“I misjudged her, wasn't mature enough to understand how difficult it was for her.”

“Just as my heart sinks every time I hear her harsh words, that's how her heart sank when she realised there was no more love between us.”

“What I condemn are our system of values and the men who don't acknowledge how great, difficult, but ultimately beautiful women's share in society is.”

“I have one outstanding trait in my character, which must strike anyone who knows me for any length of time, and that is my knowledge of myself. I can watch myself and my actions, just like an outsider. The Anne of every day I can face entirely without prejudice, without making excuses for her, and watch what's good and what's bad about her. This 'self-consciousness' haunts me, and every time I open my mouth I know as soon as I've spoken whether 'that ought to have been different' or 'that was right as it was.' There are so many things about myself that I condemn; I couldn't begin to name them all. I understand more and more how true Daddy's words were when he said: 'All children must look after their own upbringing.' Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands.”

“I only look at her as a mother, and she doesn't succeed in being that to me.”

“I don't want to be cross, love cannot be forced. There were tears in her eyes as she left the room.”

“I have in my mind’s eye an image of what a perfect mother and wife should be; and in her whom I must call “Mother” I find no trace of that image.”