“There is nothing more corrosive to character than money.” — Helen Simonson Character Copy Share Image
“He wondered whether it was his fault Roger had the perceptiveness of concrete.” — Helen Simonson Copy Share Image
“Men these days expect their wives to be as dazzling as their mistresses.” — Helen Simonson Copy Share Image
“But I must ask you, do you really understand what it means to be in love with an unsuitable woman?” “My dear… — Helen Simonson Love Copy Share Image
“Sometimes you can't fix everything," said Amina. "Life isn't always like books." "No, it's not.” — Helen Simonson Book Copy Share Image
“It's so much easier to tell other people how to do their job than fix one's own shortcoming, isn't it?” — Helen Simonson Copy Share Image
We are all small-minded people, creeping about the earth grubbing for our own advantage and making the very mistakes for which we… — Helen Simonson Advantage Copy Share Image
I tell myself it does not matter what one reads-favorite authors, particular themes-as long as we read something. It is not even… — Helen Simonson Book Copy Share Image
“You must know that I am entirely yours to command." "I see chivalry lives on," she said. "As long as there's no… — Helen Simonson Chivalry Copy Share Image
The world is full of small ignorances. We must all do our best to ignore them and thereby keep them small, don't… — Helen Simonson Ignorance Copy Share Image
“do you really know what it means to be in love with an unsuitable woman?" "Is there any other kind?” — Helen Simonson Love Copy Share Image
“It was frustratingly common that children were no sooner gone from the nest and established in their own homes, in Roger’s case… — Helen Simonson Children Copy Share Image
“Look here, it's all very tidy and convenient to see the world in black and white…It's a particular passion of young men… — Helen Simonson Black and white Copy Share Image
“He had forgotten that grief does not decline in a straight line or along a slow curve like a graph in a… — Helen Simonson Children Copy Share Image
“It’s called the real world. If we refused to do business with the morally questionable, the deal volume would drop in half… — Helen Simonson Business Copy Share Image
“He had always assumed gossip to be the malicious whispering of uncomfortable truths not the fabrication of absurdities. How was one to… — Helen Simonson Gossip Copy Share Image
“If the war could be won by the wearing of red, white, and blue ribbons on one’s hat,” said Beatrice, sitting down… — Helen Simonson War Copy Share Image
“It was frustratingly common that children were no sooner gone from the nest and established in their own homes ... than they… — Helen Simonson Children Copy Share Image
“He cursed himself for having assumed the weather would be sunny. Perhaps it was the result of evolution, he thought--some adaptive gene… — Helen Simonson Copy Share Image
“My dear Mrs. Ali, I would hardly refer to you as old," he said. "You are in what I would call the… — Helen Simonson Age Copy Share Image
“He opened the gun box, lifted out the sections of his own gun, for comparison. They slid together with well-oiled clicks. Laying… — Helen Simonson Copy Share Image
“It surprised him that his grief was sharper than in the past few days. He had forgotten that grief does not decline… — Helen Simonson Children Copy Share Image
“He had never imagined so clearly the consequences of mailing a letter—the impossibility of retrieving it from the iron mouth of the… — Helen Simonson Conversation Copy Share Image
“The dawn chorus had still been chattering in the giant yew against the west wall of his cottage, the sky pink, when… — Helen Simonson Dawn Copy Share Image
“America wielded her huge power in the world with a brash confidence that reminded him of a toddler who has got hold… — Helen Simonson America Copy Share Image
“grief does not decline in a straight line or along a slow curve like a graph in a child’s math book.” — Helen Simonson Children Copy Share Image
Only sometimes when we pick and choose among the rules we discover later that we have set aside something precious in the… — Helen Simonson Choice Copy Share Image
“I am to be converted to the joys of knitting,' said Mrs. Ali, smiling at the Major. 'My condolences,' he said.” — Helen Simonson Happiness Copy Share Image
“You are not the first man to miss a woman's more subtle communication . . . They think they are waving when… — Helen Simonson Communication Copy Share Image
“The human race is all the same when it comes to romantic relations,' said the Major. 'A startling absence of impulse control… — Helen Simonson Birth control Copy Share Image
“Men these days expect their wives to be as dazzling as their mistresses.” That's shocking," said the Major. "How on earth will… — Helen Simonson Humor Copy Share Image
“he realized he had inspired a sense of trust and indebtedness that would make it entirely impossible for an honorable man to… — Helen Simonson Copy Share Image
“Ah well, there you go. Young people are always demanding respect instead of trying to earn it. In my day, respect was… — Helen Simonson Respect Copy Share Image
“You are a wise man, Major, and I will consider your advice with great care—and humility." He finished his tea and rose… — Helen Simonson Humor Copy Share Image
“He opened his mouth to say that she looked extremely beautiful and deserved armfuls of roses, but the words were lost in… — Helen Simonson Relationships Copy Share Image
“I know most people today would regard such love of country as ridiculously romantic and naïve,” he said. “Patriotism itself has been… — Helen Simonson Life Copy Share Image
“At our age, surely there are better things to sustain us, to sustain a marriage, than the brief flame of passion?" ..."You… — Helen Simonson Better things Copy Share Image
I later realized that this is my view of passion: It is rooted in genuine friendship. Chemistry may be two strangers exchanging… — Helen Simonson Copy Share Image
