an old woman ... is a person who has no sense of decency; if once she takes to living, the devil himself can't get rid of her.

Insensibility, of all kinds, and on all occasions, most moves my imperial displeasure

I am ashamed of confessing that I have nothing to confess.

Travelling is the ruin of all happiness. There's no looking at a building here after seeing Italy.

But if the young are never tired of erring in conduct, neither are the older in erring of judgment.

Credulity is the sister of innocence.

I wish the opera was every night. It is, of all entertainments, the sweetest and most delightful. Some of the songs seemed to melt my very soul.

to diminish expectation is to increase enjoyment.

Nothing is so delicate as the reputation of a woman; it is at once the most beautiful and most brittle of all human things.

A youthful mind is seldom totally free from ambition; to curb that, is the first step to contentment, since to diminish expectation is to increase enjoyment.

I cannot sleep - great joy is as restless as sorrow.

I mind-melded the details trapped inside my head since it felt easier than talking, which surprised me." -- Jennifer Mills from Soul Reader by: Dianne Bright

It’s the silence that scares me. It’s the blank page on which I can write my own fears.

Truly competent Literary Detectives are as rare as truthful men, Mr. Tweed -- you can see her potential as clearly as I can. Frightened of someone stealing your thunder, perhaps?

'Why are you yelling at the television when you know they cannot hear you?' 'You wouldn't understand, ' said Asher, his gaze locked on the screen. 'It's a human thing.'

It is better to have 100 functions operate on one data structure than to have 10 functions operate on 10 data structures.

At the end of the day, your health is your responsibility.

Jack's [Ma Yun ] theory is that whoever controls data controls the world.

I went to a number of women's groups and said, "Can you help us find folks," and they brought us whole binders full of women.

I've listened to Preachers, I've listened to fools. I've worshipped the dropouts, who've made their own rules.

I like to think I'm positive and optimistic about things generally, but what I write does tend towards the darker end of the spectrum.