69 Quotes & Sayings By Dodie Smith

Dodie Smith (born Dorothy Helene Smith; January 9, 1922) is an American author of more than twenty-nine children's books. Her novels for adults include The Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961), The Poppy War (1966), Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont (1969), and The House of Mirth (1915).

Perhaps watching someone you love suffer can teach you even...
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Perhaps watching someone you love suffer can teach you even more than suffering yourself can. Dodie Smith
I am a restlessness inside a stillness inside a restlessness.
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I am a restlessness inside a stillness inside a restlessness. Dodie Smith
I only want to write. And there's no college for...
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I only want to write. And there's no college for that except life. Dodie Smith
Truthfulness so often goes with ruthlessness.
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Truthfulness so often goes with ruthlessness. Dodie Smith
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I suddenly knew that religion, God - something beyond everyday life - was there to be found, provided one is really willing. And I saw that though what I felt in the church was only imagination, it was a step on the way; because imagination itself can be a kind of willingness - a pretense that things are real, due to one's longing for them. It struck me that this was somehow tied up with what the Vicar said about religion being an extension of art - and then I had a glimpse of how religion can really cure you of sorrow; somehow make use of it, turn it to beauty, just as art can make sad things beautiful. I found myself saying: 'Sacrifice is the secret - you have to sacrifice things for art and it's the same with religion; and then the sacrifice turns out to be a gain.' Then I got confused and I couldn't hold on to what I meant - until Miss Blossom remarked: 'Nonsense, duckie - it's prefectly simple. You lose yourself in something beyond yourself and it's a lovely rest.' I saw that, all right. Then I thought: 'But that's how Miss Marcy cured her sorrow, too - only she lost herself in other people instead of in religion.' Which way of life was best - hers or the Vicar's? I decided that he loves God and merely likes the villagers, whereas she loves the villagers and merely likes God - and then I suddenly wondered if I could combine both ways, love God and my neighbor equally. Was I really willing to? . Dodie Smith
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Just to be in love seemed the most blissful luxury I had ever known. The thought came to me that perhaps it is the loving that counts, not the being loved in return - that perhaps true loving can never know anything but true happiness. Dodie Smith
Thinking of death--strange, beautiful, terrible and a long way off--made...
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Thinking of death--strange, beautiful, terrible and a long way off--made me feel happier than ever. Dodie Smith
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Perhaps if I make myself write I shall find out what is wrong with me. Dodie Smith
I think it [religion] is an art, the greatest one;...
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I think it [religion] is an art, the greatest one; an extension of the communion all the other arts attempt. Dodie Smith
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Certain unique books seem to be without forerunners or successors as far as their authors are concerned. Even though they may profoundly influence the work of other writers, for their creator they're complete, not leading anywhere. Dodie Smith
I like seeing people when they can't see me.
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I like seeing people when they can't see me. Dodie Smith
My God - it's a green child!
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My God - it's a green child! " said the American. "What is this place - the House of Usher? Dodie Smith
Rose doesn’t like the flat country, but I always did...
