“Modesty, if you consider it, is the most unforgivable sort of falsehood: it's a lie that does damage to no one but yourself.”

“I admit, that the brain does not govern the body as well as one might wish- else all men would be saints and hell would be empty of lechers.”

“Was not love a terrible thing? One thought one had learned to manage it, and then it sprang free again, rattling its claws in one's liver.”

“Lord John: 'The court has suffered most sorely for your absence. We hardly know where to find our amusement now.' Lady Nora: 'I am sorry to hear that, I suppose it takes some wit to produce one's own entertainment. Are you often bored?”

“You are...beyond my imagination. It's a wonder you can be touched at all.”

“Force persuades a person to speak, but it cannot guarantee his honesty. Quite the reverse: it will extract confessions from innocents and lies from simple sinners...”

“His smile faded a little, growing softer, more intimate, like the look he'd showed her in bed this morning. 'You haven't learned yet when to lie.' Slowly, as if the words were being dragged from him, he added: 'I confess, Nell, I hope you never learn.' She found herself staring at him. Unsteadying thought: there was something hot in his eyes that wasn't purely want. It was too tender, too ... affectionate.”