"A truce to philosophy! —Life is before me, and I rush into possession. Hope, glory, love, and blameless ambition are my guides, and my soul knows no dread."

"I was new to sorrow, but it did not the less alarm me."

"I knew the labyrinthine intrigue of his marriage was of a nature to present us with difficulties, but I was assured of the naturalness of our joining. I was sixteen and the world was suddenly entirely…"

"What is there in our nature that is forever urging us on towards pain and misery?"

"I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend."