Believe me, the glory of a young girl, of a woman, must always be that of repressing her most ardent impulses within the narrow sphere of conventions.

If I had a daughter able to become a Madame de Stael I should wish her dead at fifteen.

Can you imagine a daughter of yours flaunting on the stage of fame, exhibiting herself to win the plaudits of a crowd, and not suffer anguish at the thought?
No matter to what heights a woman can rise by the inward poetry of her soul, she must sacrifice the outer signs of superiority on the altar of her home.

Her impulse, her genius, her aspirations toward Good, the whole poem of a young girl's being, should belong to the man she accepts and the children whom she brings into the world.

I think I perceive in you a secret desire to widen the narrow circle of the life to which all women are condemned, and to put love and passion into marriage.