Beware of men bearing flowers.

I have a great desire to make people smile - not laugh. Laughter is too aggressive. People bare their teeth.

[My novel] took up the sweetest part of my mind and the rarest part of my imagination; it was like being in love and better. All day long when I was busy [...], I had my unfinished novel personified almost as a secret companion and accomplice following me like a shadow wherever I went, whatever I did.

One's prime is elusive. You little girls, when you grow up, must be on the alert to recognize your prime at whatever time of your life it may occur. You must then live it to the full.

Looking forward to going home, I was necessarily looking backward.

Art and religion first; then philosophy; lastly science. That is the order of the great subjects of life, that's their order of importance.

Frankness is usually a euphemism for rudeness.