I don't like favors; they oppress and make me fell like a slave. I'd rather do everything for myself, and be perfectly independent. - Louisa May Alcott

She began to see that character is a better possession than money, rank, intellect, or beauty, and to feel that if greatness is what a wise man has defined it to be, 'truth, reverence, and good will,' then her friend Friedrich Bhaer was not only good, but great.

...and clung more closely to the dear human love, from which our Father never means us to be weaned, but through which He draws us closer to Himself.

Jo had learned that hearts, like flowers, cannot be rudely handled, but must open naturally…