...the love, respect, and confidence of my children was the sweetest reward I could receive for my efforts to be the woman I would have them copy.

You are like a chestnut burr, prickly outside, but silky-soft within, and a sweet kernel, if one can only get at it. Love will make you show your heart some day, and then the rough burr will fall off.

Many argue; not many converse.

The female population exceeds the male, you know, especially in New England, which accounts for the high state of culture we are in, perhaps.

…books are always good company if you have the right sort. Let me pick out some for you.' And Mrs. Jo made a bee-line to the well-laden shelves, which were the joy of her heart and the comfort of her life.

The emerging woman ... will be strong-minded, strong-hearted, strong-souled, and strong-bodied...strength and beauty must go together.

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