Single women have a dreadful propensity for being poor. Which is one very strong argument in favor of matrimony.
There is something so amiable in the prejudices of a young mind, that one is sorry to see them give way to the reception of more general opinions.
One cannot be always laughing at a man without now and then stumbling on something witty.
It will, I believe, be everywhere found, that as the clergy are, or are not what they ought to be, so are the rest of the nation.
Respect for right conduct is felt by every body.
We do not look in our great cities for our best morality.
If things are going untowardly one month, they are sure to mend the next.
I am afraid that the pleasantness of an employment does not always evince its propriety.
Surprises are foolish things. The pleasure is not enhanced, and the inconvenience is often considerable.
No man is offended by another man’s admiration of the woman he loves; it is the woman only who can make it a torment.
It is happy for you that you possess the talent of flattering with delicacy. May I ask whether these pleasing attentions proceed from the impulse of the moment, or are they the result of previous study?
Men have had every advantage of us in telling their own story. Education has been theirs in so much higher a degree; the pen has been in their hands. I will not allow books to prove anything.
Husbands and wives generally understand when opposition will be vain.
Everybody’s heart is open, you know, when they have recently escaped from severe pain, or are recovering the blessing of health.
Marriage is indeed a maneuvering business.
You deserve a longer letter than this; but it is my unhappy fate seldom to treat people so well as they deserve.
Reflection must be reserved for solitary hours; whenever she was alone, she gave way to it as the greatest relief; and not a day went by without a solitary walk, in which she might indulge in all the delight of unpleasant recollections.
Miss Morland, no one can think more highly of the understanding of women than I do. In my opinion, nature has given them so much, that they never find it necessary to use more than half.
Elinor could sit still no longer. She almost ran out of the room, and as soon as the door was closed, burst into tears of joy, which at first she thought would never cease.
Elinor agreed with it all, for she did not think he deserved the compliment of rational opposition.