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Rose doesn’t like the flat country, but I always did — flat country seems to give the sky such a chance. Dodie Smith
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He stood staring into the wood for a minute, then said: "What is it about the English countryside – why is the beauty so much more than visual? Why does it touch one so?" He sounded faintly sad. Perhaps he finds beauty saddening – I do myself sometimes. Once when I was quite little I asked father why this was and he explained that it was due to our knowledge of beauty's evanescence, which reminds us that we ourselves shall die. Then he said I was probably too young to understand him; but I understood perfectly. . Dodie Smith
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...he talked quite naturally while we ate – about the difficulty of finding words to describe the luminous mist, and why one has the desire to describe beauty." Perhaps it's an attempt to possess it, " I said." Or be possessed by it; perhaps that's the same thing, really. I suppose it's the complete identification with beauty one's seeking." The mist grew brighter and brighter. Dodie Smith
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In addition, I think religion has a chance of a look-in whenever the mind craves solace in music or poetry-- in any form of art at all. Personally, I think it is an art, the greatest one; an extension of the communication all the other arts attempt. Dodie Smith
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When I read a book, I put in all the imagination I can, so that it is almost like writing the book as well as reading it - or rather, it is like living it. It makes reading so much more exciting, but I don't suppose many people try to do it. Dodie Smith
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And no bathroom on earth will make up for marrying a bearded man you hate. Dodie Smith
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But some characters in books are really real-- Jane Austen's are; and I know those five Bennets at the opening of Pride and Prejudice, simply waiting to raven the young men at Netherfield Park, are not giving one thought to the real facts of marriage. Dodie Smith
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There is something revolting about the way girls' minds so often jump to marriage long before they jump to love. Dodie Smith
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Am I really admitting that my sister is determined to marry a man she has only seen once and doesn't much like the look of? It is half real and half pretense - and I have an idea that it is a game most girls play when they meet an eligible young men. They just...wonder. Dodie Smith
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... there is something revolting about the way girls' minds so often jump to marriage long before they jump to love. And most of those minds are shut to what marriage really means. Dodie Smith
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It isn't a bit of use my pretending I'm not crying, because I am... Pause to mop up. Better now. Perhaps it would really be rather dull to be married and settled for life. Liar! It would be heaven. Dodie Smith
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I wonder if there isn't a catch about having plenty of money? Does it eventually take the pleasure out of things? Dodie Smith
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I could marry the Devil himself if he had some money. Dodie Smith
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Even a broken heart doesn't warrant a waste of good paper. Dodie Smith
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Cruel blows of fate call for extreme kindness in the family circle. Dodie Smith
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The family - that dear octopus from whose tentacles we never quite escape, nor, in our inmost hearts, ever quite wish to. Dodie Smith
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...I could never explain how the image and the reality merge, and how they somehow extend and beautify each other. Dodie Smith
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I am not so sure I should like the facts of life, but I have got over the bitter disappointment I felt when I first heard about them, ... Dodie Smith
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I go backwards and forwards, recapturing the past, wondering about the future–and, most unreasonably, I find myself longing for the past more than for the future. Dodie Smith
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Did you think of anything when Miss Marcy said Scoatney Hall was being re-opened? I thought of the beginning of Pride and Prejudice — where Mrs. Bennet says 'Netherfield Park is let a last.' And then Mr. Bennet goes over to call on the rich new owner. Dodie Smith
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I am surprised to see how much I have written; with stories even a page can take me hours, but the truth seems to flow out as fast as I can get it down. But words are very inadequate — anyway, my words are. Dodie Smith
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Noble deeds and hot baths are the best cures for depression. Dodie Smith
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Prayer's a very tricky business. Dodie Smith
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A mist is rolling over the fields. Why is a summer mist romantic and autumn mist just sad? Dodie Smith
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My imagination longs to dash ahead and plan developments; but I have noticed that when things happen in one's imagination, they never happen in one's life. Dodie Smith
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Oh, it was an artful place--it must make people who have money want to spend it madly! Dodie Smith
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There was a wonderful atmosphere of gentle age, a smell of flowers and beeswax, sweet yet faintly sour and musty; a smell that makes you feel very tender towards the past. Dodie Smith
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A thousand pounds for clothes--when on thinks how long poor people could live on it! When one thinks how long we could live on it, for that matter! Dodie Smith
