"Now my charms are all o'erthrown
And what strength I have is my own
Which is most faint now - now, tis true
I must be here confined by you or sent to Naples.
Let me not, since I have my dukedom got
And pardoned the deceiver,
Dwell in this bare island by your spell,
But release me from my bands
With the help of your good hands
Gentle breath of yours my sails must fill
Or else my project fails - which was to please.
Now I want Spirits to enforce, art to enchant,
And my ending is despair,
Unless I be relieved by prayer
Which pierces so that it assaults mercy itself,
And frees all faults as you from crimes pardoned by,
Let your indulgence set me free."

- Spoken by Prospero in the last scene of Shakespeare's The Tempest

"Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity, or registering wrongs. We are, and must be, one and all, burdened with faults in this world: but the time will soon come when, I trust, we shall put them off in putting off our corruptible, bodies; when debasement and sin will fall from us with this cumbrous frame of flesh, and only the spark of the spirit will remain - the impalpable principle of life, pure as when it left the Creator to inspire the creature: whence it came it will return; perhaps again to be communicated to some being higher than man - perhaps to pass through graduations of glory from the pale human soul to brighten to the seraph! Surely it will never, on the contrary, be sufffered to degenerate from man to fiend? No, I cannot believe that: I hold another creed; which no one ever taught me, and which I seldom mention; but in which I delight, and to which I cling: for it extends hope to all: it makes Eternity a rest - a mighty home, not a terror and an abyss. Besides, with this creed, I can so clearly distinguish between the criminal and his crime; I can so sincerely forgive the first while I abhor the last: with this creed revenge never worries my heart, degradation never too deeply disgusts me, injustice never crushes me too low: I live in calm, looking to the end."

- Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre

"After a season of darkness and struggling, light broke and relief fell: my cramped existence all at once spread out to a plain without bounds - my powers heard a call from heaven to rise, gather their full strength, spread their wings, and mount beyond ken. God had an errand for me; to bear which afar, to deliver it well, skill and strength, courage and eloquence, the best qualifications of soldier, statesman, and orator, were all needed: for these all centre in the good missionary. A missionary I resolved to be. From that moment my state of mind changed; the fetters dissolved and dropped from every faculty . . ."

- Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre

". . . A calm, subdued triumph, blewnt witha longing earnestness, marked by his enunciation of the last glorious verses of that chapter. The reader believed his name was already written in the Lamb's Book of Life, and he yearned for the hour which should admit him to the city to which the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor; which has no need of sun or moon to shine in it, because the glory of God lightens it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
"In the prayer following the chapter, all his energy gathered - all his stern zeal woke: he was in deep earnest, a wrestling with God, and resolved on a conquest. He supplicated strength for the weak-hearted, guidance for wanderers from the fold: a return, even at the eleventh hour, for those whom the temptations of the world and the flesh were luring from the narrow path. He asked, he urged, he claimed the boon of a brand snatched from the burning. Earnestly and ever deeply solemn: first, as I listened to that prayer, I wondered at his; then, when it continued and rose, I was touched by it, and at last awed. He felt the greatness and goodness of his purpose so sincerely: others who heard him plead for it, could not but feel it too."

- Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre

"I contended with my inward dimness of vision, before which the clouds yet rolled. I sincerely, deeply, fervently longed to do what was right; and only that. 'Show me, show me the path,' I entreated of heaven. I was excited more than I had ever been . . ."

- Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre

"I thank my Maker, that in the midst of judgment He has remembered mercy. I humbly entreat my Redeemer to give me strength to lead henceforth a purer life than I have hitherto."

- Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre

". . . He anticipated his sure reward, his incorruptible crown. I know that a stranger's hand will write to me next, to say that the good and faithful servant has been called at length into the joy of his Lord. And why weep for this? No fear of death will darken St.John's last hour: his mind will be unclouded; his heart will be undaunted; his hope will be sure; his faith steadfast. His own words are a pledge of this: -
'My Master,' he says, 'has forewarned me. Daily He announces more distinctly,Surely I come quickly, and hourly I more eagerly respond: Amen; even so come, Lord Jesus.'"

- Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre

"In the south of France, during the summer, little children and old and infirm poor, who are incapable of hard work, in order to earn a livelihood, emply themselves is searching the beds of dried-up rivers for 'Paillettes d'Or,' or golden dust, which sparkles inthe sun, and which the water carries away as it flows. What is done by these people and little children, for the gold dust God has sown in these obscure rivers, we would do with those counsels and teachings which God has sown almost everywhere, which sparkle, enlighten, and inspire for a moment, then disappear, leaving but regret that the thought did not occur to collect and treasure them.
"Who is there that has not experienced at some time in his life those teachings so soft and gentle, yet so forcible, which make the heart thrill, and reveal to it suddenly a world of peace, joy, and devotion?
"It may have been but a word read in a book, or a sentence overheard in conversation, which may have had for us a two-fold meaning, and, in passing, left us touched with an unknown power.
It was the smile on the lips of a beloved one whom we knew to be worrowful, that spoke to us of the sweet joy of resignation.
"It was the open look of an innocent child that revealed to us all the beauty of frankness and simplicity.
"Oh!if we had but treasured all the rays of light that cross our path and sparkle but for a moment; oh! if we had but engraved them on our hearts! What a guide and comfort they would have been to us in the days of dicouragement and sorrow; what counsels to guide our actions, what consolations to soothe the broken heart!
"How many new means of doing good! It is this simple gathering a little from every source that is the intention . . .
"Gather, then, these little counsels; gather them with watchfulness; let them for a moment penetrate deep into your heart; then scatter them abroad again."

- Henry Altemus, from introduction to Gold Rust

"The world had taken a deep breath and was having doubts about continuing to revolve."

- Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings