Your future wife will be perfectly capable of managing her own feelings. Don’t patronize her by deciding for her what worries she can and cannot endure.[to Frederick]
Who needs romance when one has… family?
How is it that life can remain static, almost obstinately resistant to any change for years at a time, and then without warning become flooded with so much newness within the course of a few weeks?
True reputation comes from honesty, integrity, compassion, acceptance of responsibility for the welfare of others.[to Sir Walter]
There’s nothing worse than thinking your life is ruined and then realizing you’ve got much, much further to fall.
Only people who know loss can really appreciate Byron. But those people should only taste him sparingly. Otherwise, they’ll be left more deeply in their sorrow.[to Captain Benwick]
Nobody tells you when you’re young that life keeps going. It keeps going whether you approve of the progression or not. And, eventually, you find yourself wondering, “How did I end up here?”
Never value a love that wasn’t offered freely.
Why must everyone always assume that all women want is to be chosen by any eligible bachelor?[to Mary]
We women do not forget you so soon as you forget us. Women love beyond all sensible limits. We cannot help ourselves.[to Captain Harville]
The only privilege I claim for my sex is that of loving longest. Loving even when hope is gone. Loving because you don’t have a choice.[to Captain Harville]
One’s family is only escapable by two things, marriage and death.
