“We are shut up here, shut away from the world, in fear and anxiety, especially just lately. Why, then, would we who love each other remain apart? Why should we wait until we've reached suitable age? Why should we bother?”
“We each are young, we each have a heart, Oh, why should we thus stand coldly apart”
“Why should we girls not have the same privileges as men? Why do we police ourselves so stringently- whittling each other down with cutting remarks or holding ourselves back from greatness with a harness woven of fear and shame and longing? If we do not deem ourselves worthy first, how shall we ever ask for more?”
“Why should we remain innocent of what lurks in the shadows? How can we live in the world if we don't understand how dark and brutal it can be?”
“Maybe we should all just shut up and read a good book.”
“We who are like senseless children shrink from suffering, but love its causes. We hurt ourselves; our pain is self-inflicted! Why should others be the object of our anger?”