Top 250 Georgette Heyer Quotes (2024 Update)
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151. “It’s my belief, Kit, the woman’s touched in her upper works.’ ‘No, she is merely addicted to poetry,’ explained Kitty.”

— Georgette Heyer

152. “Perhaps Charis did not realize that when one had passed through a time of terrible anxiety relief did not immediately restore the tone of one’s mind. To be sure, she herself had not expected that after the first raptures she would find herself subject to fits of dejection, and much inclined to be crotchety; but still Charis should have known better than to have enacted a tragical scene within an hour of her arrival.”

— Georgette Heyer

153. “Lord, if we were all to marry our first loves what a plague of ill-assorted marriages there would be!”

— Georgette Heyer

154. “He is clearly unhinging.”

— Georgette Heyer

155. “Don’t worry. Chivalry has practically no appeal for me whatsoever. – Neville Fletcher.”

— Georgette Heyer

156. “Yes, but we do not know that he snores, my love,’ Lady Ombersley pointed out. ‘Indeed, we may be almost certain that he does not, for his manners are so very gentleman-like!’ ‘A man who would contract the mumps,’ declared Cecilia, ’would do anything!”

— Georgette Heyer

157. “The landlord was trying to explain that there were a great many English people in his house, all fighting duels or having hysterics.”

— Georgette Heyer

158. “Ten or twelve couples? No, no, Dassett would not be talking of red carpets and awnings for such a paltry affair as that!’ said his lordship. These ominous words struck a chill into his wife’s soul.”

— Georgette Heyer

159. “It seemed to Kitty a pity that her new friend’s mind was set so irrevocably upon marriage, but her suggestion that Olivia might seek an eligible situation as a governess met with no favour at all. Olivia stared at her with dismay in her big eyes, and unequivocally stated her preference for death.”

— Georgette Heyer

160. “Don’t waste a thought on any of the eligible suitors you’ve found for me, dear ma’am! There is more of mama in me than you have the least idea of, and the only eligible husband for me is a rake!”

— Georgette Heyer

161. “There was nothing in store at Undershaw for his lordship but a set-down, but it was disappointing to be granted no opportunity to deliver this.”

— Georgette Heyer

162. “No, he was not as handsome as poor Wrotham, whose dark, stormy beauty troubled her dreams a little. Wrotham was a romantic figure, particularly when his black locks were disheveled through his clutching them in despair.”

— Georgette Heyer

163. “I hope you mean to contribute a handsome wreath to my obsequies?’ ‘Certainly! In the nature of things, it is likely that you will predecease me.’ ‘If I survive this adventure there can be no question of that. Your fate is writ clear: you will be murdered. I cannot conceive how it comes about that you were not murdered long since!’ ‘How odd! Charles himself once said that to me, or something like it!’ ‘There is nothing odd in it: any sensible man must say it!”

— Georgette Heyer

164. “He soon discovered that what Arabella lacked in inches she more than made up for in spirit. She tore his character to shreds and warned him of his ultimate fate.”

— Georgette Heyer

165. “She contrived, without precisely making so vulgar a boast, to convey the impression that she was escaping from courtships so persistent as to amount to persecution; and Mr Beaumaris, listening with intense pleasure, said that London was the very place for anyone desirous of escaping attention.”

— Georgette Heyer

166. “As for the fan, she agreed that it was a most amusing trifle: just what she would wish to buy for herself, if it had not been so excessively ugly!”

— Georgette Heyer

167. “He paused and then said, as though the words were wrung out of him: ‘O God, Mama, I’ve made such a mull of it! What am I to do?”

— Georgette Heyer

168. “To listen to a poet arguing with himself – for she could scarcely have been said to have borne any part in the discussion – on the merits of blank verse as a dramatic medium was naturally a privilege of which any young lady must be proud, but there could be no denying that to talk for half an hour to a man who listened with interest to anything she said was, if not precisely a relief, certainly a welcome variation in her life.”

— Georgette Heyer

169. “Lady Theresa prophesied disaster for all concerned, and hoped that when Serena was dying an old maid she would remember these words, and be sorry. Meanwhile she remained her affectionate aunt.”

— Georgette Heyer

170. “Do you know, it has of late become an ambition of mine to hear my name on your lips instead of my title.”

— Georgette Heyer

171. “What a nonsensical thing it would be in me to allow myself to become alarmed by a trifle such as murder!”

— Georgette Heyer

172. “His lordship detested independently-minded subordinates. It was not the business of his officers to think for themselves.”

— Georgette Heyer

173. “Tiffany never consciously deviated from the truth, but since she saw everything only as it affected herself the truth was apt to become somewhat distorted.”

— Georgette Heyer

174. “I’m beginning to wish you had to work for a living.”

— Georgette Heyer

175. “It is the tyranny of the weak, isn’t it? The weapons being tears, reproaches, vapours, and other such unscrupulous means which are employed by gentle, helpless women like your aunt!”

— Georgette Heyer

176. “My lord, when I first encountered you the suspicion crossed my mind that your intellect was disordered. I am now certain that this is so!”

— Georgette Heyer

177. “The Duke looked at him sardonically. ‘I am not in the least interested in your emotions, Vidal. What I object to is that you have had the impertinence to disturb your mother. That I do not permit. You will leave England at once.”

— Georgette Heyer

178. “It was incomprehensible to her that anyone should be amused by such a circumstance, but both Gilly and Gideon plainly thought it excessively funny, so she smiled dutifully, realizing the truth of her mama’s dictum, that there was never any knowing what stupidities men would find diverting.”

