Top 30 A.J. Pearce Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “Find out what you’re good at... and then get even better. That’s the key.”

— A.J. Pearce

2. “My mother never gave in. One of Father’s friends had once said that if Mother had been in charge, the Great War would have been over by 1916. Father had replied that if my mother had been in charge, she would have made damn sure the bloody thing hadn’t started in the first place. Mother always said it wasn’t just about keeping going, but about standing up for what you believed in as well.”

— A.J. Pearce

3. “I tried to take a deep breath and be British and brave, but it didn’t work, and instead, the tears began. Masses of them. Where did tears like that come from and how did they get there so fast? Were they always there, just waiting for something awful to happen? What a horrible job they had.”

— A.J. Pearce

4. “Good morning, ladies and gentlemen,” she said. Then she cleared her throat again. “My name is Mrs. Anne Oliver and I am a war worker.” The other women clapped again. A soldier nearby shouted, “Good girl!” and his friend joined in with a “Well done, love. Good on you.”

— A.J. Pearce

5. “If anyone would understand, it was my best friend. “Just love him,” she said. “Whatever happens, if you love someone and know you’re loved back, you will always have that.” She paused and then added, “To be honest, it’s not nearly as good as when they’re actually alive, but you know, you have to try.”

— A.J. Pearce

6. “No wonder Maeve had said that nothing would change. Mr. Terry hadn’t the faintest interest in helping his female workers. It was time to come up with a new plan.”

— A.J. Pearce

7. “Press,” I said loudly. “Good morning. May I take your name? I want to make sure I spell it correctly. Are you an official representative? Our readers will want to know what you have against women who want to do war work.”

— A.J. Pearce

8. “But we have a problem, which is why we are here today. You may know we work shifts and weekends and all hours. We don’t mind that if it gets the job done. But our littl’n’s, our children who are with us today, need looking after. We know Mr. Churchill’s Government is setting up special nurseries for war workers. But we don’t have them yet, even though we need them badly. The fact is, we need them NOW.”

— A.J. Pearce

9. “At the town hall, the women stopped singing and gathered into a group. Several people clapped, although they kept their distance, waiting to see what would happen next.”

— A.J. Pearce

10. “I wasn’t telling lies, I wasn’t even over-egging anything. I just wasn’t mentioning some of the things I thought were unfair. Never mind, ladies! You may worry about who will look after your children! The local nurseries can’t fit in with your hours! You can’t join the union and you won’t get paid the same as the men!”

— A.J. Pearce

11. “As Anne continued to reiterate that all the women wanted was nurseries for the children, you could see the crowd’s interest grow. When she said that many war widows needed to work, there were nods from other women, including several in middle age. This was not their first war.”

— A.J. Pearce

12. “Mr. Adams, the Public Relations Manager, was no fool. Just a handful of female workers had managed to get themselves in the papers, and a policeman had ordered the man from the council to meet with them. Mr. Adams had also seen the response of the crowd. Sacking patriotic women war workers at Christmas would not be a good move.”

— A.J. Pearce

13. “All right, everyone, time to go,” said Constable Pickering as he shut his police notebook. He motioned to Mr. Rice. “Just so you know, Mrs. Oliver did you a very great favour there,” he said. “Just so you know. Now, I suggest you try talking to these ladies rather than making their children cry. By the New Year. I’ll be checking.”

— A.J. Pearce

14. “I have to say, it’s all Greek to me. That’s why I stick to fiction. Making things up is somewhat easier than sorting out real life.”

— A.J. Pearce

15. “It sounded as if we had been in the East End, dogfighting or betting on horses and eating chips wrapped in the Daily Express.”

— A.J. Pearce

16. “Darling,” said my mother, “I’ll put a penny to a pound that nothing has changed since factories in the last war. Thousands of perfectly capable women being managed by a lot of silly old men without an ounce of sense between them.”

— A.J. Pearce

17. “We’re only asking for a nursery,” said Anne to the policeman. “But we’ve been told it has to be done jointly by local authorities and factory managers. They won’t even meet with us. No one seems to want to know.” “And the Ministries of Health and Labour have to say yes before anything happens,” I added. “These women just want to be able to work.”

— A.J. Pearce

18. “I’m afraid they’ve already given me the sack,” said Anne politely. “And probably will to all the others after this.” “Very festive,” said the officer drily. “Who’s the Scrooge?”

— A.J. Pearce

19. “Mother always said it wasn’t just about keeping going, but about standing up for what you believed in as well.”

— A.J. Pearce

20. “I could hardly believe what I had read. Woman’s Friend was joining the call for Government Nurseries and asking our readers to air their views in the magazine!”

— A.J. Pearce

21. “Of course I would never write something like that, but I found it frustrating to write encouraging articles, while knowing my friends weren’t being listened to in real life.”

— A.J. Pearce

22. “Hello,” said Ruby confidently. “What’s your name?” The policeman stopped writing. “Constable Pickering,” he said. “Picky Wing?” “Pickering.”

— A.J. Pearce

23. “My mother always said that a lot of men think that having bosoms means you’re a nitwit. She said the cleverest thing is to let them assume you’re an idiot, so you can crack on and prove them all wrong.”

— A.J. Pearce

24. “I’m Mrs. Irene Barker,” she said, almost in a whisper. “I was a war worker, but I lost my job because I couldn’t find anyone to look after my girls when I was at work.”

— A.J. Pearce

25. “I am a war worker and a mother. I have two small children.” She glanced down at Ruby, who was with Violet and trying on her scarf. “I want to tell you about their father, my husband. His name was Corporal Anthony Oliver, and he was killed at Dunkirk.”

— A.J. Pearce

26. “Whether it was Anne and the girls, or me with Bunty or Kath or Thelma, we were just the same. Sticking with each other through the best bits and the worst in the war, without even thinking – it was just what we did.”

— A.J. Pearce

27. “Anne swayed from side to side, trying to calm Ruby down. In between enormous gulps and with her flowery crown all askew, Ruby buried her head into Anne’s shoulder. “He. Made. You. Cry. My Mummy,” she sobbed.”

— A.J. Pearce

28. “Joan, Thelma, and Mary, like thousands of others, spent day and night after day and night carrying on with their jobs in the most frightening of conditions. Every day they helped save strangers they didn’t know and would never meet. But today it was their friend. Stiff upper lips and getting on with things were all very well, but sometimes there was nothing to do but admit that things were quite simply awful. War was foul and appalling and unfair.”

— A.J. Pearce

29. “All Mrs. Barker wants is to be able to work,” she said. “That’s all. It has taken great courage for her to be here today.” She looked over at Irene. “Last week she was informed that her husband, Able Seaman Douglas Barker, had given his life for his country.”

— A.J. Pearce

30. “My mother was more likely to be found reading Virginia Woolf than Woman’s Friend.”

— A.J. Pearce

31. “Mother always worried about how we kept going. I had no idea. We just did.”

— A.J. Pearce

32. “All we want you to know is that we want to work for our boys. We urge any girl or woman of working age to join in so that we can support them and get this war won.”

— A.J. Pearce

33. “When the song came to an end, the women began to chant. “To win the war, we’re asking, please, Help us get our nurseries.”

— A.J. Pearce

34. “Nice singing,” he added to Irene and the others. “How about limiting it to carols for the rest of the day? Thank you, ladies, I think you’ve made your point and suggest you all go now. It is nearly Christmas, after all.” Then he gave a slight nod and with no intention of letting us try to carry on, slowly and very deliberately walked away. “Well done, girls,” called one of the soldiers. “You keep it up. We’re right behind you.”

— A.J. Pearce