I disapprove of matrimony as a matter of principle.... Why should any independent, intelligent female choose to subject herself to the whims and tyrannies of a husband? I assure you, I have yet to meet a man as sensible as myself! (Amelia Peabody)

Since I am not as stupid as my children believe I am, I had immediately realized this might be a ruse, but I was not at all averse to a confrontation. In fact, I had been hoping for some such thing.

Husbands do not care to be contradicted. Indeed, I do not know anyone who does.

I knew the answer, and--of course--so did Ramses. He has superb breath control and always gets in ahead of me.

Humor is an excellent method of keeping a tight rein on unproductive displays of emotion.

The way to get on with a cat is to treat it as an equal - or even better, as the superior it knows itself to be.

I sometimes wonder what it would be like to be the respected patriarch of an ordinary English family." "Very boring, Emerson.