[T]he merciful adjustment which nature makes when what cannot be cured must be endured.

Brilliance is one part talent, two parts wisdom and three parts passion.

I'm riding you with a slack rein, my pet, but don't forget that I'm riding with curb and spurs just the same.

Land is the only thing in the world that amounts to anything.

But she knew that no matter what beauty lay behind, it must remain there. No one could go forward with a load of aching memories.

Yes, as Rhett had prophesied, marriage could be a lot of fun. Not only was it fun but she was learning many things. That was odd in itself, because Scarlett had thought life could teach her no more. Now she felt like a child, every day on the brink of a new discovery.

If Gone With the Wind has a theme it is that of survival. What makes some people come through catastrophes and others, apparently just as able, strong, and brave, go under? It happens in every upheaval. Some people survive; others don't. What qualities are in those who fight their way through triumphantly that are lacking in those that go under? I only know that survivors used to call that quality 'gumption.' So I wrote about people who had gumption and people who didn't.