He was one of those men, and they are not the commonest, of whom we can know the best only by following them away from the marketplace, the platform, and the pulpit, entering with them into their own homes, hearing the voice with which they speak to the young and aged about their own hearthstone, and witnessing their thoughtful care for the everyday wants of everyday companions, who take all their kindness as a matter of course, and not as a subject for panegyric.

That's what a man wants in a wife, mostly; he wants to make sure one fool tells him he's wise.

I am not magnanimous enough to like people who speak to me without seeming to see me

The commonest man, who has his ounce of sense and feeling, is conscious of the difference between a lovely, delicate woman and a coarse one. Even a dog feels a difference in her presence.

That golden sky, which was the doubly blessed symbol of advancing day and of approaching rest.

Better a false belief than no belief at all.

And when a woman's will is as strong as the man's who wants to govern her, half her strength must be concealment.