“My mother always says people should be able to take care of themselves, even if they're rich and important.”

“Mother says as th' two worst things as can happen to a child is never have his own way-- or always to have it. She doesn't know which is th' worst.”

“...and her mother had been a great beauty who cared only to go to parties and amuse herself with gay parties.”

“Perhaps to be able to learn things quickly isn't everything. To be kind is worth a great deal to other people...Lots of clever people have done harm and have been wicked.”

“There was something friendly about Sara, and people always felt it.”

“If Sara had been a boy and lived a few centuries ago, her father used to say, 'she would have gone about the country with her sword drawn, rescuing and defending everyone in distress. She always wants to fight when she sees people in trouble.”

“However many years she lived, Mary always felt that 'she should never forget that first morning when her garden began to grow'.”