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date: 16 May 2025

Muriel Spark 1918–2006
British novelist 

  1. Parents learn a lot from their children about coping with life.
    The Comforters (1957)
  2. From my experience of life I believe my personal motto should be ‘Beware of men bearing flowers.’
    Curriculum Vitae (1992)
  3. I am putting old heads on your young shoulders…all my pupils are the crème de la crème.
    The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961) ch. 1
  4. Give me a girl at an impressionable age, and she is mine for life.
    The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961) ch. 1; see Anonymous
  5. One's prime is elusive. You little girls, when you grow up, must be on the alert to recognise your prime at whatever time of your life it may occur.
    The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961) ch. 1
  6. If you're going to do a thing, you should do it thoroughly. If you're going to be a Christian, you may as well be a Catholic.
    in Independent 2 August 1989