May I never, I say, become that abnormal, merciless animal, that deformed monstrosity - a virtuous woman.

Of poets I put Virgil first - he was greatest.

It is with pain that I read of the dire effects of my book upon the minds of young girls.

I write every day. Writing is a necessity - like eating.

Just why I sent it to the publishers would be hard to say, but when I had finished it I felt that it was literature, because it is real and because it was well written. And I know that the world wants such things.

I would rather be a fairly happy wife and mother.

Genius of a kind has always been with me; an empty heart that has taken on a certain wooden quality; an excellent, strong woman's body and a pitiably starved soul.