Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Sad but true

Tonight's quote is from the inimitable P. G. Wodehouse:
If girls realized their responsibilities they would be so careful when they smiled that they would probably abandon the practice altogether. There are moments in a man's life when a girl's smile can have as important results as an explosion of dynamite.

Alas.

2 comments:

Dave said...

Do you think he meant that to be sad? I think that sometimes it has been for me. But there are other times when those have been joyful explosions!

Matthew said...

Well, here is the context...

"In the course of their brief acquaintance Joan had smiled at Ashe many times, but the conditions governing those occasions had not been such as to permit him to be seriously affected. He had been pleased on such occasions; he had admired her smile in a detached and critical spirit; but he had not been overwhelmed by it. The frame of mind necessary for that result had been lacking.

"Now, however, after five minutes of solitude on the depressing platform of Market Blandings Station, he was what the spiritualists call a sensitive subject. He had reached that depth of gloom and bodily discomfort when a sudden smile has all the effect of strong liquor and good news administered simultaneously, warming the blood and comforting the soul, and generally turning the world from a bleak desert into a land flowing with milk and honey.

"It is not too much to say that he reeled before Joan's smile."

(This is from "Something Fresh" by the way, one of his earlier Blandings Novels; I highly recommended if light-hearted British comedy of errors is your cup of tea).