I am satisfied that if a book is a good one, it is so whatever the sex of the author may be. All novels are or should be, written for both men and women to read, and I am at a loss to conceive how a man should permit himself to write anything that would be really disgraceful to a woman, or why a woman should be censured for writing anything that would be proper and becoming for a man.

What a fool you must be," said my head to my heart, or my sterner to my softer self.

Reading is my favourite occupation, when I have leisure for it and books to read.

the best compliment to a mother is to appreciate her little one.

The ties that bind us to life are tougher than you imagine, or than any one can who has not felt how roughly they may be pulled without breaking.

My soul is awakened, my spirit is soaring and carried aloft on the wings of the breeze.

A light wind swept over the corn, and all nature laughed in the sunshine.