The scar will remain, but it is better for a man to lose both arms than his soul; and these hard years, instead of being lost, may be made the most p… - Louisa May Alcott

[She was] kept there in the sort of embrace a man gives to the dearest creature the world holds for him.

He was not a perfect child, by any means, but his faults were of the better sort; and being early taught the secret of self-control, he was not left at the mercy of appetites and passions, as some poor little mortals are, and then punished for yielding to the temptations against which they have no armor.

Jo's face was a study next day, for the secret rather weighed upon her, and she found it hard not to look mysterious and important. Meg observed it, but did not troubled herself to make inquiries, for she had learned that the best way to manage Jo was by the law of contraries, so she felt sure of being told everything if she did not ask.