— Georgette Heyer

179. “Dear Edward has given Fanny a chocolate-coloured coach with pale blue cushions. The wheat is picked out in blue.” He held the sheet at arm’s length. “It seems strange, but no doubt Fanny is right. I have not been in England for such a time... Ah, I beg her pardon. You will be relieved to hear, my dear Hugh, that the wheat still grows as it ever did. The wheels are picked out in blue.”

— Georgette Heyer

180. “You must never marry. Don’t, I do earnestly beg of you, allow yourself to be taken in by any lure thrown out to you! You cannot hope to find a lady who will like you better than you like yourself.”

— Georgette Heyer

181. “It is dreadfully tedious to be obliged to listen to poetry, even when it has been composed in one’s honour. But in another– oh, Kit, you won’t understand, but to be three- and- forty, and still be able to attach foolish boys, is such a comfort!”

— Georgette Heyer

182. “I daresay you know how it is when one falls into a fit of the dismals; one says things one doesn’t mean.”

— Georgette Heyer

183. “You are too romantic! We have been dwelling in Arcadia my green girl: the rest of the world is not so golden as this retired spot. Only in fantasy does every circumstance conspire to make it inevitable that two people should fall in love! We should hardly have been more isolated had be been cast on a desert island together.”

— Georgette Heyer

184. “But he has been telling me about his scheme to furbish up the Dower House if you should not dislike it – and I can’t think why you should, dearest, for he says the ghost is nothing more than Spurstow, trying to keep everyone away, which wouldn’t surprise me in the least, for I always disliked that man, and even if there is a ghost, it cannot possibly be more disagreeable to live with than your grandfather!”

— Georgette Heyer

185. “It had survive both separation and divulging interests.”

— Georgette Heyer

186. “There was nothing romantic about Miss Charing’s appearance, but her entrance would not have shamed a Siddons. “You,” she uttered in accents of loathing. “I might have known it!”

— Georgette Heyer

187. “She could scarcely help admiring his appearance, but she had not fallen in love with his face, or his figure, and certainly not with his air of elegance. He had considerable charm of manner, but she decided that it was not that either. She thought it might be the humour that lurked in his eyes, or perhaps his smile.”

— Georgette Heyer

188. “I could never fancy any other female. Never shall! That’s why you see me now, a lonely man, with no one to care for, and no one to care a straw for me!’ As he presented the appearance of a comfortable hedonist, Kit was bereft of words.”

— Georgette Heyer

189. “She laughed. ‘I hope he will enjoy good sport– though my small experience informs me that catching fish is not necessary for your true angler’s enjoyment.’ ‘Oh, no! But to lose a fish is quite another matter!’ ‘Certainly! One cannot wonder that it should cast even the most cheerful person into gloom, for it is always such an enormous one that escapes!’ ‘I begin to think you are yourself an angler, ma’am: you are so exactly right!”

— Georgette Heyer

190. “It’s awful, isn’t it?’ ‘Yes. The worst fight I ever was in.’ ‘Well, I’m glad I was in it, anyway. To tell you the truth, I haven’t liked it as much as I thought I should. It’s seeing one’s friends go, one after the other, and being so hellish frightened oneself.”

— Georgette Heyer

191. “My dear sir, I wish you will give me leave to address your daughter at once!’ said the Earl, quite entranced by this sudden and unexpected declaration of war on the part of his chosen bride.”

— Georgette Heyer

192. “Would you believe it? – the instant she clapped eyes on me, she said that she saw I had taken to dyeing my hair! I was never more shocked, for it is quite untrue! It is not dyeing one’s hair merely to restore its colour when it begins to fade a little! I denied it, of course, but all she did was to give the horridest laugh, which made me feel ready to sink, as you may suppose!”

— Georgette Heyer

193. “Do you like pets better than toys and books? I always did, so I thought very likely you would too.”

— Georgette Heyer

194. “Yes, you may laugh, but you have no experience of such matters. I assure you, the instant you begin to practise economy you will find yourself spending far more than ever you did before you embarked on such a ruinous course!”

— Georgette Heyer

195. “He lived in Half-Moon Street. His house was ruled by his cook, the wife of Moggat, his valet-footman. She also ruled the hapless Moggat. Moggat retaliated by ruling his jovial master as far as he was able, so one might really say Mrs. Moggat ruled them all. As Tom was quite unaware of this fact, it troubled him not a whit.”

— Georgette Heyer

196. “Later, when she appeared before him in the sea-green gauze, he stared at her in great surprise, and said: By Jove, he had never thought she could look so well! Encouraged by this tribute, Hero showed him a cloak of green sarsnet trimmed with swansdown, which she had purchased that morning, and upon his expressing his unqualified approval of this garment, confided, a little nervously, that she feared he might, when he came to see the bill, think it a trifle dear.”

— Georgette Heyer

197. “Well, it was sufficient to explain it all to me,’ Carlyon admitted. ‘Once a performing bear had entered Nicky’s orbit the rest was inevitable.”

— Georgette Heyer

198. “Tiffany?’ exclaimed Mrs Underhill incredulously. ‘Why, she’s got no more notion of propriety than the kitchen cat!”

— Georgette Heyer

199. “Wolf was Felicity’s Alsatian. When fetched from the stables he evinced his satisfaction by bounding around his mistress and barking madly for the first hundred yards of their walk. Exercising him was not, as Frank knew from experience, all joy, as he was not in the least amenable to discipline, had to be caught and held at the approach of any motor vehicle, and had a habit of plunging unadvisedly into quarrels with others of the canine race.”

— Georgette Heyer

200. “His household was presided over by his sister, a colourless woman, prone to tears, which perhaps accounted for the fact of his lordship’s being so seldom to be found at home.”

— Georgette Heyer