We are all of us imaginative in some form or other, for images are the brood of desire.

Saints and martyrs had never interested Maggie so much as sages and poets.

It is pleasant to have a kind word now and then when one is not near enough to have a kind glance or a hearty shake by the hand.

She thought it was part of the hardship of her life that there was laid upon her the burthen of larger wants than others seemed to feel – that she had to endure this wide hopeless yearning for that something, whatever it was, that was greatest and best on this earth.

It is always good to know, if only in passing, charming human beings. It refreshes one like flowers and woods and clear brooks.

Appearances have very little to do with happiness.

A woman's heart must be of such a size and no larger, else it must be pressed small, like Chinese feet; her happiness is to be made as cakes are, by a fixed recipe.