“Good books, like good friends, are few and chosen; the more select, the more enjoyable.”

I don’t like favors; they oppress and make me fell like a slave. I’d rather do everything for myself, and be perfectly independent.

You are the gull, Jo, strong and wild, fond of the storm and the wind, flying far out to sea, and happy all alone.

He was the first, the only love her life, and in a nature like hers such passions take deep root and die-hard.

Some people seemed to get all sunshine, and some all shadow.

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.

Read absolutely everything you get your hands on because you’ll never know where you’ll get an idea from.

The reason I collect good ideas is because plots themselves are very difficult indeed to come by.

When I look at my room, I see a girl who loves books.

I can’t imagine a man really enjoying a book and reading it only once.

Read a lot. Reading really helps. Read anything you can get your hands on.

It is a great thing to start life with a small number of really good books which are your very own.

Good books don’t give up all their secrets at once.

I cannot live without books.