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Now, paper and pencils, " said Miss Marcy, clapping her hands. Writing paper is scarce in this house, and I had no intention of tearing sheets out of this exercise book, which is a superb sixpenny one the Vicar gave me. In the end, Miss Marcy took the middle pages out of her library record, which gave us a pleasant feeling that we were stealing from the government, and then we sat round the table and elected her chairman. Dodie Smith
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I didn't make any mistake. I know that when he nearly asked me to marry him it was only on impulse It is part if a follow-my-leader game of second-best we have all been playing - Rose with Simon, Simon with me, me with Stephen and Stephen, I suppose, with that detestable Leda Fox-Cotton. It isn't a very good game; the people you play it with are apt to get hurt. Dodie Smith
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The thought came to me that perhaps it is the loving that counts, not the being loved in return - that perhaps true loving can never know anything but happiness. Dodie Smith
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Then I told myself that as I never gave the Church a thought when I was feeling happy, I could hardly expect it to do anything for me when I wasn't. You can't get insurance money without paying in premiums. Dodie Smith
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Of course, he sees creation as discovery. I mean, everything is already created, by the first cause---call it God if you like; everything is already there to be found. Dodie Smith
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I couldn't make it out - why you ever let me, I mean. I understand now. Things like that happen when you're in love with the wrong person. Worse things. Things you never forgive yourself for. Dodie Smith
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We were restless for ages... After a while I heard an owl hooting and calmed myself by thinking of it flying over the dark fields — and then I remembered it would be pouncing on mice. I love owls, but I wish God had made them vegetarian. Dodie Smith
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And who says you always have to understand things? You can like them without understanding them -- like 'em better sometimes. Dodie Smith
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It is rather exciting to write by moonlight. Dodie Smith
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Your pain and anger will pass, but the guilt would remain with you for always. Dodie Smith
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Only half a page left now. Shall I fill it with 'I love you, I love you'-- like father's page of cats on the mat? No. Even a broken heart doesn't warrant a waste of good paper. Dodie Smith
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I have really sinned. I am going to pause now, and sit here on the mound repenting in deepest shame... Dodie Smith
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The Devil's out of fashion. Dodie Smith
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Father says hot water can be as stimulating as an alcoholic drink and though I never come by one... I can well believe it. Dodie Smith
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He laughed a little, in an odd, nervous kind of way. "Because if I don't get going soon, the whole impetus may die--and if that happens, well, I really shall consider a long, restful plunge into insanity. Sometimes the abyss yawns very attractively. Dodie Smith
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...[I]f I don't get going soon, the whole impetus may die---and if that happens, well, I really shall consider a long, restful plunge into insanity. Sometimes the abyss yawns very attractively. Dodie Smith
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Stew's so comforting on a rainy day. Dodie Smith
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Everything in the least connected with him has value for me; if someone even mentions his name it is like a little present to me--and I long to mention it myself, I start subjects leading up to it, and then feel myself going red. I keep swearing to myself not to speak of him again- and then an opportunity occurs and I jump at it. Dodie Smith
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...[P]erhaps it is the loving that counts, not the being loved in return---that perhaps true loving can never know anything but happiness. Dodie Smith
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Once I really looked at the sky, I wanted to go on looking; it seemed to draw me towards it and make me listen hard, though there was nothing to listen to, not so much as a twig was stirring. Dodie Smith
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I wanted so terribly to be good to him. Dodie Smith
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That little glow of comfort lasted me right through the evening but was gone when I woke up next morning. Wakings are the worst times--almost before my eyes are open a great weight seems to roll on to my heart. Dodie Smith
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And what I thought most about was luxury. I had never realised before that it is more than just having things; it makes the very air feel different. And I felt different, breathing the air: relaxed, lazy, still sad but with the edge taken off the sadness. Perhaps the effect wears off in time, or perhaps you don't notice it if you are born to it, but it does seem to me that the climate of richness must always be a little dulling to the senses. Perhaps it takes the edge off joy as well as off sorrow. Dodie Smith
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No, that was my privilege. Dodie Smith
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When I read a book, I put in all the imagination I can, so that it is almost like writing the book as well as reading it - or rather, it is like living it. It makes reading so much more exciting Dodie Smith
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When I imagine changing places with her I get the feeling I do on finishing a novel with a brick-wall happy ending--- I mean the kind of ending when you never think any more about the characters. Dodie Smith
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I have found that sitting in a place where you have never sat before can be inspiring. Dodie Smith
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If someone even mentions his name it is like a little present to me - and I long to mention it myself. I start subjects leading up to it, and then I feel myself going red. I keep swearing to myself not to speak to him again - and then an opportunity occurs and I jump at it! Dodie Smith