are all of us dreamers, but some are more practical about it than others.

I’ve learned that sometimes you have to lie. But to yourself you must always tell the truth.

In the absence of something more interesting to ponder, it is always tempting to hypothesize the existence of evil.

Justice? I am as far from understanding it now as I ever was.