During the short railway journey to Swapshire, Herlock Sholmes plied Baron Battledore with questions.
“Have you any enemies of whom you are aware, your lordship?”
The baron looked surprised.
“Scores,” he replied; “the income-tax officials, the whole Labour Party in the House of Commons, a butler named Spivet, whom I dismissed recently for possessing a whistle — “
“A whistle!” I cried.
“A whistle!” repeated the baron. “He was always whetting it – with my rare old wines!”
“That Ghostly Xmas Knight”, The Complete Casebook of Herlock Sholmes, Charles Hamilton, 1021
Tag: Quick Quotes (Page 1 of 10)
“The worst of it ism I’ve never seen Mynheer Schwottem,” groaned [Inspector] Pinkeye. “He’s a bit of a mystery man, as you know. Beyond the fact that he was fat, wore a heavy flaxen mustache and beard and blue spectacles. I can get no good description of him. Help me to find him and his ray apparatus, Mr. Sholmes, and if ever you are arrested for not paying your income tax, I’ll visit you in prison.”
“The Schowottem Ray”, Inspector Pinkeye to Herlock Sholmes, The Complete Casebook of Herlock Sholmes, 1924
“With the approach of the holiday season I noticed alarming symptoms in my amazing friend, Mr. Herlock Sholmes. At frequent intervals his eyes would turn inwards and concentrate on the end of his aquiline nose. Then he would make a vicious sweep with his hand as though to remove an imaginary fly from the tip of his highly-developed proboscis. He would awake at night yelling that spotted starfish were jumping at him. These symptoms led me to the reluctant conclusion that Sholmes was suffering from a condition known to the medical profession as temporarius non compos mentis, or, in other words, a temporary attack of bats in the belfry.”
“The Mystery of the Vacant House”, The Complete Casebook of Herlock Sholmes, Charles Hamilton, printed 1921
“When one can feel and appreciate the joys and sorrows of others, the right words will come naturally. Unkind words are the fruits of selfishness… There is no amount of brilliancy that can, in the affections of our friends, take the place of kindness of speech.”
Beautiful Girlhood, Mabel Hale, original publication date 1922, my copy printed 2001
“Out the kitchen window the sky rolls out. Apple blossoms fill all the orchard. The morning dove warms her bluing hope. I can hear Him, what He is telling the whole world and even me here: this is for you. The lover’s smile in the morning, the child’s laughter down the slide, the elder’s eyes at the eventide: this is for you. And the earth under your feet, the rain over your face upturned, the stars spinning all round you in the brazen glory: this is for you, you, you. These are for you – gifts – these are for you – grace – these are for you – God, so count the ways He loves, a thousand, more, never stop, that when you wake in the morning you can’t help turn humbly to the east, unfold your hand to the heavens, and though you tremble and though you wonder, though the world is ugly, it is beautiful, and you can slow and you can trust and you can receive each moment as grace.”
Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts, 2010
“Why not let all of life be penetrated by grace, gratitude, joy? This is the only way to welcome the Kingdom of God.”
Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts, 2010
“Communion with God, what was broken in the Garden, this is wholly restored when I want the God-communion more than I want the world-consumption.”
Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts, 2010
“Endless thanksgiving, eucharisteo, had opened me to this, the way of the fullest life. From initial union to intimate communion – it isn’t exclusively the domain of the monastics and ascetics, pastors and missionaries, but I, domestic scrubber of potatoes, sister to Brother Lawrence, could I have unbroken communion, fullest life with fullest God?”
Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts, 2010
“I board [the airplane], breathe, buckle, bow my head, and murmur thanks to Him who never takes leave. It’s impossible to give thanks and simultaneously feel fear. This is the anti-anxiety medicine I try to lay in my wide-open palm every day. Thank you, God, for surprising songs.”
Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts, 2010
“When the laundry is for the dozen arms of children or the dozen legs, it’s true, I think I’m due some appreciation. So comes a storm of trouble and lightning strikes joy. But when Christ is at the center, when dishes, laundry, work, is my song of thanks to Him, joy rains.”
Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts, 2010
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