Muriel Spark

She wasn't a person to whom things happen. She did all the happenings.

To me education is a leading out of what is already there in the pupil's soul.

Allow me, in conclusion, to congratulate you warmly upon your sexual intercourse, as well as your singing.

The word "education" comes from the root e from ex, out, and duco, I lead. It means a leading out. To me education is a leading out of what is already there in the pupil's soul.

For those who like that sort of thing," said Miss Brodie in her best Edinburgh voice, "That is the sort of thing they like."

It is well, when in difficulties, to say never a word, neither black nor white. Speech is silver but silence is golden.

If you want to concentrate deeply on some problem, and especially some piece of writing or paper-work, you should acquire a cat. Alone with the cat in the room where you work ... the cat will invariably get up on your desk and settle placidly under the desk lamp ... The cat will settle down and be serene, with a serenity that passes all understanding. And the tranquility of the cat will gradually come to affect you, sitting there at your desk, so that all the excitable qualities that impede your concentration compose themselves and give your mind back the self-command it has lost. You need not watch the cat all the time. Its presence alone is enough. The effect of a cat on your concentration is remarkable, very mysterious.