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Sara Jeannette Duncan
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“Ah, the camel of Cairo! ... He went quietly and comfortably through the narrowest lanes and the densest crowds by the mere force of his personality. He was the most impressive living thing we saw in Egypt, not excepting two Pashas and a Bey. He was engaged with large philosophies, one could see that ...”
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“His skin is the most interesting thing about him, to a lover of the antique. It seems to have been in constant use since the original camel took it out of the ark with him, it is so battered and tattered, so seamy and patched, so disreputably parchment-colored.”
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“Clothes and courage have so much to do with each other.”
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“I know Americans talk a great deal about the price of things — more, I consider, than is entertaining, sometimes!”
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“It is also possible, I believe, if one lives in India long enough, to come across a globe-trotter who is modest and teachable, but we have been out here only twenty-two years, and I am going home without having seen one.”
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“When God gave men tongues, he never dreamed that they would want to talk about the Himalayas; there are consequently no words in the world to do it with.”
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“Englishmen have a genius for looking uncomfortable. Their feelings are terribly mixed up with their personal appearance.”
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“... punctuality is the thief of time.”
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“... I cannot help hoping that Mrs. Adams was mistaken in calling her decoction English breakfast tea. If she was not, a great deal of the prejudice against us over there can be accounted for.”
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“Mrs. Adams mentioned a great many English ways and customs — which was clever of her, for she had never been in England — more, positively, than I thought there were.”
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“Speech with him was a convenience, like a spoon; he did not use it oftener than was necessary. In England that is not very often, such a great deal is taken for granted there; it is a kind of cult to know how much you may leave unsaid. You inherit accumulations of silence, and Kaye belongs to a very old family.”
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“When he came back from the gallery of the Stock Exchange ... [h]e said hats went out of that place every day that would never smile again.”
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“A human being isn't an orchid; he must draw something from the soil he grows in.”
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“If you have anything to tell me of importance, for God's sake begin at the end.”
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“Why is it that when people have no capacity for private usefulness they should be so anxious to serve the public?”
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“One loses so many laughs by not laughing at oneself.”
Sara Jeannette Duncan, Canadian writer, journalist
(1861 - 1922)
Also known as: Mrs. Everard Cotes.