I think she is growing up, and so begins to dream dreams, and have hopes and fears and fidgets, without knowing why or being able to explain them.

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

Conceit spoils the finest genius.

...freedom being the sauce best beloved by the boyish soul.

I never wanted to go away, and the hard part now is the leaving you all. I'm not afraid, but it seems as if I should be homesick for you even in heaven.

It takes people a long time to learn the difference between talent and genius, especially ambitious young men and women.

I've got the key to my castle in the air, but whether I can unlock the door remains to be seen.

You don’t need scores of suitors. You need only one… if he’s the right one.

life and love are very precious when both are in full bloom.

…marriage, they say, halves one's rights and doubles one's duties.

John Brooke is acting dreadfully, and Meg likes it!

Point me out the happy man and I will point you out either extreme egotism, selfishness, evil -- or else an absolute ignorance.

True service is when you serve others without expecting anything in return

Friends end. But family will stay when your friendship ends

The war-drum throbb'd no longer and the battleflags were furl'd In the parliament of man the federation of the world.

It's great to work with the people who make you laugh and who are funnier than I am.

Anyone who has read my books will know that I don't tend to use guides when I am travelling. It's not a pride thing, but it is certainly a fact.

The politicians think that I have not included enough of them; the nonpoliticians think that I have gone back to the old ways; and the mass public groups think I have forgotten them.

I can't have a big breakfast or a big lunch because I get very lethargic, and then I get really cranky. I eat, but I have to eat small, healthful amounts of food.

A novel usually takes me two years. A year to research and plan and dream. Then a year to write.

Nothing concentrates one's mind so much as the realization that one is going to be hanged in the morning!