Reflection must be reserved for solitary hours; whenever she was alone, she gave way to it as the greatest relief; and not a day went by without a solitary walk, in which she might indulge in all the delight of unpleasant recollections.

Without music, life would be a blank to me.

I am no indiscriminate novel reader. The mere trash of the common circulating library I hold in the highest contempt.

there is not one in a hundred of either sex, who is not taken in when they marry. ... it is, of all transactions, the one in which people expect most from others, and are least honest themselves.

[W]here other powers of entertainment are wanting, the true philosopher will derive benefit from such as are given.

I would rather have young people settle on a small income at once, and have to struggle with a few difficulties together, than be involved in a long engagement.

But there was happiness elsewhere which no description can reach.