Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosit... - Charlotte Bronte

"But this I know; the writer who possesses the creative gift owns something of which he is not always master--something that at times strangely wills and works for itself. He may lay down rules and devise principles, and to rules and principles it will perhaps for years lie in subjection; and then, haply without any warning of revolt, there comes a time when it will no longer consent."

"I try to avoid looking forward or backward, and try to keep looking upward."

"Happiness quite unshared can scarcely be called happiness; it has no taste."

"Writers cannot choose their own mood: with them it is not always hide-tide, nor --thank Heaven!--always Storm."

"I don't call you handsome, sir, though I love you most dearly: far too dearly to flatter you. Don't flatter me."