“and a Finnish woman, who made my bed and cooked breakfast and muttered Finnish wisdom to herself over the electric stove”

“It is not necessarily poverty of spirit that makes a woman surround herself with life—it can be a superabundance of interest...”

“the cracked plate has to be retained in the pantry, has to be kept in service as a household necessity. It can never be warmed on the stove nor shuffled with the other plates in the dishpan; it will not be brought out for company but it will do to hold crackers late at night or to go into the ice-box with the left overs.”

“It made no difference to me. Dishonesty in a woman is a thing you never blame deeply.”

“I am a woman and my business is to hold things together.My business is to tear them apart.”

“He snatched the book from me and replaced it hastily on its shelf, muttering that if one brick was removed the whole library was liable to collapse.”

“As he took her hand she saw him look her over from head to foot, a gesture she recognized and that made her feel at home, but gave her always a faint feeling of superiority to whoever made it. If her person was property she could exercise whatever advantage was inherent in its ownership.”