... swept into the giddy vortex which keeps so many young people revolving aimlessly, till they go down or are cast upon the shore, wrecks of what they might have been

I have nothing to give but my heart so full and these empty hands." "They're not empty now.

Fame is a pearl many dive for and only a few bring up. Even when they do, it is not perfect, and they sigh for more, and lose better things in struggling for them.

She is too fond of books, and it has turned her brain.

...for a girl with eyes like hers has a will and is not ruled by anyone but a lover.

Don't laugh at the spinsters, dear girls, for often very tender, tragic romances are hidden away in the hearts that beat so quietly under the sober gowns, and many silent sacrifices of youth, health, ambition, love itself, make the faded faces beautiful in God's sight. Even the sad, sour sisters should be kindly dealt with, because they have missed the sweetest part of life, if for no other reason.

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