Polly Adler

Pearl "Polly" Adler (April 16, 1900 – June 9, 1962) was an American madam and author, best known for her work A House Is Not a Home, which was adapted into a film of the same name. Quotes A House Is Not a Home (1953) New York: Rinehart & Co. I know myself well enough to be positive that I couldn't have lived through a whole year, or even a whole week, without finding something enjoyable about being alive, some-thing that made it more than just surviving. And if it might seem that I have got Polly Adler confused with Pollyanna, I can only say that I am one of those people who just can't help getting a kick out of life — even when it's a kick in the teeth. Ch. 1, sec. 4, p. 31 Harold was tops as a cavalier; every day he sent me more gardenias than most people go to the grave with. Ch. 8, sec. 5, p. 279 What it comes down to is this: the grocer, the butcher, the baker, the merchant, the landlord, the druggist, the liquor dealer, the policeman, the doctor, the city father and the politician – these are the people who make money out of prostitution, these are the real reapers of the wages of sin. Ch. 9, sec. 2, p. 309 The women who take husbands not out of love but out of greed, to get their bills paid, to get a fine house and clothes and jewels; the women who marry to get out of a tiresome job, or to get away from disagreeable relatives, or to avoid being called an old maid — these are whores in everything but name. The only difference between them and my girls is that my girls gave a man his money's worth. Ch. 10, sec. 1, p. 336 Your heart often knows things before your mind does, and I think from this time on, psychologically speaking, I was already retired from the business I had been in so long. Ch. 10, sec. 3, p. 348 "I was just recalling the pet saying of an old madam named Vicki Shaw.""Oh? And what was that?""Too many cooks," I said glumly, "spoil the brothel." Ch. 11, sec. 3, p. 373 External links Category:1900 births Category:1962 deaths Category:Immigrants to the United States Category:Non-fiction authors from the United States Category:Jews from the United States Category:People from New York City Category:Women authors from the United States