“Oh, well,' Mrs. Zender continued, 'Mother always said that Mr. Zender had other talents. He was good looking, and I think Mother put looking good right up there with the harpsichord, an instrument that has limited performance time and requires a great deal of maintenance.”

“Ninety percent of who you are is invisible." - Mrs. Zender”

“My idea of good company, Mr Elliot, is the company of clever, well-informed people, who have a great deal of conversation; that is what I call good company.""You are mistaken," said he gently, "that is not good company; that is the best. Good company requires only birth, education, and manners (...)”

“My mother always said 'Don't bother other people.' I think that's good advice.”

“But I think she would have been happy with Fabrice,' I said. 'He was the great love of her life, you know.'Oh, dulling,' said my mother, sadly. 'One always thinks that. Every, every time.”

“I wonder if there's a difference between being a dutiful mother and being a good mother.'There is,' I said, and Charlotte looked up at me, expectant. Even if I couldn't articulate the difference as an adult, as a child I had felt it. I thought for a moment. 'A dutiful mother is someone who follows every step her child makes,' I said. And a good mother?'I lifted my gaze to Charlotte's. 'Is someone whose child wants to follow her.”