Obtain power, then, by all means; power is the law of man; make it yours. - Maria Edgeworth

Surely it is much more generous to forgive and remember, than to forgive and forget.

A man who sells his conscience for his interest will sell it for his pleasure. A man who will betray his country will betray his friend.

To our unhappy sex genius and sensibility are the most treacherous gifts of Heaven. Why should we cultivate talents merely to gratify the caprice of tyrants? Why seek for knowledge, which can prove only that our wretchedness is irremediable? If a ray of light break in upon us, it is but to make darkness more visible; to show us the narrow limits, the Gothic structure, the impenetrable barriers of our prison.