I know not, Madam, that you have a right, upon moral principles, to make your readers suffer so much.

The happiest part of a man's life is what he passes lying awake in bed in the morning.

The gloomy and the resentful are always found among those who have nothing to do or who do nothing.

A generous and elevated mind is distinguished by nothing more certainly than an eminent degree of curiosity.

All unnecessary vows are folly, because they suppose a prescience of the future, which has not been given us.

You need a good editor because every writer thinks he can write a War and Peace, but by the time he gets it on paper, it's not War and Peace anymore; it's comic-book stuff. Your manuscript is both good and original. But the part that is good is not original, and the part that is original is not good.

Pleasure is very seldom found where it is sought. Our brightest blazes of gladness are commonly kindled by unexpected sparks. The flowers which scatter their odours from time to time in the paths of life, grow up without culture from seeds scattered by chance.