“But we disposable women have to be realistic in this life, you know. Else we get itchy and discontented and start contemplating the kitchen knife and wondering whether it wouldn't look nicer between someone's shoulder-blades.”

“...soon dinner will run into bed-time, and we shall all eat reclining like the ancient Romans--about whose digestion, you know, I have often wondered. Whether a dose of rhubabrb might have made a difference to Nero or Caligula is a question you might ponder, my dear, next time you go through your Tacitus.”

“Curious creatures we mortals are-how we do not know what we want, or how to get it if we do.”

“We always think we know what we want: when in truth there is nothing we are less likely to know.”

“Love is the hardest thing to grasp. You have to seize it at once, else it may be too late.”

“The glitter of the great world, you know, is only so much froth and spume: you may look in vain for happiness there.”

“It is painful to see someone suffering what you must be suffering- watching someone you love be so cruelly hurt.”