You are the gull, Jo, strong and wild, fond of the storm and the wind, flying far out to sea, and happy all alone. - Louisa May Alcott

There are many Beths in the world, shy and quiet, sitting in corners till needed, and living for others so cheerfully that no one sees the sacrifices till the little cricket on the hearth stops chirping, and the sweet, sunshiny presence vanishes, leaving silence and shadow behind.

Mothers can forgive anything! Tell me all, and be sure that I will never let you go, though the whole world should turn from you.

...swept into the giddy vortex which keeps so many young people revolving aimlessly, till they go down or are cast upon the shore, wrecks of what they might have been