“When a man don't know his own mind, Miss Shirley, ma'am, how's a poor woman going to be sure of it?”

“Miss Velvet." "Lord, darlin'. You're the only man in this state who would tip his hat to a whore." She ushered the other women along and stopped beside Jake. "You haven't been back to see me, darlin'." "No, ma'am." "You won't be coming back to see me, will you?" He shook his head. "No, ma'am. I won't." She smiled, a warm, pretty smile. "It's just as well. A man like you, darlin', shouldn't have to pay a woman. You take care of yourself now, you hear?" He returned her smile. "Yes, ma'am. I will." She reached out, touching the raised comer of his mouth with the tip of her finger. "Lord, darlin', I don't know how any woman could walk away from that smile.”

“Any woman who is sure of her own wits, is a match, at any time, for a man who is not sure of his own temper.”

“Go away,” he said. “Do you know you’ve almost no clothes on?” “Never mind. I need—” “Never mind? Listen to me, Miss Innocence. There are many things a man can ‘never mind.’ A nearly naked woman isn’t one of them.”

“A man is likely to mind his own business when it is worth minding. When it is not, he takes his mind off his own meaningless affairs by minding other people's business.”

“If a man's at odds to know his own mind it's because he hasn't got aught but his mind to know it with.”