[she was] marching on upon long stalky legs, in tight stockings which had little ladder-like holes at the knees, torn by kneeling in the roads and banks in search of vegetable and mineral treasures...—tess of the d'urbervilles

that 'collected' frightens me. i've only gathered. i always loved everything outdoors, so i made friends and playmates of them. when i learned that the moths die so soon, i saved them especially, because there seemed no wickedness in it.—girl of the limberlost

the lines between my days and nights are blurring. the night is filled with the calls of owls and the smell of daffodils, and i run for miles.—?

if you have ever lived with a girl child you will know that quiet, infuriating retirement into some private world of their own of which they are capable, as well as that stubborn independence in the face of stupid or unreasonable demands or prohibitions.—thomasina

in her room erin covered her face with her hands. she didn't know if she was happy or miserable. what sort of condition was that to be in, not even to know if she'd just had a good time or not?—cat in the mirror

those brief attentions started an emotion in her, feverish and bright, like a flame licking at a log.—cat in the mirror

know, that in the course of your future life you will often find yourself elected the involuntary confidant of your acquaintances’ secrets: people will instinctively find out, as i have done, that it is not your forte to tell of yourself, but to listen while others talk of themselves; they will feel, too, that you listen with no malevolent scorn of their indiscretion, but with a kind of innate sympathy...—jane eyre