A man who has nothing to do with his own time has no conscience in his intrusion on that of others.

There could have never been two hearts so open, no tastes so similar, no feelings so in unison, no countenances so beloved. Now they were as strangers; nay, worse than strangers, for they could never become acquainted. It was a perpetual estrangement.

A submissive spirit might be patient, a strong understanding would supply resolution, but here was something more; here was that elasticity of mind, that disposition to be comforted, that power of turning readily from evil to good, and of finding employment which carried her out of herself, which was from nature alone. It was the choicest gift of Heaven; and Anne viewed her friend as one of those instances in which, by a merciful appointment, it seems designed to counterbalance almost every other want.

Where so many hours have been spent in convincing myself that I am right, is there not some reason to fear I may be wrong?

Single women have a dreadful propensity for being poor. Which is one very strong argument in favor of matrimony.

Good-humoured, unaffected girls, will not do for a man who has been used to sensible women. They are two distinct orders of being.

Real solemn history, I cannot be interested in.... The quarrels of popes and kings, with wars and pestilences in every page; the men all so good for nothing, and hardly any women at all.