Anne Brontë
“But he who dares not grasp the thorn, Should never crave the rose.”
If you would have your son to walk honorably through the world, you must not attempt to clear the stones from his path, but teach him to walk firmly over them - not insist upon leading him by the hand, but let him learn to go alone.
“It is foolish to wish for beauty. Sensible people never either desire it for themselves or care about it in others. If the mind be but well cultivated, and the heart well disposed, no one ever cares for the exterior.”
“It is better to arm and strengthen your hero, than to disarm and enfeeble your foe.”
There is always a 'but' in this imperfect world.
“Although I maintain that if she were more perfect, she would be less interesting.”
“I would not send a poor girl into the world, unarmed against her foes, and ignorant of the snares that beset her path; nor would I watch and guard her, till, deprived of self-respect and self-reliance, she lost the power or the will to watch and guard herself.”
“Because the road is rough and long,
Shall we despise the skylark’s song,
That cheers the wanderer’s way?
Or trample down, with reckless feet,
The smiling flowerets, bright and sweet,
Because they soon decay?”
“God is love, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.”
“You prefer her faults to other people’s perfection.”
“Farewell to thee! but not farewell
To all my fondest thoughts of thee:
Within my heart they still shall dwell;
And they shall cheer and comfort me.”