[Preface to second edition:] ... I am satisfied that if a book is a good one, it is so whatever the sex of the author may be.

Keep both heart and hand in your own possession, till you see good reason to part with them.

I had been seasoned by adversity, and tutored by experience, and I longed to redeem my lost honour in the eyes of those whose opinion was more than that of all the world to me.

God will judge us by our own thoughts and deeds, not by what others say about us.

It is painful to doubt the sincerity of those we love.

Intimate acquaintance must precede real friendship

To represent a bad thing in its least offensive light is, doubtless, the most agreeable course for a writer of fiction to pursue; but is it the most honest, or the safest? Is it better to reveal the snares and pitfalls of like to the young and thoughtless traveller, or to cover them with branches and flowers? Oh, reader! if there were less of this delicate concealment of facts--this whispering "Peace, peace," when there is no peace, there would be less of sin and misery to the young of both sexes who are left to wring their bitter knowledge from experience.