Mary Shelley — "I had been the author of unutterable evils."

"Invention, it must be humbly admitted, does not consist in creating out of void, but out of chaos."

"I need not describe the feelings of those whose dearest ties are rent by that most irreparable evil, the void that presents itself to the soul, and the despair that is exhibited on the countenance."

"Solitude was my only consolation - deep, dark, deathlike solitude."

"If I have no ties and no affections, hatred and vice must be my portion."

"A human being in perfection ought always to preserve a calm and peaceful mind, and never to allow passion or transitory desire to disturb his tranquillity. I do not think that the pursuit of knowledge…"