“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife,' I said, sighing.'Is it?' said Veronica, looking surprised. 'Universally acknowledged? Surely that presupposes life similar to human societies beyond this planet, and besides--''No, no, it's a quote from ... Never mind,' I said.”

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”

“It is truth universally acknowledged that a man in possession of a large fortune is in want of a wife!”

“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a married man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of an heir.”

“Simon called you 'Machiavelli disguised as a debutante.'" "Gosh," I said, not sure whether to feel flattered or insulted.”

“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single girl in possession of her right mind must be in want of a decent man.”

“Do you know what it is?' [Toby] said thoughtfully. 'It's that they haven't had anything really awful happen to them. No wonder they seem so superficial and unfeeling.' It was certainly an interesting theory, ... [but] surely one didn't need to have suffered in order to possess empathy for those who had? All it required was a bit of imagination and a well-stocked library.”