Maeve Binchy quotes

Maeve Binchy was an Irish novelist and short story writer, celebrated for her warm and insightful portrayals of Irish life. Her books became international bestsellers and touched readers worldwide with their relatable characters and gentle humor. She is remembered as one of Ireland's most beloved and influential writers. Here are 73 of her quotes:

I don't have ugly ducklings turning into swans in my stories. I have ugly ducklings turning into confident ducks.

Maeve Binchy

I once tried to write a novel about revenge. It's the only book I didn't finish. I couldn't get into the mind of the person who was plotting vengeance.

Maeve Binchy

I look placid, you see, that's why people think I'm fine. Inside I worry a lot.

Maeve Binchy

I don't say I was 'proceeding down a thoroughfare', I say I 'walked down the road'. I don't say I 'passed a hallowed institute of learning', I say I 'passed a school'. You don't wear all your jewellery at once. You're much more believable if you talk in your own voice.

Maeve Binchy

We are all the heroes and heroines of our own lives. Our love stories are amazingly romantic; our losses and betrayals and disappointments are gigantic in our own minds.

Maeve Binchy

Always write as if you are talking to someone. It works. Don't put on any fancy phrases or accents or things you wouldn't say in real life.

Maeve Binchy

I have always believed that life is too short for rows and disagreements. Even if I think I'm right, I would prefer to apologize and remain friends rather than win and be an enemy.

Maeve Binchy

(A) writer, a man I loved and he loved me and we got married and it was great and is still great. He believed I could do anything, just as my parents had believed all those years ago, and I started to write fiction and that took off fine. And he loved Ireland, and the fax was invented so we writers could live anywhere we liked, instead of living in London near publishers.

Maeve Binchy

I often wonder that if I had met Hitler, I reckon I might have found some streak of decency in him.

Maeve Binchy

On my 100th birthday, piloting Gordon and myself into the side of a mountain.

Maeve Binchy

Suddenly they asked me, as only the French would, ‘Madame, what is your philosophy of life?' What a cosmic question, but I had to answer, and answer quickly, because it was live. So I said, in French, ‘I think that you've got to play the hand that you're dealt and stop wishing for another hand.

Maeve Binchy

Nobody is ordinary if you know where to look.

Maeve Binchy

I'm getting better, happier, and nicer as I grow older, so I would be terrific in a couple of hundred years time.

Maeve Binchy

I think you've got to play the hand that you're dealt and stop wishing for another hand.

Maeve Binchy

We're nothing if we're not loved. When you meet somebody who is more important to you than yourself, that has to be the most important thing.

Maeve Binchy

Because I saw my parents relaxing in armchairs and reading and liking it, I thought it was a peaceful grown-up thing to do, and I still think that.

Maeve Binchy

Everybody is a hero in their own story if you just look.

Maeve Binchy

You say to yourself: 'What could people, in all these countries, find in my books?' and yet I think we're all the same, anywhere. Everybody is a hero or a dramatic person in their own story if you just know where to look.

Maeve Binchy

I have been lucky enough to travel a lot, meet great people in many lands. I have liked almost everyone I met along the way.

Maeve Binchy

I believed that old people never laughed. I thought they sighed a lot and groaned. They walked with sticks, and they didn't like children on bicycles or roller skates or with big dogs.

Maeve Binchy

When I was being brought up, we weren't allowed to wallow in self-pity, which was a thoroughly good thing. We were all fine and healthy because that was what we were told to be.

Maeve Binchy

I've seen a lot of people buy my books and then fall asleep on the plane soon afterwards.

Maeve Binchy