Life, misfortune, isolation, abandonment, poverty, are the fields of battle which have their heroes; obscure heroes, who are, sometimes, grander than the heroes who win renown.

There is but one way of rejecting To-morrow, and that is to die.

There is nothing like the hand of the populace for building everything that is built by demolishing.

You must be the best judge of your own happiness.

Better be happy old maids than unhappy wives, and teach your girls to be contented with the home you have, and the friends you keep, and the duties that lie nearest; make this home happy, so that you may be fit for homes of your own, if ever they come, and contented here if they are not.

I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship; and though the winds are rough, and the sky is dark, I keep my little helm steady, watching the waves with all my might, for I have faith that I shall reach the harbor at last, if I only work on bravely and wait.

Talk nonsense, but talk your own nonsense, and I’ll kiss you for it. To go wrong in one’s own way is better than to go right in someone else’s.

Do you think I am an automaton?—a machine without feelings? … Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong!—I have as much soul as you,—and full as much heart! … I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionalities, nor even of mortal flesh;—it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; … and we stood at God’s feet, equal,—as we are.

I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.

Till this moment, I never knew myself.