“I like good strong words that mean something.”

Where the heart is the mind works best.

In the books I read the sinners are always more interesting than the saints, and in real life good people are dismally dull. I’ve no desire to be wicked, but I do want to be happy. A short life and a gay one for me and I’m willing to pay for my pleasure if it is necessary.

I’d rather take coffee than compliments now.

Honesty is the best policy, in love as in law.

Don’t shut yourself up in a band box because you are a woman, but understand what is going on, and educate yourself to take part in the world’s work, for it all affects you and yours.

Love is a great beautifier.

Wild roses are fairest, and nature a better gardener than art.

There is very little real liberty in the world; even those who seem freest are often the most tightly bound. Law, custom, public opinion, fear or shame make slaves of us all, as you will find when you try your experiment.

Some books are so familiar that reading them is like being home again.

Marriage, they say, halves one’s rights and doubles one’s duties.

My book came out; and people began to think that topsy-turvy Louisa would amount to something after all.

Nothing is impossible to a determined woman.

It takes so little to make a child happy, that it is a pity in a world full of sunshine and pleasant things, that there should be any wistful faces, empty hands, or lonely little hearts.

Be comforted, dear soul! There is always light behind the clouds.

It takes very little fire to make a great deal of smoke nowadays, and notoriety is not real glory.

Don’t try to make me grow up before my time.

Let men be wise by instinct if they can, but when this fails be wise by good advice.

Holdsworth is so damned good that I can’t cop anything. I can’t understand what he’s doing. I’ve got to do this [does two-hand tapping], whereas he’ll do it with one hand.

Consolation Calm down. Both your sins and your good deeds will be lost in oblivion.

I really need a hairstylist to do my hair if it’s going to look good.

I am going to have a cup of tea, like any good Englishman.

No matter how good you are, you still need grace to get out of the material world. You can be a yogi or a monk or a nun, but without God’s grace you still can’t make it.

Most of the people in the world are good and decent if you give them a chance to be.

Music is good for everybody. They say it soothes the savage beast. Well, I think theirs a beast in all of us. So let’s get some more music and soothe all the beasts out there.