…tomorrow was her birthday, and she was thinking how fast the years went by, how old she was getting, and how little she seemed to have accomplished. Almost twenty-five and nothing to show for it.

Work is always my salvation and I will celebrate it.

Jo had learned that hearts, like flowers, cannot be rudely handled, but must open naturally.

There was a good deal of laughing and kissing and explaining, in the simple, loving fashion which makes these home-festivals so pleasant at the time, so sweet to remember long afterward, and then all fell to work.

Wouldn't it be fun if all the castles in the air which we make could come true and we could live in them?

You may try your experiment for a week and see how you like it. I think by Saturday night you will find that all play and no work is as bad as all work and no play

She had a womanly instinct that clothes possess an influence more powerful over many than the worth of character or the magic of manners.