To say that she had a book is to say that her solitude did not press upon her; for her love of knowledge had a fertilizing quality and her imagination was strong. There was at this time, however, a want of lightness in her situation, which the arrival of an unexpected visitor did much to dispel.

Of course you're always at liberty to judge the critic. Judge people as critics, however, and you'll condemn them all!

...and the great advantage of being a literary woman, was that you could go everywhere and do everything.

In art economy is always beauty.

If I were to live my life over again, I would be an American. I would steep myself in America, I would know no other land.

There were several ways of understanding her: there was what she said, and there was what she meant, and there was something between the two, that was neither.

True happiness, we are told, consists in getting out of one's self; but the point is not only to get out - you must stay out; and to stay out you must have some absorbing errand.